Zheng Yue, 27, a young woman from China,is teaching her native language to students in Lawton, Oklahoma, and learning a few things herself about American culture -- because of a partnership between an agency of China's Education Ministry and the College Board.
China wants to teach the world its language and culture, and Ms. Zheng is one of about 325 guest teachers who have volunteered to work for up to three years in American schools, with their salaries subsidized by the Chinese government. A parallel effort has sent about 2,000 American school administrators to visit China at Beijing's expense.
In interviews, several other Chinese teachers said they had some difficulties adjusting to the informality of American schools after working in a country where students leap to attention when a teacher enters the room.
One Chinese teacher who has built a successful language program in Wisconsin, Hongmei Zhao, said a few students sometimes disrupted classes by speaking English so rapidly that she cannot understand them. "Then the whole class laughs, maybe because of my accent," Ms. Zhao said.
Ms. Zheng said she believed that teachers got little respect in America. "This country doesn't value teachers, and that upsets me," she said. "Teachers don't earn much, and this country worships making money. In China, teachers don't earn a lot either, but it's a very honorable career."
Barry Beauchamp, the Lawton superintendent, said he was thrilled to have Ms. Zheng and two other Chinese instructors working in the district. But he said he believed that the guest teachers were learning the most from the cultural exchange.
Ms Zheng's situation is fairly typical of other guest teachers working in American schools: China pays about $13,000 a year toward her salary, and the school district provides her with housing and a $500 monthly stipend. At MacArthur High, Ms. Zheng teaches three hourlong Chinese classes a day. (Source: Sam Dillon, New York Times, May 9, 2010).