Ju Huang first visited Windsor in 2010 as a chaperone accompanying teacher candidates from Southwest University in Chongqing, China, for a three-month immersion in Canada’s education system.

She says she was impressed by the way the students shared their knowledge: “Through their friendships, they practised the ideal of learning from each other.”

That experience with the Reciprocal Learning Teacher Education Program convinced her to return for doctoral studies at the UWindsor Faculty of Education, which she completed in 2017.

Now director of the Office of International Exchange and Co-operation in Southwest University’s College of Teacher Education, Dr. Huang was back in Windsor this week as part of a delegation from that institution pledging to deepen ties with the University.

Officials from both schools signed a memorandum of understanding calling for joint activities to promote internationalization of teacher education.

“Through exchange, collaboration, and partnership, we in the higher education sector have the great privilege of building bridges in an increasingly fractious world,” UWindsor provost Robert Aguirre said.

Ting Yang, Southwest’s associate dean of education, echoed the sentiment, noting that barriers of culture and distance do not lessen the will to work together.

“I hope we can cultivate global ties between China and Canada,” he said in remarks translated by Huang.

UWindsor dean of education Ken Montgomery said the signing represents a renewal of the commitment to work together in the spirit of promoting international friendship and understanding.

“It is our collective goal to foster collaborative research opportunities in education, to facilitate additional visiting scholar opportunities for faculty members, to arrange further student exchanges, internships, and study abroad opportunities,” Dr. Montgomery said. “We also have a particular focus on exploring possibilities for joint programs at the M.Ed. and PhD levels.”

At the conclusion of the ceremony, officials exchanged gifts, with Windsor representatives particularly welcoming Dr. Yang’s invitation to visit China.