How do educators win at the starting line?

Teaching is for the sake of not having to teach, that is to say, we as teachers aim to guide pupils, to make them capable of independent study, and to empower them to lifelong learning.

—Ye Shengtao, Chinese educator

---

What is education per se? What is inspiring learning and teaching? These are probably questions raised by many educators in China.

Education always attracts public attention. Posts such as those titled “Children in China are changing, but their teachers and parents still are stagnant” and “education worldwide is a competitive terrain” are common WeChat Moments. Is the education landscape in China truly changing so swiftly?

In fact, education in China has changed significantly, from reciting textbooks and undertaking exercises in order to meet the challenges of public examinations through to bilingualism as a requisite and a focus on pupil wellbeing. Currently, attention is being paid to holistic education; a focus on developing each individual child to effectively engage in the world they live through providing a range of stimulating learning opportunities including from core curriculum along with equal opportunities for performance, the arts and physical development along with a focus on pupil wellbeing, independence, moral and social development.

 

More and more schools are exploring and implementing a holistic education model. The key of this approach to education is the well trained bilingual teachers. Many educators in China have realised the necessary changes promoted and are eager to embrace the challenges. As it is known that the best way to adapt to the change is embracing the change. However, change is not easy, perhaps due to all or some of the points listed below:

• Few institutions offer personal-tailored professional learning and training

A sense of professionalism makes educators eager to learn and improve. However, current professional learning programmes are rarely aligned to the philosophy or skill development required to offer a truly holistic education. What teachers need is a personal-tailored and comprehensive training covering educational theories through to practical application. Challenges include:

• Experts in the field of professional learning and training

An expert leading solely in a specific field probably is not able to deliver trainings in professional learning and development in education, especially in international and bilingual education. The expert must have experience in international and bilingual education, knowledge and expertise in current educational research and apply this through theory and practice.

 

The Huili Institute of Learning is established under such background with aims to essentially challenge the existing schools to be the best they possibly could be, through developing leadership, professional learning and training opportunities for the existing staff within the group, and also through research. The team consists of many experts in the specific fields, including, leadership, English language acquisition, early years education, research projects and mathematics.

 

As the school group strengthened and grew in terms of capacity, the aim was always not simply an excellent group of schools, but to learn from and contribute to education in China and to enhance collaboration with educators in China and make commitment to the development of international and bilingual education. The Huili Institute of Learning aims to:

• Offer professional learning and training opportunities for educators.

• Establish professional learning and development community and move education forward with high impact training and learning opportunities.

•  Help educators establish ideas in international and bilingual education for educators to adapt to the changing landscape of international and bilingual education in China.

The Inspiring Learning Conference will be host by the Huili Institute of Learning on 26^th & 27^th January in Tianjin. This is a great opportunity to have experts, school leaders and educators discuss together on international and bilingual education.

 

In the current market, there are lots of educational conference and seminars in which attendees see more than 20 speakers randomly in a single day. But the presentation only covers the general outlines of the topic and attendee is unable to hold deep discussions which result in limited learning acquisition. The Inspiring Learning Conference host in Tianjin on 26th & 27th January will be different.

First, the conference starts with keynote speeches followed by extended workshops on specific topics. Attendees can choose a specific topic and join workshops on three to four topics over the weekend. After the whole weekend study, participants will have an in-depth understanding in certain area.

Next, speakers are leaders in the fields of international and bilingual education, Dr Ahmed Hussain, Senior Director of Academics from Wellington College China, Dr Terry Qian from Moonshot Academy, Iain Henderson, Deputy Head from Wellington College, and Professor Stuart Kime from Durham University.

Last, there are four main themes in the conference:

• Well-developed education assessment framework
• Promoting pupil independence
• Mathematics teaching
• Education research methodology

The Inspiring Learning Conference in Tianjin on 26^th & 27^th January 2019 will focus on the change of education landscape in China and the current themes in education. It offers a transformational professional learning and training opportunity. You are most welcomed to register and be part of this inspiring event.