by Michael Spagna, Dean of Michael D. Eisner College of Education
Accompanied by Dr. Justine Su, I visited Beijing and Shanghai in October 2014 for the development of comparative education and international collaboration. Within a short week, we visited Chinese schools at all levels–elementary, secondary and university–as well as a teacher professional development school, and presented papers on creativity and comparative education to packed audiences in China National Institute of Educational Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, and East China Normal University. I was interviewed by the prestigious Chinese Journal of World Education to speak on critical issues in education reform and teacher training in the U.S. and China.
We met with top leaders in the China Scholarship Council to convey our gratitude for the more than 50 full scholarships awarded to CSUN students to study in the best Chinese universities and to propose a collaborative follow-up study of American students in China, which will have far-reaching significance for building friendship and understanding among young people in both nations. We also met with top leaders in the China Education Association for International Exchange, a long-time CSUN partner, to exchange ideas and explore future collaborative projects. Several long-term and short-term projects have been initiated and developed as a result of our visit to China, including the development of a comparative education center at CSUN’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education and possible establishment of a consortium on comparative and international education among several California State University campuses.