Foreign Teachers in China

Since 1979, thousands of Westerners have been entering China. These include numbers of foreign teachers who have been invited by the Chinese to observe and participate in the educational system. Why were they invited? And just what did the foreign teachers expect to contribute? In Foreign Teachers in China, Edgar A. Porter addresses and explores these and other questions. Although the events surrounding June 4, 1989 have brought many more issues and realities to light, the book seeks to present the ten-year period of East-West relationships, beginning in 1979, and tests Jonathan Spence's argument in his book To Change China that Chinese invite foreigners only for their technical expertise and that foreigners enter China primarily to change it in their own image.

Porter sums up both Chinese and foreign perceptions regarding the role of foreign teachers in China's colleges and universities during 1979 (post-Mao years) and up until the events in Beijing in June of 1989. Divided into three sections, the first presents the history of the role of foreigners in China's institutions of higher learning. The second section is drawn from interviews conducted during 1987-1989. It is here that the role, the motivation, and the future of the modern involvement between the Chinese and foreign teachers is placed in the context of Chinese history. The third section presents supporting documents, agreements between various U.S. and Chinese programs, and an internal document from China describing how Chinese should relate to foreign teachers and other experts. Students of Chinese culture and society--from history to foreign policy to Chinese modernization--will find this book helpful and fascinating. The book is also highly appropriate for colleges and universities offering courses in International Education, American Studies, and Asian Studies.

EDGAR A. PORTER is a member of the faculty in the School of Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Studies at the University of Hawaii. He is the author of several articles including Foreign Involvement in China's Colleges and Universities: A Historical Perspective, Everyday Encounters in China, and Romance in China, and is currently editing Journalism from Tiananmen.