In December 2009 Queens College partnered with the Beijing Wucailu Children Center in purpose of reinventing how special education is viewed and increase understanding in the People’s Republic of China. Through information exchange, faculty and teacher exchange, research activities, teaching technical assistance, advocacy and ongoing support; major steps were accomplished in the country that resinated with not only individuals with disabilities but their families as well.
Representatives of the QC Division of Education, Peishi Wang and senior faculty member Craig Michaels ventured to China this past summer in continuation of finalizing specifics of the cooperative agreement. Their collaboration on changing education occurred long before this project when Wang was a mentee of Michaels’. “Dr. Wang’s area of research was autism in the People’s Republic of China, particularly supporting families with intellectual disabilities and autism. When I heard that Lu Mai the Executive Director of Wucailu was going to be in New York last year (2009), I helped Dr. Wang secure funds from Queens College to host the Executive Director as a guest of QC for a few days so that we could explore potential collaborations–leading to the cooperative agreement,” says Michaels. Their trip was supported under 2 objectives of the agreement. The first, which states, “Faculty members from Queens College will conduct a needs assessment and program evaluation for the BWCC, ” allowed for both Wang and Michaels to evaluate the thought process of the people of China. Though special education services was the objective, Michaels found that it was more about Civil Rights of all people. China did not accept the idea that women should not be educated. “Now, they understand females period should receive an education making things better for their families and children,” explains Michaels.
The second objective of the agreement which states, “Queens College and Beijing Wucailu Children Centre will create mechanisms for promoting exchange programs so that under the principal of mutual benefit BWCC and QC agree to create opportunities to learn from each other and increase understanding of each other in collaborative partnership.” will officially be put into action this spring when Ms. Mai will be attending QC this spring to which she will be enrolled in the QC Division of Education graduate program. She will be assisting with data collection among other areas to improve the value of special education. Following this, both Dr. Micheals and Wang will return to China this summer to meet with advisors and discuss implementing more special education programs. One of which will be developing a special education certification program for Applied and Behavior Analysis which will allow participants to work with students with Autism.
The accomplishments that resulted from the partnership proves that change can be made when passionate and patient individuals are involved. Both Michaels and Wang reflect on their personal experiences taken in result. “The country (China) is doing some fantastic things there. They are just beginning to realize people with disabilities deserve the same rights as anyone else. I’m really happy I could be a part of that effort,” exclaims Wang. For Dr. Michaels the experience was similiar and reflected his love to educate others “I learned that people are just people and families are families. I never thought education would be my life passion, I believe all students should have a right to an education (disability or not).” Their presence in the People’s Republic of China helped contribute to special education acceptance in ways that will redefine the family dynamic in China.
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