Foreword

Coming to the Edge:Journeys Toward Teacher Scholar is a fascinating book that describes the experiences of two Chinese educators who journeyed to the United States in pursuit of professional excellence.The two authors are Shufang Shi Strause,an Associate Professor in the School of Education at SUNY Cortland and Lijuan Zhong,a visiting scholar at SUNY Cortland sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission.Shufang came to Cortland from Michigan State University where she received her doctorate in the field of educational technology.Prior to coming to the United States,she was a faculty member at Shanghai Jiao Tong University where she taught English for almost ten years.Lijuan was a visiting scholar at SUNY Cortland for the 2015-2016 academic year.She chose our university because of our reputation and history of graduating outstanding teachers.She also wanted to understand academic life in America and compare it with Chinese sensibilities by looking at the deeper contextual relationships between our two nations.

The introductory chapters of the book target a Chinese audience and begin with Lijuan's thoughtful insights of American society and more specifically the academic life and culture at SUNY Cortland located in a small rural town in Upstate New York.One may observe how Lijuan's time in Cortland reshaped her views on teaching and contributed to a greater appreciation of American hospitality.

The following chapters of the book provide a narrative of a Chinese American teacher scholar in the United States as Shufang shares her strivings for academic excellence in teaching,research,and service at SUNY Cortland.By detailing her growth as a university professor in America and sharing her instructional expertise,she provides readers at all academic levels with an honest story of dedication and devotion to her students,profession,and school.In addition,Shufang makes us realize how difficult it might be for foreign faculty to adjust to a very different way of working at an American university.

My favorite section is how Shufang became involved outside her Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department with the greater SUNY university.She successfully coordinated the establishment of the SUNY Cortland-Qufu Normal University partnership,organized a“21st Century Leadership Forum”for 25 school districts,made herself available to the entire campus to help upgrade instructional technology,and was the point person on numerous Chinese culture celebrations in Cortland.

The dual narrative approach provides a unique perspective on small town America and a bridge for Chinese and American educators to understand each other's world.I highly recommend this book to audiences interested in furthering the academic dialogue between China and the United States.

June 6,2017
Erik J.Bitterbaum,Ph.D.
President,State University of NewYork at Cortland