I was invited to become a ‘foreign teacher’ at JUFE for the first time in 2009 after being introduced by a former JUFE student who also studied for an MSc degree at Loughborough University, where I work in the UK.

In the spring of 2009 I really did not know what to expect, never having spent much time in China and certainly never having taught undergraduates at university there. Frankly, I was rather anxious. Would the students understand my English? Would they be motivated to work hard? Would they be intelligent and enthusiastic and forgive the misconceptions of a teacher working in China for the first time? Would the working environment be comfortable? Would I have adequate administrative support?
I need not have worried. It is now three years and four teaching visits later and I hope the relationship I have built up with JUFE will last for a long time to come. It is no exaggeration to say that JUFE has become my second academic home.

The intellectual standard of the students in the International School at JUFE is excellent, with an average competence in English language that is noticeable better than that of the Chinese MSc students I teach at Loughborough. The JUFE students seem to absorb anything I throw at them, always questioning, always challenging, and there is an enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge among the students that is infectious – what a delight for a teacher!

For the administration of the International School I have nothing but praise. I have been welcomed and supported in every possible way, both socially and academically – it seems that nothing is too much trouble.

All this is how it should be, for a University and an International School that are striving for excellence and international recognition, but how things should be and how things actually are can be very different. However, from where I stand, JUFE and its International School are getting it right. Long may they continue!

A word, to other prospective ‘foreign teachers’ wondering if teaching at JUFE is for them: prepare yourself for an incredible welcome, from smiling students who greet you as you walk across the campus to the special hospitality given by the International School; prepare yourself for hard but extremely rewarding work. Oh yes, and take an umbrella!

By Lawrence