On October 19, 2024, the 2024 Xiehe Cross-Campus Autumn Teachers Professional Development Day was successfully held. Xiehe Education organizes three cross-campus teachers professional development days each year, with the autumn session open to both domestic and international teachers from all Xiehe primary and secondary school campuses. The event typically gathers over a thousand participants and aims to comprehensively discuss current educational challenges and developments, making it a grand educational carnival for the Xiehe Education. The cross-campus autumn professional development day usually includes expert keynote speeches, SUIS Talks, peer workshops from Xiehe campuses, and theme exchanges with industry partners.
This PD day event was organized by the School Management Department of Xiehe Education Center and the Shanghai Cross-culture Research Center of Basic Education, and hosted by Shanghai United International School Wanyuan Campus (main venue) and Shanghai United International School Gubei Campus (sub venue). The theme of the PD day is “Disciplinary and Pedagogical Enhancement in the contexts of Science and Technology Development.” At the Wanyuan main venue, Secretary of the CPC United Party Branch of Xiehe Education Ms. Liqiang Wang, Vice Chairperson of Xiehe Education Ms. Zhao Xia, General Principal of Xiehe Education Ms. Maxine Lu, Supervising Principal of SMD Mr. Alex Shen, with 38 school principal-level leaders from 11 SUIS campuses, attended the event in person. A total of over 1,200 domestic and international teachers participated in the two venues.
Opening Speech
At the Wanyuan main venue, the morning session was hosted by and began with an opening speech from General Principal Maxine Lu. She began her speech by mentioning the sweeping influence of AI technology and its application in winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in natural sciences. After sharing the good news of being a grandmother to a baby who is to be born in 2025, she proposed the following questions to all the participants: In the face of rapid scientific and technological development and the increasing maturity of AI technology, what kind of education should we provide for the children of the new era? How should it be provided? What knowledge, skills, and competencies should our kindergartens and primary and secondary schools cultivate in children to enable them to master increasingly intelligent technologies, and then coexist, cooperate, and work harmoniously with them? Her engaging speech was met with rounds of applause and laughter.
Keynote Speeches
Two experts, one domestic and one international, in the field of integrating artificial intelligence and education, presented insights on cutting-edge international educational research and the prospects of applying technological achievements in education in China.
Dr. Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin, Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Educational Research and Innovation at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), was unable to attend in person due to a scheduling conflict and therefore sent a video speech in advance titled “Fostering Student Creativity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” He cited a survey on CEO and HR in large multinational companies to demonstrate that fostering creativity and critical thinking is a trend for the future society.
He believes that creativity is a skill that can be enhanced through training and education, and competencies such as creativity, critical thinking, and empathetic thinking can typically be developed through both courses and activities. For school education, he suggested offering specific courses focused on cultivating skills like creativity, but emphasized that it is more important to integrate the cultivation of creativity and critical thinking into all subjects. Using case studies from projects in music subject and interdisciplinary projects on historical events, he demonstrated how to design lessons and projects to foster student creativity through lesson plans, assessment rubrics, and etc.
Mr. Shi Yongze, General Manager of the Education Business Group Solution Consulting at iFlytek Co., Ltd., Vice Dean of the AI Application Research Institute, and Senior Researcher at the Intelligent Education Research Center of the National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Intelligence, delivered an on-site speech titled “Artificial Intelligence Empowering High-Quality Educational Development in the Era of Large Models”.
He mentioned that amidst the global wave of developing AI and large model technology, the Chinese Ministry of Education has implemented several policies to promote the integration of AI with education. Companies like iFlytek and Huawei have collaborated with the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences to jointly explore “new models of educational development in the era of large models.” Regarding how large models can empower high-quality educational development, iFlytek proposed three major dimensions based on school development: Empowering Teaching—Intelligent “Teaching”, Empowering Development—Intelligent “Education”, and Empowering Management—Intelligent “Management”. iFlytek aims to “Let education benefit from technology by reducing burdens and increasing efficiency Leverage AI to empower high-quality development in education”.
SUIS Talk
Ms. Catherine Qin of SMD hosted the “SUIS Talk”.
Maggie Zhang from the SUIS Shangyin Campus presented “One Day in Ding Ding’s Life.”
Joe Zhu from the SUIS Qingpu Campus shared “My Love-Hate with AI.”
Sam Solomon from the SUIS Wanyuan Campus delivered “Digital Technology and Artificial Intelligence: New Thinking and Strategies.”
The engaging performances by these three SUIS teachers shared their experiences and insights on using AI and other information technologies in the classroom, showcasing their exploration in teaching and learning innovation. They provided enriching inspiration and learning resources for attendees, facilitating thought assembly and inspiring new ideas.
The afternoon session featured workshops prepared by Xiehe teachers. These workshops covered a wide range of professional fields, offered a rich variety of topics, and were highly practical in content. The over 50 workshops spanned all basic educational levels from preschool, primary school, middle school, to high school. Centered around the theme of this PD day, the workshops covers topics of information technology, subject areas such as Chinese, mathematics, English, science, biology, chemistry, economics, music, art, psychology, and physical education, and interdisciplinary topics such as teaching and learning strategies (such as P4C, bilingual co-teaching, inquiry), student assessment, moral education/student pastoral, interdisciplinary learning (such as DT, biochemical), and transition from kindergarten to primary school.
Workshop leaders from each campus made thorough preparations for sharing at this event. Through the workshops, both domestic and international teachers shared their expertise in specific or interdisciplinary subjects, as well as the use of AI and other technological tools in the classroom and administrative management. Some workshop leaders even spontaneously established cross-campus networks based on the same theme or subject.
Theme Exchange
In the afternoon, industry partners of Xiehe Education conducted theme exchanges and exhibitions for the participants. These included “The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award and Holistic Education” by the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award China, ” Introduction on Xiehe Education Overseas Tour Studies” by Zhiku Education, “Analyzing Study Abroad Trends Based on Undergraduate Admission Data from Overseas Universities” by Yi Xiao, and “Artificial Intelligence Technology Empowering Smart Digital Campuses: Examples from iFLYTEK’s Educational Products (Smart Teaching Display Device, Intelligent Grading Machine, Psychological Companion) by iFLYTEK.
In this era of rapid change, the integration of education with technology, including AI, will demonstrate limitless possibilities. The Xiehe Cross-Campus Autumn Teachers Professional Development Day offered a full day of activities that included theory, practice, fun, professionalism, cross-disciplinary elements, and exchanges. Xiehe teachers actively participated, delved into learning, and enthusiastically shared their insights. It is hoped that they will apply the new knowledge and concepts to teaching practices and student development, working together to create a bright future for Xiehe Education.