CACLER has co-organized a summer course titled Training Teachers for the Future: Transnational Educational Issues with College of Education of San Francisco State University (SFSU) from 4 to 15 June 2007. It provided 14 US Bay Area educators with a week of coursework in San Francisco, followed by a week of coursework in Hong Kong, culminating in a week of intensive classroom observation and study in classrooms in Hong Kong and Guangdong.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our thankfulness to our colleagues for delivering very good talks. They are Dr. K.W. Cheung, Dr. W.M. Cheung, Dr. W.W. Ki and Prof. Gerry Postiglione.

Besides attending lectures, the US students have visited 9 schools, including primary and secondary schools in HK and China, during the course. The schools include Chinese-medium school; English-medium schools; ESF school; a school for newly arrived children from Mainland China; and a school for South-Asian students. During the course, they have many opportunities to interact with school teachers as well as our postgraduate students. Not only gaining an exposure to educational practices in HK and Guangzhou, we also benefit from their interaction and exchange through these lessons and activities. As a result of this experience, the US participants would have a better understanding on Chinese and other Asian Diasporas as well as recent educational developments and conditions in China and Hong Kong; and develop skill in collaborative, cross-cultural classroom observation and lesson study, drawing useful conclusions from the experience.

After this pilot course, we will explore other collaboration possibilities in the area of Chinese language teaching and learning as well as teacher credential programs between CACLER and College of Education of SFSU.

Dr. Jacob Perea (the 2nd from right of first row), Dean of College of Education of SFSU, Dr. David Hemphill (middle of first row), Associate Dean of College of Education of SFSU and Dr. MY Lee (the 3rd from left of the first row), Assistant Professor of College of Education of SFSU had accompanied the 14 US students to join this summer course.	Dr. Jacob Perea (the 2nd from right of first row), Dean of College of Education of SFSU, Dr. David Hemphill (middle of first row), Associate Dean of College of Education of SFSU and Dr. MY Lee (the 3rd from left of the first row), Assistant Professor of College of Education of SFSU had accompanied the 14 US students to join this summer course.
Dr. WW Ki has conducted a workshop on Awareness of Chinese characters for these US students.	Dean Perea of College of Education of SFSU (the first from right) found that the software of learning Chinese character was very interesting.
The US students have visited different types of local schools in Hong Kong (This photo was taken at one of the schools we visited, Po Leung Kuk Portuguese Community School which is a school serving newly arrived children from the Mainland).	The US students were arranged to visit schools in Guangzhou, China.
To have an idea about teaching at Hong Kong classrooms, the US team was arranged to have class observations in different local schools.	Besides class observations, the US team also took the opportunity to interact with students during school visits. The first from the left: Dr. David Hemphill, Associate Dean of College of Education of SFSU
	During the school visits, school administrators had given briefing sessions to introduce their schools, such as school-based curriculum, class structures’ backgrounds, students, school policies etc.