School of Education celebrates 20-year international partnership anniversary

The School of Education celebrated the 20th anniversary of its partnership with Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

The team of academics leading the MA TESOL Programme at the School of Education visited Guangdong University of Foreign Studies to mark the enduring collaboration shared between the two universities. During their visit, the team engaged with students and teaching colleagues, attended and gave presentations, and were welcomed to the latest cohorts graduation ceremony.

Academic teams from the University of Leeds and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies celebrated the latest cohorts graduation

The partnership began in 2001, when the School of Education was an autonomous department which, like the rest of the university, was beginning to appreciate the potential of China as a future source of postgraduate (PGT) students. However, at that time, full international fees were a barrier to Chinese student recruitment.

After extended discussions the School management concluded that developing a PGT programme in TESOL, fully taught in China, capitalising on the complementary expertise of both Chinese and Leeds staff, might be financially viable and professionally rewarding to both institutions.

TESOL lecturer Martin Wedell, who had worked at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS) in Guangzhou in the 1980s, contacted former colleagues there to see if they were interested in collaborating. GDUFS was home to the Chinese National Research Centre for Applied Linguistics, so a very strong partner for work in language education.

After two years of visits and planning meetings in Leeds and Guangzhou, Dr Wedell and Professor Zou QiMing of GDUFS created the framework for the MA TESOL programme, validated by UoL, that continues to be taught 20 years later. 

Address by Dr Martin Wedell, programme founder (UoL)

The course, studied exclusively in China, is jointly delivered by the University of Leeds and by Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and is taught from Friday evenings to Sunday afternoons, allowing serving teachers to enrol and partake.

We look forward to continuing to work together in strengthening the programme and collaborating in research and scholarship for the years to come.

Dr Loreto Aliaga Salas, MA TESOL China Programme Lead, said: ‘The 20th Anniversary Celebration of the MA TESOL China programme was a testimony of the strength of the long-lasting partnership started in 2005 by our colleagues Dr Martin Wedell and Dr Angi Malderez, and Professors Zou Qiming , Zheng Chao, Wen Binli, and Wang Bin in GDUFS. It was heartwarming to meet alumni representing the more than 500 teachers who have been part of this programme in these 20 years. Many of them have progressed to highly successful careers as teachers, teacher educators, researchers and school principals, which evidences how their professional and personal lives have positively changed after engaging in our programme. We look forward to continuing to work together in strengthening the programme and collaborating in research and scholarship for the years to come.

Following this visit, staff at Guangdong University gifted the School of Education a video commemorating the visit and the partnership, this can be viewed here.

Find out more about this programme and how to book onto a virtual open day here.

Gifts were exchanged between the two universities

Academic team from the School of Education, University of Leeds

Dr Loreto Aliaga Salas presenting at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies