He Chao, Associate Professor at Jiangsu Second Normal University and Doctor of Education, has not only rooted herself in local practice in the field of physical education (PE) and research, but also become a key force connecting Eastern and Western PE through her rich international academic exchange experiences. From visiting top overseas universities to sharing Chinese experiences on the international stage, every step of her practice revolves around “mutual learning and exchange,” injecting vitality into the cross-cultural development of physical education.
As a scholar long dedicated to physical education, He Chao’s global perspective stems from her solid overseas visiting experiences and proactive engagement in international academic discourse—foundations that have laid a solid groundwork for her subsequent promotion of cross-cultural cooperation.
In 2014, He Chao served as a Visiting Scholar at the School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa (Canada). During her tenure, she deeply participated in local PE and research projects, focusing on exercise science and PE curriculum design while observing first-hand the practical models of PE teaching and coach development in Western universities. In 2020, she received another invitation for visiting research at the School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA). Such invitations from leading foreign universities undoubtedly recognize He Chao’s research capability and professional expertise.
Beyond overseas visits, He Chao has actively shared her research findings at international academic conferences. In November 2014, she published Using a concept map to picture a coach’s cognitive structure as the first author at the 2014 Petro-Canada Sport Leadership Sportif Conference; in March 2015, she published Concept maps: A tool to capture and represent coaches’ knowledge as the first author at the Eastern Canada Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium. These works brought practical research on the construction of Chinese sports coaches’ knowledge systems to the international stage, showcasing the research perspective of Chinese physical education.
He Chao’s international academic engagement is not a one-way “learning and borrowing” process, but a two-way interaction centered on “exporting Chinese experiences and integrating Western strengths,” enabling the wisdom of Eastern and Western PE to complement each other through exchange.
In terms of academic dissemination, she has promoted China’s practical PE experiences to the world through international journals and publications. In 2018, she published Actual and ideal sources of coaching knowledge of elite Chinese coaches as the first author in the SSCI journal International Journal of Sports Sciences & Coaching, systematically presenting the knowledge acquisition and application models of elite Chinese coaches and providing references for Western academics to understand China’s sports coach development system. In 2016, she also contributed to the English academic book The Psychology of Effective Coaching and Management, where in the chapter “Concept Mapping: Its Use for High Performance Sport Coach Development,” she analyzed the connotation of concept mapping based on literature, compared the advantages of Novak’s (2012) concept mapping method, and provided step-by-step explanations on how sports organizations can apply it to support the professional growth of high-performance coaches. This work offers both theoretical and practical references for relevant practitioners in the international sports field, while also demonstrating the participation of Chinese scholars in this area.
At the same time, she has translated advanced overseas concepts into impetus for local practice. In the Jiangsu Provincial Social Science Fund Project titled “Study on the Enlightenment of Foreign Teachers’ Learning Modes to the Expanded Learning Modes of PE Teachers in Jiangsu Colleges and Universities”, she analyzed the learning modes of PE teachers in Western universities and proposed strategies to address the “decentralized and passive” post-service learning issues of domestic college PE teachers, combined with local realities in Jiangsu. As a key participant in the National Social Science Fund Major Project “Study on the Anti-Doping Legal System and Prevention & Control Mechanism”, she also provided international experience references for the “construction of an anti-doping education system” in the project, based on her observations of Western sports governance during her overseas visits.
In the exchange between Eastern and Western PE, He Chao is not merely a “transmitter,” but a “link” that promotes mutual understanding and in-depth integration between the two sides. She not only enables the international academic community to recognize the characteristics and value of Chinese PE, but also integrates advanced Western experiences with China’s realities, avoiding the mistake of “blind replication.”
Through overseas visits and the publication of international academic achievements, she has broken down information barriers in Eastern and Western PE research: on one hand, the practices she shared regarding Chinese coach development and youth PE have helped Western scholars gain a more comprehensive understanding that Chinese PE is not “results-obsessed,” but combines technical instruction with educational value; on the other hand, the Western teacher learning modes and sports governance experiences she brought back have provided new ideas for the systematic upgrading of Chinese PE.
This “mutual understanding” is particularly evident in her research and teaching: in her research on college PE teacher training, she did not directly replicate Western models, but proposed a localized learning framework combined with the tradition of “collective teaching and research” in Chinese universities; in anti-doping research, she referenced Western legal and educational experiences while grounding her work in the practical foundation of China’s anti-doping efforts, ensuring her research outcomes better align with China’s sports governance needs. This “non-conformist and open-minded” attitude has made her an indispensable connector in the exchange between Eastern and Western PE.
He Chao’s international academic exchange practices have not only brought a global perspective to Chinese PE, but also contributed a Chinese perspective to the global PE community, with its value gradually emerging in local practice and international exchanges.
Looking ahead, based on her existing international academic network and cross-cultural research experience, He Chao will continue to play a role in the exchange between Eastern and Western PE, promoting deeper mutual learning and exchange through more in-depth practice and contributing to the global development of physical education.
(Written by Jessie Epstein)
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