One in a Billion

Nancy Pine holds a PhD in education and has travelled and studied in rural China for decades. She is one of the leading American experts on Chinese early childhood education. She founded the Bridging Cultures US/China Program and has advised the administration and faculty on China at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles.

• AcknowledgmentsAuthor’s Note Prologue 1 Beginnings 2 A System Unraveling 3 Moving On 4 Into the Maelstrom 5 Clinging to Shattered Dreams 6 Unshackled 7 Building a Future 8 American Connections9 Setting the Record Straight10 Gathering Storm Clouds11 Working in Limbo12 Stately Maples 13 Against Rural Habits 14 Democracy and a New School in An Shang 15 Pigsties, a Website, and Dedicated Desks 16 Let’s Teach Them Together Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

Combining lucid, concise descriptions of China’s history with intimate details of peasant commune life culled from a decade’s worth of interviews with An Wei, Pine presents an eye-opening portrait of how ordinary Chinese people can become driving forces for reform. Readers seeking to go beyond the headlines about China will learn much from this account.