FOCAL POINTS

Thirty-eight professors, teachers and school principals (including 6 from the USA, 7 from within mainland China, and 8 from Taiwan) were invited to give presentations in the series of activities. In addition, 16 American students from the Associated College in China (ACC) and 13 graduate students from the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences also participated in these events. The presentations covered topics ranging from scientific knowledge, education concepts and theories, strategies and experience in education delivery, case study analyses and demonstrations. All the presenters were volunteers and did not receive any remuneration for their services.

Among the 800 or so participants, 205 were invited by ESS. They included principals and core teachers from rural schools in 17 provinces.

The 45th ESS Basic Education Conference, July 14-17, 2009

The 2009 Conference, jointly sponsored by ESS and the Education Bureau of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was organized by the Guangxi Teachers Education University (GTEU). Cooperating institutions included the National Education Committee and the Guangxi Regional Committee of the China Democratic League, the ACC, the University of Washington (Seattle, Washington, USA), the K. P. Tin Foundation (Hong Kong), and the Hsin-Yi Foundation (Taiwan).

Typical of mid-summer weather in Guangxi, temperatures soared well above 35° centigrade and the humidity was extremely high throughout the period of the Conference. The GTEU, where the conference was held, had no air conditioning. Yet the 800-seat assembly hall was surprisingly fully packed, and despite the sweltering heat no one left midway through the presentations. One could not but wonder how keenly teachers at the grassroots aspire to learn new ideas and concepts.

In their speeches during the brief opening ceremony in the morning of July 14th, both the Guangxi education leadership and Mr. Li Chong-an (Deputy Chairman of the China Democratic League) stressed the importance of education not only in the life of the individual but also in social progress and national development. They encouraged the participants to set good examples, be assiduous and persevering in carrying out their work in the education field. They expressed their hope that the conference participants would study hard to upgrade their skills and improve the quality of education. They also highly commended the work of ESS over the years.

Dr. Lung-Ching Chiao, Vice President of ESS, said that overseas Chinese communities were deeply concerned about basic education in rural China, and harbored great hopes for the development and future prospects of the Chinese people. She pledged that, with cooperation from everyone, ESS would continue to work hard to help improve the quality of basic education in China.

During the 4-day conference from July 14 to 17, lectures open to all participants were delivered in the morning sessions. The topics included "the application of learning theory and strategies in teaching," presented by Professor Honggang Jin (Hamilton College); "a comparison of teaching and management in middle and high schools in the US and China, from the viewpoint of secondary school principals," presented by Professor Xuejian Yu (Stonehill College); and a series of presentations by Professor Lan Hong (Director, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University, Taiwan), using neuroscience to help interpret the relationship between the brain and education, understand the process and the importance of learning how to read, and reinforce effective changes in student behavior.

To many principals and teachers, these presentations were eye openers, covering topics from theory to practice, with information they found totally new and inspiring. Wei, a GTEU teacher, said that the university also offered courses on pedagogy and psychology, but studying the learning process from the viewpoint of neuroscience was for them a completely new approach. A GTEU student, Li, who took the opportunity to attend the conference activities, found the presentations lively, practical and useful.

Afternoon sessions were arranged under five different themes: school management, math education, reading education, pre-school education, and the personal experiences of American students in primary and high schools in the US. Each theme was covered in seven sessions, providing a rich source of information.

The school management sessions had the largest group of participants, consisting of principals, administrative personnel and core teachers from primary and secondary schools all over China. Ms. Norma Zavala (Seattle Public School, Washington), Professor Xuejian Yu (Stonehill College), Mr. Weizhong Zhang, Ms. Yunting Zhu and Ms Guixiang Chen (teachers from Taiwan), together with several principals from secondary schools in Beijing, Tianjin, Nanning, and Hunan, made presentations and led discussions on a variety of topics, including: the value of education, the modes of leadership, the evaluation and selection of teachers, the building up of the corps of teachers, and comparison of teaching and management in secondary schools in China and the US.

Participants commented that the topics of discussion were closely related to their daily work and that the presentations provided useful guidance and reference. Li Ziyuan, a guidance counselor from a K-12 school with over 6,000 students in Deyang City (Sichuan Province), observed that teachers were keenly aware of the rapid changes in knowledge structure and felt they could no longer simply rely on experience. In order to bridge the ever widening generation gap, teachers must continuously learn new tricks. He found the presentations at the conference immensely relevant -- for example, Mr. Liu Changming, principal of No. 4 Secondary School in Beijing, provided pioneering examples for the rest of the country; and the situations presented by the teachers from Taiwan were likely to be encountered by teachers on the mainland. Gao Lilin, from Fenglin School in De'an County (Jiangxi Province), referred to Principal Liu's presentation on the value of school education, saying that it helped strengthen his belief that education should make current society more refined. Zhang Jizhong, a teacher from Shiling Junior Secondary School in Yanjiang District (Ziyang County, Sichuan Province), was deeply impressed by Principal Ma Anjian's experience amidst unfavorable circumstances, successfully turning a rural school in Hunan Province into a continuous learning center for the community.

The math education sessions were led by Professor Wu-Teh Hsiang from the US and Professor Shou-Rong Qiu from Taiwan. Participants were math teachers from primary and secondary schools. The lively sessions covered an interesting array of issues and activities, including the comparison of concepts in math teaching in China and in the West, reasoning techniques in number guessing, chitchatting in the world of decimals, analysis of specific teaching methods, and demonstration lessons with student participation. References were made to mathematics geniuses and military strategists that straddled over centuries in the east and west, from Han Xin in the Han Dynasty and Yang Hui in Southern Sung dynasty, to Pascal and Euler in 17th and 18th century Europe. Sweating in the airless classroom, the speakers were meticulous in their presentations while the listeners took careful notes. Wu, a ninth-grade teacher from Hechi School in Guangxi, said that the greatest lesson he learned was how to lead the students in class giving full play to their personality and capacity. He appreciated the methods to enliven the classroom, but feared that the current emphasis on examination results in schools would leave the teacher little time to put such methods into practice.

The reading education sessions started with Professor Debao Xu of Hamilton University making a presentation on "the relationship between the study of ancient Chinese culture and students' capacity to read and write." This was followed by Professor Mary Clevenger-Bright's introduction to "the challenges, methods and considerations in teaching students to read in American schools". Then, Ms. Guixiang Chen, Ms. Yunting Zhu and Mr. Weizhong Zhang presented the experience of reading promotion in Taiwan schools, and led discussions on "the concept of reading and teaching," "the design of school-based reading curriculum," "teaching reading in the classroom," and "administrative considerations in promoting reading in schools". The participants valued the detailed and thoughtful teaching arrangements and methods presented to them. They reflected that, much as they understood the importance of reading, yet under the pressure to maintain or increase admission rates in schools, they could not find the time or the resources to help train the students to read. They hoped that with education reform and the promotion of quality education in China, school children would gradually receive a more broad-based and solid basic education.

Pre-school education sessions were planned and led by Ms. Bizhu Wen (Hsin-Yi Foundation, Taiwan), together with Ms. Zhou Lian (Deputy Director, Nanjing No. 1 Kindergarten) and Professor Hou Limin (Director, Department of Pre-School Education, GTEU). They presented several aspects of the issues related to early childhood education -- "kindergarten culture and management", "reading at an early stage in the classroom", and "cultural adaptation and the selection of kindergarten curriculum". They elaborated on the importance of building a good foundation for a child's life through good management, curriculum selection and specific teaching methods. On the last day, many teachers voiced their views during the session, "Let's Talk". They agreed that early childhood education was very important to the life-long development of students, and what they had learned during the conference sessions would help guide them in their future work.

The sessions on personal experiences in American education consisted of presentations by 16 American students. They introduced various aspects of the life of students in American schools, around such topics as "nurturing reading skills", "scientific experiments in the classroom", "promoting peer coaching and interactive modes of learning among students", "extracurricular activities and internship", "promoting public service and environmental awareness", etc. Participants were not only amazed at the ability of the American students to speak perfect Chinese, but also very much interested in the issues they presented. Zhou, a GTEU student, said that these presentations were inspiring in that they introduced some issues completely new to education workers in China.

Conference Evaluation. In the closing ceremony on the last day, participants gave positive overall evaluation of the basic education conference. They appreciated the rich information covered in the presentations and discussions, and felt that they had not only broadened their horizons but also learned practical teaching skills and experience. Brief summaries of the presentations and discussions in each of the group sessions were given by the group representatives. The leadership from the Guangxi Education Bureau thanked the ESS and the overseas presenters for coming all the way to China to help improve the quality of basic education.

ESS received over 200 feedback questionnaires from participants, which would provide valuable references for planning future conferences.

Suggestions from ESS provincial representatives. At the work group discussions for provincial representatives, Ms. Nie Xiuxiang (Deputy Director, Sichuan Association of Science and Technology) said that China should put more emphasis on "education software", and felt that the impact of training programs such as those provided in the ESS workshops and conferences would be larger and more profound than what could be achieved through the provision of books. Some ESS representatives said that, as many teachers who participated in the workshops and conferences in previous years had shared their experiences with fellow teachers at home, a multiplying effect had been achieved. Some representatives suggested that DVDs of future conferences and workshops should be produced and distributed so that the training could benefit a larger number of teachers. Other suggestions included: the development of training programs on the Internet, and the expansion of training to include the participation of administrative leadership at the county level. For some localities, the financial burden of organizing participation in the conferences and workshops each year was quite heavy, and they wondered if such large scale activities should be held every two years instead, to be supplemented by training programs on the Internet each year. Some provinces expressed their hope to co-sponsor future conferences and workshops, which they believed would help promote and improve the quality of education in their provinces.