On Exchanges and Mutual Learning between Civilizations Applied in the Curriculum Design and Implementation

【Abstract 】With the joint efforts of all members in the “17+1” Tourism College Union of China and Central and Eastern Europe Countries （CEEC）， more and more international students from CEEC come to China in accordance with the Unions agreement. While the course design and implementation for the international students are challenging Chinese educators， for the sake of cultural conflicts and different educational background.Exchanges and Mutual Learning between Civilizations， advocated by Chinese President Xi Jinping， inspires and encourages the Chinese educators to promote the innovation and development of the course design and implementation for international students.

【Key words】Exchanges and Mutual Learning between Civilizations; Curriculum Design and Implementation; International students

【作者簡介】杨昆（1971-），男，汉族，北京人，北京联合大学旅游学院，副教授，硕士研究生，研究方向：旅游英语和商务英语方向的专门用途英语（ESP）教学和研究，以及京郊旅游、旅游景区讲解员人才培养，“一带一路”沿线国家留学生培养等方面研究。

The “17+1” Tourism College Union of China and Central and Eastern Europe Countries （CEEC） ， is called for the establishment by Beijing Union University （BUU） in 2017 to serve the “One Belt and One Road” imitative development strategy and to promote exchanges and cooperation between China and CEEC in the fields of tourism， culture and education. With the joint efforts of all members in the Union， there are great achievements which have been made， in student exchange， student competition， tourism academic research and cooperation. More and more international students from CEEC come to BUU according to the Unions agreement. I am from the Tourism English department， the Tourism College of BUU. My department cultivates the professional tour guides， tour leaders， or related jobs involved in tourism industries. The course I taught is The World Cultural Heritage in Beijing. As is well-known， world heritage is our legacy from the past， what we live with today， and what we pass on to future generations. World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world， irrespective of the territory on which they are located. In addition， Beijing is the city in the world where has got the most world cultural heritage sites. For example， the biggest and best preserved imperial palace in the world， the Palace Museum; the biggest imperial garden， the Summer Palace; the biggest heavenly worshipping building complex， the Temple of Heaven; the longest military defensive project， the Great Wall， and so on. Culture is the soul of architecture. The world cultural heritage sites in Beijing are regarded as the valuable showcase for the foreigners to know about Chinese history， Chinese traditional architectures， Chinese philosophy，culture behind the architectures， even Chinese peoples ways of thinking and life styles. This is why we have the course.The World Cultural Heritage in Beijing， both for Chinese students and international students. Furthermore， the course is very popular among the students， because the course is compulsory for the Chinese students in my department， and the knowledge and skills that Chinese students could learn in class can help them to be the professional tour guides in the future. While the international students are fond of the course because it seems as a shortcut in the learning of Chinese culture and people.

However， there is a problem aroused when giving lectures on the World Cultural Heritage in Beijing with different audients from the different cultural and educational background. Its none of the business about language， because I give lectures in English not matter he or she is a Chinese or a foreigner. For example， when I talk about the color of yellow is the typical color for Chinese imperial architectures， and symbolizes the supreme power of the Chinese emperors in the past time. Chinese students can take it easily without any questions， but international students can hardly understand why the color of yellow is so powerful， and they are eager to know about it. So I have to interpret it from the Chinese tradition philosophy “Five Elements Theory”. Its not exceptional. Every time， when I have the lecture with the international students in the last three years， there are lots of interesting questions challenging me. At these moments， I really have a better understanding on the remarks of civilizations of the world， delivered by Chinese president Xi Jinping at UNESCO Headquarters in 2014. Xi said，“civilizations have come in different colors， and such diversity has made exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations relevant and valuable. Just as the sunlight has seven colors， our world is a place of dazzling colors. A civilization is the collective memory of a country or a nation.” Sure， that is the cultural diversity. Well， how to fill up the gap in my lecture for the international students？ Definitely， I have to make it change with my Curriculum Design and Implementation.

So I reorganized and designed my course for international students with the help of Outcome-Based Education （OBE） principal. OBE clearly focuses and organizes everything in an educational system around what is essential for all students to be able to do successfully at the end of their learning experiences. In short， it is to focus on student outcomes.

When adopting of outcome-based approaches in my Curriculum Design and Implementation， I focused on the following four questions， including what outcomes they need， why these outcomes are preferable， how to get these outcomes， and the last one is how to asses students performance.

According to the international students expectation and their real condition I collected from their questionnaires made in the last three years， I set the objective of my course. First of all， international students shall truly know about the significance of the world cultural heritage sites in Beijing， fully understand the symbolic meaning of Chinese traditional architectures. Second， they could serve as the fork ambassadors to show the international friends the world cultural heritage sites in Beijing， and tell them the stories just behind the architectures. Thirdly， make the comparative study and preparations for future academic study， such as academic paper， graduation thesis， etc. Finally， truly understand Chinas view on Exchanges and Mutual Learning between Civilizations， and be voluntarily devoted to building a community with a shared future for all mankind.

Those learning objectives above are totally set up by international students needs， and the trend for world peace and development.

In my lecture， students are encouraged to do the comparative study on the similar or related architectures both from Beijing and from the international students motherland， and to do the presentation on their findings. Naturally， different cultures， different views， different values are exchanged and learned from each other in my lectures， without any dispute， quarrel or discrimination， although the students are from 7 nations， 4 continents and with 3 skin colors this year. This is like what we Chinese often say， Civilizations are like water， moistening everything silently. Moreover， I donate my personal time to drive and show my international students to the major world cultural heritage sites in Beijing. I just want my students not just to learn from the lectures and the books， but to learn and experience the real world cultural heritages and Chinese civilization. This practice is regarded as the most popular learning practice by the international students.

In addition， the international students are also encouraged to do the academic study in my lecture， so that the course assessment system was innovated and converted from the written exam into academic study and paper writing. In order to help my students to find out more valuable professional readings， I use my research funds to establish a miniature stack room with more than 50 professional English books on Chinese traditional architectures and cultures. With my instruction， my students accomplish the term paper successfully. Some even make the further study on the basis of term paper to write the graduation thesis and pass the thesis defense， get the degree eventually. I am so proud of my students.

Victor Hugo once said， “There is a prospect greater than the sea， and it is the sky; there is a prospect greater than the sky， and it is the human soul.” Indeed， we need a mind that is broader than the sky as we approach different civilizations. So lets encourage different civilizations to respect each other and live in harmony， so that exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations will become a bridge promoting friendship between people around the world.

References：

[1]H.E. Xi Jinping President of the Peoples Republic of China A Wide-ranging Speech on Civilization at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on Thursday[J]. March 27th， 2014.

[2]http：//language.chinadaily.com.cn/news/2014-04/01/content_17396012_2.htm[OL].

[3]What Is OBE？ http：//www.halcyon.org/obeinfo.html[OL].

[4]Ron Brandt. On Outcome-Based Education： A Conversation with Bill Spady[J]. Educational Leadership， Volume 50， Number 4， December 1992/January 1993：66-70.