A decade of generating wisdom together
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the joint Masters in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) programme offered by Leeds and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS).
The Vice-Chancellor, Sir Alan Langlands, together with Dr Martin Wedell and Dr Judith Hanks (both Education) met academics, alumni and dignitaries from GDUFS. Celebratory events also included the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions, and a workshop at which alumni discussed and described the impact the MA has had on their lives.
“Students come from all over China – from the ‘Ice City’ of Harbin, to Hainan in the South China Sea – to study this MA and it was gratifying to hear how completing it has transformed some of their lives,” said Dr Wedell, Head of International Education. “This is one of the first, and certainly one of the most successful, joint initiatives that University has run in China. As a model of sustainable development, with equally strong links and benefits to both partners, it is perhaps the only programme of its kind to have run so successfully for such a long period.”
Dr Hanks continues: “The success of the programme is based around the mutual recognition of each institution’s expertise and professionalism. Lecturers from GDUFS lead half the modules and our own lecturers lead the other half, all on-site in China. We have different approaches so our partnership and the programme have continued to evolve during the decade the two Universities have been working together. The relationship is a template for sustainable UK-Chinese/ Chinese-UK and other international collaborations.”
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