U.S. AND CHINA SIGN PEACE CORPS AGREEMENT DURING PRESIDENTIAL VISIT
U.S. AND CHINA SIGN PEACE CORPS AGREEMENT DURING PRESIDENTIAL VISIT
The Peace Corps - Sichuan
U.S. AND CHINA SIGN PEACE CORPS AGREEMENT DURING PRESIDENTIAL VISIT
Peace Corps Volunteers work in a myriad of activities around the world within the general areas of education, business, environment, health, and agriculture. Volunteers typically must adapt their activities and approaches to their assignments in response to the specific circumstances and needs that exist. Volunteers serving as teachers, for example, often incorporate health, business, or environmental education messages in their lessons, and many Volunteers have assisted in curriculum revisions to institutionalize such practices.
Despite the differences in their work assignments, all Volunteers serve a similar role in contributing to their host communities' development and understanding of the American people. They may also provide more direct opportunities for their communities to learn about the United States by facilitating cross-cultural links through the World Wise Schools program or other partnership programs.
The Government of The People's Republic of China has asked the Peace Corps to provide educational assistance in the form of training English language teachers. China is also experiencing a growing interest in addressing environmental protection issues. The country plans to increase the number of nature reserves by 50 percent over the next several years. As a way to promote environmental education and awareness in China, Peace Corps Volunteers have begun to introduce environmental content-based curricula into their English classes. In light of the historical lack of interaction between Americans and people in China, the Peace Corps also places a particularly high value on the cross-cultural exchange that the program fosters.
The Peace Corps office in China is located in Sichuan Province, the second most populous province in China with nearly 90 million people. Currently, the Peace Corps program works in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces and Chongqing Municipality. Peace Corps Volunteers are working at teacher training colleges and universities in southwest China. Their primary goal is to teach English to students who expect to become middle school English teachers in the more remote areas of southwest China. Volunteers are integrating environment-related issues and information into their English classes to increase environmental awareness, stimulate critical thinking, and enhance problem solving skills. In addition to teaching, Volunteers work closely with their Chinese colleagues to exchange ideas and methodologies. Daily contact with native English speakers helps Chinese teachers become more proficient in English and more confident in their ability to use English in the classroom.
Volunteers recently co-hosted a four-day workshop with provincial educational officials to integrate environmental protection themes into the core English Language Curriculum used at teacher training colleges. The training was held at Wolong Nature Reserve, a critical habitat for the endangered Giant Panda.
We invite you to take a closer look at the Peace Corps for more information about how you can volunteer.
Dr. Peter J. Foley Country Director PFoley@cn.peacecorp.gov
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