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I first met Baiqi Lu as part of her study visit to Scotland in 2014, a visit that was based in the University of Edinburgh.As part of her study programme, she joined education classes in the university, attended an extensive range of educational leadership development programmes and spent a number of days in Scottish schools, both primary and secondary.

I was enormously impressed by her deep understanding of pedagogy allied to an exuberant enthusiasm for deepening her expertise around what makes for effective learning of children.

In her visits to schools, she enchanted children with her infectious enthusiasm and real abilities as a teacher.She and her wonderful colleague were superb ambassadors for all that is best in Chinese education.After Baiqi and her colleague spent the day observing classes and doing demonstrations in a rural primary school in the far north east of Scotland, the head teacher wrote to the university offering her school for future visits of Chinese teachers to Scotland.The head teacher was clear of the reciprocal nature of visits like this.While the visitor can learn a lot, so can the hosts. Baiqi came to Scotland to develop her learning around pedagogy through the lens of a different school system and culture.However her interactions with teachers, head teachers and university lecturers throughout Scotland led to them in turn deepening their understanding through the lens of the visitor.The more Chinese and Scottish teachers do this, sharing their common experiences and exploring together their own practices, the better education of all our children wil l be.

This book encapsulates Baiqi's learning and offers perceptions and insights that apply across both countries' education systems.It will add to our understanding of how we can more effectively help improve the teaching of teachers and the learning of children.Both key targets in terms of Baiqi's thinking and values.And values in particular are important in both the Chinese and Scottish education systems.In the Scottish context the educational system is underpinned by the 4 key values of ‘Wisdom, Justice, Compassion and Integrity.' These support the vision of a better world through the learning of our children.It is greatly to Baiqi's credit that she exemplified all four during her visit to Scotland.

Graham Thomson

Director Scottish Centre for

Studies in School Administration

May,2015