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I am inspired to study for a Master’s in education by my delight in teaching and guiding children, but equally in my growing understanding of the inadequacies of the Chinese education system of which I am a product and in which I shall probably spend my career. As a student at The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China (UNNC), the first Sino-foreign university to be set up, I have had thorough experience of the western education system and have familiarised myself with the style and expectations of the British model of university teaching. The university is a successful experiment in transferring UK methods to a very foreign environment, and one of my central interests lies in the possibility of expanding the idea of such cross-cultural institutions in China. Like many Chinese, I am extremely hard-working and determined to succeed, but I come from an ethnic minority, the Tujia, which gives me a slightly different view of the world and allows me to see the way that the established Chinese system fails its pupils. The pressing problem is lack of freedom and the absence of any real concern to maintain cultural diversity. The Chinese government appears to place very little value on the cultural identity of its ethnic minorities (a point I noticed very clearly when doing voluntary work in Tibet). Perhaps it is idealistic of me, but my hope is that, with a master’s degree and later a PhD in education, I might become an educational expert in China and gain a position of authority which would allow me to influence the system and initiate reform.

Each summer for the past four years I have undertaken voluntary teaching posts in orphanages and schools in a number of countries, including China, Tibet and Tunisia. This year I worked at the American Corner of AMIDEAST in Tunis, teaching English and organising educational visits to the Bardo Museum and to such Roman sites as Dugga. Later I taught English, French and Mandarin to children at the SOS Village, Gammarath, Tunisia. I was in the country in the wake of the revolution and inevitably began to wonder whether China could ever have such a bloodless transformation. The conclusion I came to was that this could not happen, largely because 80% of the population in China are rural peasantry with very little education, and they have no understanding of what democracy is. It became clear to me that a democratic education system is the pre-requisite of a democratic political system, which clarified my own hopes and ambitions for the future. In 2007 and 2008 I worked in the SOS Village of Children, Chengdu, China, a wonderful experience which led to me volunteering in later years, and in 2010 I worked in a Middle School in Tibet, teaching maths, music and Mandarin, which was my first teaching contact with children from an ethnic minority group in China.

Alongside my educational work I have played a major role in the Students in Free Enterprise scheme (SIFE) in the University of Nottingham. I am director of HR, responsible for recruitment and appraisal of members, and organising events. My team is the champion in the national competition and represented China at the SIFE World Cup in Los Angeles in 2010, in which we won second place. I have also worked for Sichuan Educational and Cultural TV, and as a reporter for China Youngster News.

My course at UNNC is taught entirely in English and the standard is exactly the same as in the UK home campus. I have also just completed a year spent at the UK site, so I have no doubts about my ability to meet the demands of a postgraduate degree course in Britain. The prediction of my teachers is that I shall graduate with a first class degree. I am ambitious and believe (I hope not too unrealistically) that I could change things in China. I am a friendly, charitable and generous individual, and often win the confidence and affection of the children I teach. My hopes for my future are clear, and I hope you will consider my application.

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