Burton Goes with Educational Leadership Group to China
In June nineteen educators -- primarily superintendents, central office administrators, and principals from across the United States - departed for the 13th China Educational Leadership Conference. The force behind the Conference is David Alexander, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Chair at Virginia Tech, assisted by Jianliang Wang, a professor at Western Kentucky University. The rogram is designed to the study the Chinese educational system in relation to its culture and history. During the two-week trip participants met ministers of education, visited schools and universities, and toured significant historical and cultural sites such as the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City in Beijing, and Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi’an. This year John Burton, Director of the Office for Educational Research and Outreach, attended the conference. When asked how he reacted as a tourist, John said, “The ‘newness’ of Beijing with its high-rise condos, eight-lane highways, subways, and trains was impressive.” He went on to point to the usual historical sites on the itinerary as highlights of the trip, but noted also Xi’an’s intact wall and its Muslim market as important to visit. He saw “many, many evidences of skilled artisans and lots and lots of labor.” As an educator, John valued “meeting some of the secondary students, seeing their dorm rooms and their classrooms.”
He said, “There were many smart, motivated young people from wealthy parents.” However, he commented further, “As we’ve seen in Africa, including Egypt, China’s education system is driven by the test that is used to select folks for the universities. There’s a great deal of memorization, very little play. Parents are even more driven [than students] so there is no free time at night, on weekends, or over summer vacation.”