The Seattle schools have a new “guest” teacher. Zhu Dan arrived in the Seattle schools in January and will stay for an 18-month guest teacher program. Dan, who teaches college-level English in her native Kunming, China, has the option to extend her stay for another year.
Dan is one of 34 guest teachers in 19 states that are participating in a new partnership between China’s institute Hanban and the College Board, a nonprofit organization that administers the Advanced Placement exams and SAT testing). Plans are for an additional 100 guest teachers across the United States by this summer and 250 by 2009. The partnership is part of China’s large-scale effort to promote the Mandarin language and getting people in other countries to learn it.
This is the perfect program for many Pacific Coast states that do a lot of business with China. Chief Sealth High School principal John Boyd traveled to China as part of a Hanban program and was inspired to offer a course in Mandarin to his Seattle schools students. He and Noah Zeichner, who heads up the high school world language program, wanted to expand the international focus in his Seattle school. They already have a student exchange program from Chongqing, China.
Zhu Dan teaches the Mandarin language in three Seattle schools