To thoroughly study and implement the guiding principles of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Chin (CPC), carry out the directives of the National Conference on Education, enhance the teaching abilities of teachers of Preschool Education and Primary School Education within the open education system, and promote the high-quality development of majors related to education, the OUC School of Education held a teaching seminar on the majors of Preschool Education and Primary School Education in Hefei from 10 to 11 October 2024.
The event featured the release of books showcasing the outstanding case works of teachers and students, specialised lectures, experience sharing by award-winning teachers and students, and discussions on programme development. A total of 95 leaders and teachers of the related programmes from 39 branches, schools, and the headquarters’ School of Education across the country participated in the seminar. The event was hosted by Zhang Xia, dean of the School of Education at the headquarters.
At the event, several books featuring outstanding practical works by faculty and students from the education programmes at the OUC were released, including “Compilation of Case Studies on Curriculum-Based Ideological and Political Education: Education Programmes (Volume 2)”, “Collection of Cases of Outstanding Practical Works by Students Majoring in Preschool Education”, and “Collection of Teaching Design Cases by Students Majoring in Pedagogy”.
Award-winning teachers and students from various branches shared their insights and experiences in areas such as curriculum-based ideological and political education design, and the discussion and refinement of student works for competition.
To enhance teachers' digital literacy and subject-specific expertise, the event invited Professor Li Bin from Anhui Open University (OU) and Associate Professor Hua Wei from the Department of Primary School Education at Nanjing Normal University's School of Education Science to give presentations. Li Bin’s lecture was rich and cutting-edge, covering concepts related to artificial intelligence (AI), methods for utilising generative AI to support teaching and research work, and techniques for building intelligent Q&A systems for courses. Hua Wei vividly explained the foundational logic of adult learning science, the key principles of designing instruction tailored to adult learners, and shared typical cases of instructional design.
During the programme development discussion session, leaders of all programmes exchanged views on various topics, including updates on programme development, train of thought for teaching reform, student financial aid projects, and the evaluation and progress of new programme development.
Zhang Xia delivered the closing remarks. She expressed her hope that through this teaching seminar, faculty members of the education programmes at open universities would focus on the two major propositions of the time: "building a leading country in education, the role of open universities" and "building a learning society, the role of open universities." She emphasised the urgency and responsibility of deepening comprehensive education reform, urged participants to earnestly study and implement the guiding principles of the National Conference on Education, and vigorously promote and practise the "spirit of educators". Access to high-quality teacher education resources must be expanded continuously to improve the level of public services for lifelong learning for teachers in China, contributing the strength of open universities to building a leading country in education.
The theme of this teaching seminar was clear with rich content, providing a comprehensive summary of the phased progress made in the programmes of Primary School Education and Preschool Education at the OUC. Teachers from both the headquarters and branches exchanged valuable insights on topics such as optimising the layout of teacher education disciplines, accelerating the development of in-demand programmes, and deepening teaching reforms. These discussions will help advance the specialised teaching reform, and promote the high-quality development of education-related programmes.
Written by Zhang Fa, Photo by He Jiaqi, OUC