Globalizing the archdiocesan curriculum

By NADIA POZO
CS&T Staff Writer

Preparing your kids for the demands of the 21st century? Think about teaching them Mandarin.

“I think if we’re going to give our students an education that prepares them for the 21st century they have to become knowledgeable about both China and India,” Theresa Ryan-Szott, director of secondary school personnel for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, said recently.

Stephen Pawlowski, assistant superintendent for secondary staff relations, agreed: “If our kids are not familiar with the Chinese language and culture within five years, they are going to be out of sync with the rest of the world.”

Mandarin Chinese is the national language of more than 1.3 billion inhabitatants of China and millions of other ethnic Chinese around the globe. While more than 200 million Chinese schoolchildren are studying English, experts estimate that no more than 50,000 American children are studying Chinese. ...

To read the rest of this article please see the print version of The Catholic Standard & Times

To subscribe now, click here.