Twenty Chinese principals visited Vanderbilt University over the last few weeks to learn American classroom techniques as part of an international education exchange.

The Education Leadership Learning Exchange has partnered Vanderbilt's Peabody College and Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools with South China Normal University for the past three years.

The program started four years ago, when a visiting scholar from South China Normal University was interested in the principal training program Peabody provided. Since then, three groups of American principals have traveled to Guangzhou to participate in the exchange.

"It's very important to have a global perspective and be able to expand horizons," said Xiu Cravens, assistant dean for international affairs at Peabody College. "Seeing is believing, but it's not just enough for our program. We try to make sure learning is deeper, and our principles prepare academic research and then test their theories in real settings."

Participants have visited area schools, heard lectures from Peabody education experts, shadowed local teachers and taken in Nashville sites.

"Our main focus now is enhancing learning and pedagogy. In the future, we hope to have some exchange for teachers and high school students, and involve a bigger community in Nashville," Cravens said.