Teaching on Shanghai Time

TU teachers bring Towson lessons to Shanghai

TU's Master of Education program went global when an inaugural class of 35 Shanghai high-school teachers earned their master's degrees on the other side of the globe.

Members of TU’s College of Education, College of Graduate Studies and Research (CGSR) and the International Programs Office guided teachers from the Xuhui District toward earning their Master of Education in Secondary Education.

“While other American universities and colleges offer MBAs and such, Towson is the first and only one that offers a Master of Education degree in China,” says CGSR Dean Jin Gong. Provost James Brennan (left) and Dean Gong (far right) recently presided over a commencement ceremony held in China for the first cohort. Designed to benefit Chinese teachers while bolstering TU’s reputation in the Shanghai region, the program launched in July 2004.

TU faculty travel to Shanghai to teach intensively during July and August, and students take three courses via distance learning during TU’s fall and spring terms. This unique global teaching program makes fullest use of TU’s education faculty.  “As long as we have the instructional resources for summer teaching in Shanghai, when the TU campus has the extra instructional capacity, then the program will continue,” says Gong. “We’re glad that the Towson administration stands behind this program.”

Five of the 10 teachers participating this summer from the College of Education faculty—Barbara Ellis, James Lawlor, Sue Rathbone, David Lovewell and Lijun Jin—traveled to Shanghai last summer to start the program. They see it as a “win-win” for Chinese students eager to obtain an American Master of Education degree and for bolstering TU’s reputation as a community partner in education globally as well as locally.

“This degree from Towson University is highly valued in Shanghai,” says Ellis, who serves as the program’s coordinator. Ellis and two other faculty members arrived early last summer to screen students in listening, speaking, writing and reading for eligibility in the rigorous program.

“The motivation of our students in Shanghai is incredibly strong and intense, and that has made teaching there an absolutely rewarding experience,” she adds. “The bonding that has taken place between Towson University’s faculty and the teachers from the Xuhui District is incredible.”

TU’s Chinese connection benefits the home campus as well. “This partnership offers a world of opportunities for TU’s faculty, learners and community to experience China and, perhaps, for more Chinese educators to learn and work here,” says Jack Cole, lecturer in the department of secondary education.

“With this program our campus just got a whole lot larger.”

Story by Stuart Zang/Photo by Hans Shen, Shanghai Center

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