To help implement the Development Plan for the Elderly Education (2016-2020), address the problem of an aging population, and meet the diverse learning needs of the elderly, the OUC is setting up a pilot Painting and Calligraphy degree programme for older adults. On the morning of5th July, 2018, the first meeting on the construction of this programme was held at the OUC headquarters.

Researcher Zhang Zhihe of the Palace Museum Research Institute and Prof. Xu Zhan of the Academy of Chinese Culture; Hui Chunru, vice president of the Beijing Oriental University for Older Women; Hou Yanhua, director of the Art Department of the Beijing Open University, and associate professor; Wang Tianhua, president of the Xicheng branch of the Beijing Open University, and associate professor; Jiang Wei of the Fengtai Workers University, and Xu Zijun of the Tianjin RTVU, attended the meeting.

Vice president of the OUC Liu Chen pointed out at the meeting that the OUC’s degree education for the elderly is an innovative way of serving not only them but society as a whole. It differs considerably from ordinary academic education. In terms of subject design, the situation and needs of the elderly need to be considered, and the criteria for graduation need to be adjusted, with students only required to complete the core credits, and a large number of electives being available to them. The curriculum design should be more flexible, and diverse learning styles should be catered to. The academic system must be flexible, and credits have indefinite validity. The main goal of such adjustments is to ensure a relatively relaxed learning environment, and to enable them to enjoy their studies.

Xie Laiyi, director of the Office of the Open University for Older Adults, and Tang Yingshan, director of the OUC Faculty of Art Education, introduced the plan for constructing degree education for the elderly, and for the calligraphy and freehand flower-and-bird painting courses.

The experts conducted in-depth discussion of the construction of the programme. In their view, calligraphy and freehand flower-and-bird painting will see huge demand from a wide range of older people. A variety of aspects were considered, including distance education, the credit system, the relation between course construction and teaching objectives, and specific problems such as curriculum design, teaching methods, resource construction, thesis evaluation, credit replacement, tuition fees, and others.

                                                                                                                                                                                 By Zhang Xiangyu, OUC