DETROIT—"Chinese is so important now," says Ms. Kathleen N. Straus, President of Michigan State Board of Education.
As the debut of the Chinese New Year Spectacular by the Divine Performing Arts Troupe at the Detroit Opera House on Jan. 22, 2008 draws near, Ms. Kathleen Straus shared her opinions on the Chinese New Year Spectacular, Chinese language teaching and learning, and the impact of watching the Chinese New Year Spectacular on Chinese language learning.
"We talk about this being a global economy," Straus explained, "yet we expect everybody else in the world to speak English, and that is not the way it's going to be forever. So we thought that it is very important that our children learn a foreign language. Chinese is so important now. We have so many dealings with China in terms of the economy and politics."
According to Straus, in April 2006 Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm signed the Michigan Merit Curriculum Law in order to provide a highly educated workforce for a sustained state economy under the circumstance of the emerging global economy. The governor's goal is to double the number of college graduates in Michigan.
Starting in 2016, all of Michigan high school students will be required to take two credits of a world language in order to graduate. German, French, Spanish and Japanese have been the popular foreign languages for years, but Chinese has been added to the list recently.
Straus also said that the Board of Education is currently working with the colleges of education, and that preschool children are being taught Chinese now. "I saw Lansing preschoolers demonstrate their Chinese," she shared and "they are really amazing." The Chinese language curriculum is expanding in Michigan schools.
Of course, having enough certified Chinese language teachers is critical to a successful Chinese language teaching program. Mrs. Straus told reporters that she once went to a Chinese Language school.
"Many of the parents are eager to help us and willing to be (Chinese language) teachers. But we have to go through this (Teacher Certification Program in Chinese Language and Culture) process, training them to be certified teachers, to be able to teach. That is what we are working on. That is now started to actually take place. So that is very encouraging."
Most importantly, Straus states that Chinese Teacher Certification Programs have been implemented in Eastern Michigan State University and Western Michigan State University. Wayne State University will kick off a similar program soon and MSU is applying for a program approval. She is confident about having enough certified Chinese language teachers by 2009.
See the 'Spectacular,' Learn the Culture
Straus plans to attend the 2008 Chinese New Year Spectacular as an introductory means of cultural enrichment.
After seeing a few clips of the show, she expressed "it's beautiful, elaborate and amazing—just Spectacular," and learning that it will be seen on four continents and seen by 500,000 people, Straus hopes that many others will be able to see it.
"When we teach foreign languages," she remarks, "we want to include the cultural aspects of that country. So this show would certainly present a unique curriculum enrichment opportunity."
To that end, Straus will discuss the 2008 Chinese New Year Spectacular at her State Board meeting in January.
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