Carole Martin, Head of French at the Asumption Grammar School, was one of 15 teachers from across Northern Ireland who spent one week in China’s Henan Province through the China Bridge programme.
The programme, which is organised by the British Council in conjunction with the Confucius Institute, saw the teachers visit a number of schools and school boards, in the hope they would be able to make international links and gain an insight into China’s educational system.
Speaking about the experience, Ms Martin said: “Being a linguist, I have a natural interest in travelling and discovering new horizons. Assumption Grammar School is a recent member of the Confucius classroom hub and I feel my first-hand experience of China will help enrich and develop our pupils’ interest in travelling to Asia and learning a new challenging language.”
About the importance of International Study Visits, Jonathan Stewart, Deputy Director at British Council Northern Ireland said: “International Study Visits aim to inspire new approaches to teaching across the curriculum. It’s great for teachers from Northern Ireland to learn from colleagues and peers in another country and to develop new insights and understandings.
“Visits like this are extremely important for actively raising the awareness among teachers about the importance of sharing ideas and information on a global scale.”
Previous schools who have taken part in the programme have gone on to forge international links with Chinese schools, with some taking on a Chinese Language Assistant to help teach Mandarin.
For more information on International Study Visits or other opportunities available through British Council Northern Ireland, visit:
http://nireland.britishcouncil.org
or follow on Twitter: @BCouncil_NI
