FOLLOWING strengthening relationships with Chinese Friendship Cities Baotou, Inner Mongolia and Lu’an Anhui Province, Mount Gambier City Council has facilitated a series of meetings with the local education sector to explore potential teacher exchanges.
Tenison Woods College hosted a group of 20 teachers as part of an inbound delegation from Baotou early this year.
The college provided a range of education-based experiences, including classroom observation, teaching and learning methodology and tours around the region.
“The college is very excited about teacher exchanges and the intercultural and pedagogical learning which evolve,” Tenison Woods College principal David Mezinec said.
“Bringing together educators from our two countries has been a highlight of the college year and paves the way for strong relationships between our two cities.”
Additional opportunities to cooperate with international exchange programs were discussed during council’s March delegation to Baotou and Lu’an and during last month’s business delegation to China, which was attended by Tenison Woods College international student coordinator Annie Clifford and enrolment registrar Tracey Davey.
“These exchanges are critical for our region, adding to our cultural competence and benefiting our innovation and trade opportunities,” Mr Mezinec said.
Mayor Andrew Lee said while discussions were still preliminary, there was a general consensus that inbound teacher delegations would be effectively handled across the entire Limestone Coast education system collaboratively.
“This diversifies the experience for the delegation and spreads the workload across more schools,” Mr Lee said.
Department for Education and Child Development education director Adam Box said Limestone Coast schools and kindergartens were fortunate to have positive and effective working relationships with City Council, leading to improved outcomes for local children.
“The schools within the Blue Lake partnership are very keen to explore the possible options in regards to hosting a visit from a Chinese delegation,” Mr Box said.
“We are confident this delegation would lead to a rich experience for our educators, parents, schools and most importantly our children.”
An opportunity for local teachers to visit Baotou and Lu’an to gain an appreciation of the Chinese education system and provide opportunities for English Language teaching will also be explored.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to foster deep mutual relationships,” Mr Mezinec said.
“The more we can develop relationships based on student, teacher and even parent exchanges, the better it will be for the outcomes of our endeavours and the type of globally astute young people we develop.”
