Among the three teachers in a PE class at a Shanghai primary school, could you believe that one of them had a foreign face? In class, Mr. Liu Hengwei, the main sports teacher, pointed out the techniques of football dribbling to his fifth grade students while at his side was Victor, a Spanish foreign teacher from the Juju Sports Kokovic Football Academy, and his interpreter.

 

 

 

 

This particular football lesson is part of a project called International teachers coming into the classroom project led by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. This project is supervised by the School of Sports and Health of ECNU, and the popularizing football project is implemented by Juju Sports Kokovic Football Academy.

While the project introduces qualified international football coaches and delivers football lessons to the pilot schools every week, those teachers are responsible for the application of advanced football teaching concepts, curriculum design and teaching implementation. Chinese teachers assist in the efficient implementation of the courses, with clear division of labor and remarkable results. 

 

 

 

 

In the pilot schools, many PE teachers of whom are not from football sports training majors, are growing rapidly in the projects. They not only become independent football coaches, but also actively promote the construction of campus football culture. This year is the fourth year of the project, which covers ten primary and secondary schools in five districts and counties of Shanghai. It has already benefited more than 20,000 students to date.