Written by Dylan Allen
Last fall, a top Chinese education journal featured the work of four Texas A&M University education researchers from the Center for Research & Development in Dual Language & Literacy Acquisition (CRDLLA) and Education Leadership Research Center (ELRC).
The authors included Dr. Beverly J. Irby, College of Education & Human Development Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Dr. Rafael Lara-Alecio, Regents Professor; Dr. Fuhui Tong, associate professor; and Dr. Cindy Guerrero, associate research scientist and lead coordinator on Project Literacy-Infused Science Using Technology Innovation Opportunity (LISTO).
The group published two articles in the two separate issues of the semi-monthly Journal of World Education, which is the official journal of the Chinese Ministry of Education, in September 2017. The journal promotes globalization and international collaboration in education with a diverse audience of policy makers, government officials, administrators, researchers, and teachers, domestic and abroad.
In spring 2017, the Chinese Ministry of Education invited Dr. Irby to deliver two keynote addresses at its conference in Beijing, China; she was later asked to submit the speeches as manuscripts to the journal. The papers — “The Many Faces of Entrepreneurship in Education” and “Making Spaces For Learning: Maker Spaces” — were translated and adapted from English into Mandarin by Dr. Tong. The speeches and subsequent papers were based on the curricular innovations from the authors’ research projects, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund, U.S. Department of Education.
“Opportunities to share our work are always exciting, but to be able to share in this international context in this esteemed Chinese education journal is truly an honor,” Dr. Irby said.