The Center for Global Education’s China Learning Initiatives team hosted 60 K–12 teachers at the eighth annual Asia Society Chinese Language Teachers Institute on March 1–3, 2018, at Asia Society’s New York headquarters. The teachers heralded from 41 schools and districts across 21 states and the District of Columbia. The Teachers Institute is an annual professional development series that provides targeted and systematic training in methodologies to Chinese language teachers. By organizing workshops led by master teachers, visits to model programs, as well as providing opportunities for best practice sharing and networking, the Institute helps attendees improve their Chinese language teaching effectiveness.

As one attendee reflected, "As a former history teacher in China, it's not hard for me to find connection between the language and culture. But this year's workshop reinforces the importance of finding the appropriate depth, pace, and most importantly, the relevance with the learners." This year's theme was "Go Real: Creating Authentic Learning Experiences for K–12 Chinese Language Learners." Read on for more reflections from program participants »

Photo: Chen Hong from Global Village Academy, Colorado (Elena Olivo/Asia Society)

This spring we will be launching three new CELIN Briefs on the topics of Learning Chinese in the Digital Age, Recruiting and Supporting International Chinese Language Teachers, and Cultivating Teacher Leaders. Keep an eye out for these in the coming months! 

In the meantime, we invite you to peruse our website where you'll find Briefs on Preparing Students for the Real World, Developing Initial Literacy in Chinese, and Mapping Chinese Language Learning Outcomes in Grades K–12.

The Briefs are our response to an urgent need in the field of Chinese early language and immersion education for research-based information, examples of best practices, and resources useful for teachers, educators, and parents. We've invited renowned scholars and experts in the field to develop the Briefs, which address critical issues frequently encountered by Chinese language programs for students at all ages, with a particular emphasis on young learners.

There are only a few weeks until the end of our 2018 #WhySpeakChinese video contest! This annual social media contest challenges Chinese language learners to post creative videos and share with their networks the reasons they are learning and speaking Chinese. We are giving away "lucky" prizes, highlighting staff picks, and awarding our grand-prize winner roundtrip tickets to China! Video submissions must be posted by May 12, so encourage your students to participate. 

We are thrilled to kick off the application process for the 2018 Zhi-Xing China Fellowship: U.S.–China University Student Leaders Academy! This fellowship and travel opportunity is co-organized by Asia Society and China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE). Up to 30 American student leaders will be selected from applicants currently enrolled in American universities for undergraduate study. Participation in the Academy will be fully paid for by the Zhi-Xing China Fellowship, including international airfares between the U.S. and China, lodging, meals, and transportation within China. The program runs July 29–August 18, 2018, and the online application is open through April 15.

National Chinese Language Conference: Breakout sessions for the 2018 NCLC are now available to peruse online. If you haven't already registered, do so today!

Chinese Language Instruction in the Digital Age: The Program for Teaching East Asia at the University of Colorado Boulder invites applications to a STARTALK program on incorporating learner-centered technology tools in the Chinese language curriculum. Application Deadline: April 27, 2017

New York International Conference on Teaching Chinese: Jointly with Teachers College at Columbia University and Nanjing University, the Chinese Language Teachers Association of Greater New York will hold their 16th conference at Teachers College in New York. The theme of the conference is "New Visions for the Teaching of Chinese Language and Culture." The conference welcomes teachers, practitioners, and administrators in the field to attend and present. Conference date: May 5, 2018.

CARLA Summer Institutes: This internationally known program reflects CARLA's commitment to link research and theory with practical applications for the classroom. Each institute is highly interactive and includes discussion, theory-building, hands-on activities, and networking opportunities. Registration is now open. Learn more. (CARLA is the Center for Advanced Research on LanguageAcquisition at the University of Minnesota.)

#GlobalEdChat: Join us weekly on Twitter for #GlobalEdChat, an hour-long discussion on current issues in global education. 8 pm Eastern time.