Every year, teacher participants of the Summer Institute on China must come up with a lesson plan based on their experiences and what they have learned through the program. They must design these lessons to align with their classes' standards, both in grade level and subject area, while meaningfully incorporating the new knowledge that they have gained through their travel in China. After presenting their lesson plans to their peers and program leaders, teachers refine and submit their lessons so that the fruits of their studies can be shared with other K-12 teachers.
The goal of the Summer Institute on China is to combat eurocentricity in the U.S. education system and increase students' understanding of Chinese history, contemporary society, and culture by providing teachers with valuable expert instruction and a firsthand experience of China. By sharing these lesson plans, other K-12 teachers who were not able to participate in this program can still benefit from the teachers' experiences and pass that information and understanding on to their students, thereby exponentially increasing the impact that the Summer Institute has on the eucation system. Teachers are invited to look through the many thoughtful lesson plans that the Summer Institute on China fellows have designed and to incorporate them into their own classes.
The Summer Institute on China (SIOC) is a partnership program sponsored by the Institute for East Asian Studies at UC Berkeley, UCLA Confucius Institute, San Mateo County Office of Education, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The 2016 SIOC also received support from the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program.
