The Xiehe Education Group attaches great importance to the professional development of teachers and strives to improve the quality of education through a variety of channels. On September 19, 2020, Pioneer Curriculum teachers from Shanghai United International School campus came to the Qingpu Campus to participate in the 5th Annual Xiehe Pioneer Curriculum Professional Development Day, engaging in workshops through a combination of online and offline methods.
2020 is destined to be a special year. Without doubt, the sudden COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the transformation of teaching methods in classrooms around the world. Thus, the creation of the theme of “Technology-enabled Learning” for this event came into being: we have all come to realize that the physical space of the classroom can be extended through technology. How to use technology to inspire students and achieve diversified educational goals, though, is a new challenge for educators.
WELCOME SPEECH FROM THE QINGPU CAMPUS
SUIS Qingpu Co-acting Principals
Ms. Sunny Huang and Dr. Adam Neufield
The Co-acting Principals of Qingpu Campus, Ms. Sunny Huang and Dr. Adam Neufield, expressed their sincere welcome to all participating educators. “Technology-enabled Learning” is a most timely theme, given the changes that have taken place in education and our professional experiences over the past eight months. Critical thinking, clear communication, continuous reflection, collaboration, self-direction, research skills, global competencies, and looking at issues from multiple perspectives…these are necessary attributes that many educators would have at the top a list for any student nowadays, and technology can play a large role in developing these things. Once technology is integrated into pedagogy, technology lets all stakeholders — students, teachers, parents — focus on the learning process and growth and not just on the product.
Technology is not only a subject to be learned – it is a tool to be used to support our organization’s and schools’ vision. Integrating technology in what we do as educators, though, is a multistep process that is complex and interdependent. It was our hope and trust that teachers came away from today’s PD event having taken at least a small step towards the innovation that we need to realize in our classrooms.
WELCOME SPEECH FROM XIEHE EDUCATION GROUP
Ms. Maxine Lu, General Principal of the Xiehe Education Group
Ms. Maxine Lu, General Principal of the Xiehe Education Group, opened her speech in an innovative way. During the preparation for this event, she interviewed several SUIS graduate alumni who are about to graduate from college and enter work and society. These young people were invited to share their views on four different issues. First, what are the biggest differences between our two generations? Second, what challenges in adult life are unexpected? Third, if you knew the challenges you would eventually face as an adult, what would you be grateful for from your secondary school education? What would you change? And four, what advice and suggestions do you have for others?
Through the answers these young people provided, we learned that the two generations are facing different challenges. As older parents and teachers, our experiences may not be enough or suitable to guide the current young generation or even the next generation. Even people of the same age have completely different ideas about things.
Looking back at everyone’s school life, much of the knowledge that was at the cutting-edge of different fields soon becomes out-of-date. However, this does not hinder every generation of students from constantly trying to explore, because the ‘cool stuff’ at that time opens up the horizons of young people and gains a huge space for trial and error. As educators, we should constantly understand the real ideas of our students, to not be afraid of new technologies, and to always maintain our original purposes – to make the essence of education ‘human’ and to stimulate students’ humanistic qualities and to be empathetic.
KEYNOTE SPEECH：Tradition and Change: “Student-centered” Technology-enabled Teaching
Professor Shen Fuke
Secretary General of CIO Office, East China Normal University, Professor of The College of Computer Science and Technology
Professor Shen Fuke started his speech illustrating the contradiction between the traditional mode of education and the contemporary model, reminding us about the positive and negative sides of the introduction of technology into education, and sharing with us about the exploration of information technology in the promotion of educational modes.
Technology has changed the traditional education model. In the past, the teacher unilaterally exported knowledge to the students. However, today, students’ knowledge acquisition is no longer limited to the classroom, and students are able to acquire more information on a given topic than teachers can provide. So, how we lead students, help them realize their dreams and achieve more diverse educational goals, is a new challenge for teachers.
Technology has indeed brought good expectations to education, but in the face of reality, there are still areas worthy of progress: improving efficiency and accuracy, realizing educational concepts, returning to the original intention of education, and realizing the sustainability of technological advantages, and more. Because technology-enabled learning has yet to find a perfect answer, it encourages educators to continue to explore and find more and better methods.
PRESENTING CERTIFICATES TO WORKSHOP LEADERS
Mr. Benjamin Jin (Principal from SUIS Pudong) and Ms. Erica Luo (Vice-principal from SUIS Hongqiao) presented certificates to Workshop Leaders from our Pudong and Hongqiao Campuses.
Ms. Xiaojuan Bian (Vice-principal from SUIS Wanyuan) and Ms. Frances Bruce (researcher from the Xiehe Education Group) presented certificates to Workshop Leaders from the Wanyuan Campus.
Ms. Flora Zhang (Vice-principal from SUIS Wenzhou) and Ms. Helen Chi (Vice-principal from SUIS Hefei) presented certificates to Workshop Leaders from our Qingpu and Hefei Campuses.
Workshop Leaders from our Wuxi and Xiamen Campuses delivered their workshops online…technology-enabled learning!
Throughout the day, workshops were held in every corner of the Qingpu Campus. Workshop leaders provided sessions drawing from their own teaching subjects and fields of expertise, designed novel and interesting theme-based activities, shared discussions with colleagues from other Xiehe campuses, and sparked creative ideas through lively discussions.
《Making your teaching more efficient with time management》, 《Feeling the power of group-teaching through women’s group dancing》, 《Micro-video “moves” – Maths Cheese》, 《When film meets writing》, 《AI around us》… There were many creative workshops, covering Chinese, mathematics, English, inquiry, science, general education, P4C, psychology, music, art, sports, and IT, all combining current hotspots with cutting-edge educational strategies, and trying to inject new elements and ideas into teaching.
Xiehe Education will continue to lead our achievements with a global vision and continue to promote who we are. During this process, Xiehe Education will provide more diverse training opportunities for each teacher and each campus, fostering more collaboration and preparing more teachers to step on to larger stages.
