By Justine Su
Since his memorable visit to China in October 2014, Dean Michael Spagna has become one of the most featured international education leaders in China. Reporter Sophie Wang from the prestigious Journal of World Education (JWE), the premier international education journal published by the Chinese National Ministry of Education and read by all education leaders, scholars and practitioners throughout China, conducted a cover-page interview with Dean Spagna on his 4-hour high-speed train ride from Beijing to Shanghai, which resulted in two major interview articles translated and edited by Dr. Justine Su and Sophie Wang for publication in the Journal of World Education in 2015.
The first interview article, entitled “Cultivating Creative Teachers,” begins with a broad introduction to the rich variety of educator training programs offered by Michael D. Eisner (MDE) College of Education at CSUN, addresses the importance of sustained teacher development with compliments on China’s time-honored tradition of mentoring for novice teachers, illustrates what makes an effective teacher, and explains how American teacher educators cultivate creative teachers, who are willing and able to fail forward – making progress through trials and innovation including failures and mistakes. The article has put CSUN MDE College of Education under spotlight in China and generated great interests among Chinese educators in American education.
The second interview article, also published in the JWE towards the end of 2015, is entitled “Pursuing Cutting-Edge Educational Research and Promoting U.S.-China Education Collaboration.” Dean Spagna first introduces the excellent programs in teaching and research in special education at MDE College of Education, since attention to students with special needs and disabilities is a weak point in Chinese education. The second part of the interview article illustrates how the new developments in neuro-science and cognitive psychology have influenced educational research and reform in the U.S. Dean Spagna also offers a critical review of the current trends in American education reform and considers the implications of outstanding features in Chinese education for American schools and teacher education. He proposes to strengthen U.S.-China education collaboration and outlines a five-year plan in the development of comparative and international education at MDE College of Education, in close partnership with education leaders and scholars in our sister universities in China.
In addition to these two interview articles, Dr. Justine Su and Sophie Wang also translated and edited Dean Spagna’s presentation at comparative education forums in Beijing and Shanghai on “How American Schools Cultivate Creativity” into an article for publication in the Journal of World Education in 2015. The topic is of great interest to Chinese education policy makers and practitioners, who are making efforts to transform Chinese schools with strong traditions in teacher-centered rote-learning. The presentation article compares the different conceptualization of creativity in western and Chinese education theories with an emphasis on the important notion of making progress or moving forward through failure, illustrates the key aspects of creativity that can be cultivated in the classroom, explains what makes a creative teacher with examples from outstanding CSUN alumni both in the U.S. and in China, and concludes with a strong recommendation for mutual learning and continued collaboration between American and Chinese educators on this front.
It is expected that Dean Spagna’s historical visit to China, his inspirational presentations on American education to Chinese scholars and practitioners, and his insightful articles published in the major Chinese education journal - JWE - will have a lasting impact on Chinese education reform, generate tremendous publicity for CSUN MDE College of Education in China, and strengthen U.S.-China partnership in education research and reform.
Dean Spagna and Provost Li host Shanghai Higher Education Delegation at CSUN