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UM
forms agreement with China
Representatives
from Zhejiang University in the People's Republic of China
were in Missoula this month to formalize an agreement between
the UM School of Education and their university's College
of Education. The agreement will encourage and support faculty
members and students from both universities to engage in
collaborative research projects and exchange programs.
Dean
Zhengping Tian, Vice Dean Guping Zhou and Associate Professor
Weiping Zhao represented Zhejiang University's College of
Education. They met with Roberta Evans, dean of UM's School
of Education; Professor Rhea Ashmore, chair of curriculum
and instruction; UM Provost and Academic Vice President
Lois Muir; and UM President George Dennison and others Nov.
2 for the formal signing of the agreement.
"In
addition to research opportunities and faculty exchanges,
this new partnership opens another door for adventurous
education majors to complete requirements for student teaching
or secondary certification abroad," said Ashmore, who
has worked closely with the members of the Chinese delegation
since making the first of four trips to Zhejiang Province
as a visiting scholar in 1997.
The
new partnership is an extension of a formal exchange agreement
between the two universities that was signed this spring,
when Ashmore hand-delivered the document while on sabbatical
teaching at Zhejiang University. It is the first international
partnership for both UM's School of Education and Zhejiang
University's College of Education, Ashmore said.
"The
People's Republic of China has mandated that all schools
teach English beginning in grade three by the year 2005,"
Ashmore said. "Many of the schools in the larger cities
have already included classes to teach English in their
curricula.
"Throughout
his tenure as president of The University of Montana, George
Dennison has expanded the mission and role of our campus
abroad," Muir said during the signing ceremony. "He
believes in building bridges with other intellectually vibrant
universities around the globe, and he understands that such
bridges often begin with collaborative work among scholars."
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