Month: April 2023

My personal history is inherently international, as someone who had grown up in Germany and moved to the US first to study abroad and eventually for graduate school (a Ph.D. in Latin American history). But I had never traveled to any place on the Asian continent other than eastern Turkey! I had no clear expectations of what I would encounter in Taiwan. The only familiarity I had with East Asia was from general news coverage and conversation with my colleagues at the University of Mississippi, where I direct the Croft Institute for International Studies. The Institute’s program and faculty have a strong focus on East Asia: we offer Chinese, Japanese, and Korean as languages, require our majors to spend a semester abroad in the country where their chosen language is spoken, and host the Chinese Flagship program in our building. We have long had Chinese language instructors from Taiwan, but it was not a country that our Institute focused on until the recent tensions between the US and mainland China when all of our student programs moved from China to Taiwan. I was curious to learn about this place struggling for political recognition. After the two weeks spent there with

After waiting almost two years to travel to Taiwan to represent the University of South Florida as a Fulbright International Education Administrators (IEA) grant recipient, I boarded the long flight from Tampa to Taipei by way of Detroit and Seoul arriving in Taipei almost 28 hours later. Exhausted from the long journey, I was ecstatic to see the driver waiting for me at the airport for the transfer to the hotel in the Ximending area of Taipei.  I had a restful sleep and then met other members of the delegation at breakfast the next morning. A few of us headed to 7-11 to the ATM and then excitedly set out on foot to explore Taipei. Stops included the Lungshan Temple, Red House Theater, and exploring the Ximending district. That evening we met Randall and Astin from Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan) in the hotel lobby and headed out for dinner where we learned more about each other and the events to come. The next day we met the remaining group members and the rest of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan) staff. We were about to embark on a fabulous two action-packed weeks of culture, learning, personal development,

Twenty-five of us were selected for this anticipated IEA Taiwan adventure. It was delayed a few years due to Covid but it was well worth the wait. The “Our” in the title of my report references the group experience of not only the 25 participants but our Fulbright hosts (Randall, Charlie, Astin, Kevin, Stephen, Sandy, Yolanda, and others), who we grew to love through “warm reminders,” countless photos in which we shouted “Fulbright Taiwan”, and bus karaoke sessions. “Our” also includes all those we visited from the elementary school children, their competent ETA teachers, the high-schoolers who made us gifts and gave us individual tours, the debate couches and their impressive students, the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTAs) we got to share our advice with, our aboriginal archery instructor, the city and country officials we shared large oval tables and gifts with, and the many professors and administrators in the 16 universities, schools, and intuitions that we visited. I’m still sorting through the stacks of name cards, university brochures, and gifts while I eat my pineapple cakes and plan my return visit.  The trip was also personal. At the farewell dinner, our table shared our most memorable moments. Mine

I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have researched Taiwan’s approach to high school computer science education. My goal was to understand better how Taiwanese high school CS educators teach using culturally responsive pedagogy and create a culture of belonging and identity through their teaching, curriculum, and professional development. This project helped me view CS education from a more global perspective and profoundly impacted my growth.