GDUFS International Teachers Forum Held

On the afternoon of May 26^th, the First GDUFS International Teachers Forum was held in the International Conference Hall of the Administration Building on the North Campus. Sponsored by the Office of International Communication and Exchange and the Academic Programmes Division, this forum invited international experts and representatives of relevant departments to exchange their ideas of education based on the forum theme: Global Perspectives on the Quality of Undergraduate Education.

About 100 experts and representatives attended the forum

JIAO Fangtai, Vice President of GDUFS, delivered a speech for the opening ceremony. He pointed out that, in 2016, long-term international teachers have accounted for over ten percent of the total number of teachers at GDUFS, which highlights our university’s international characteristics. To enhance the teaching level and promote mutual communication among the teachers, GDUFS annually presents awards to model teachers for their outstanding performance. Besides, special funds have also been set up to help international teachers carry out their research projects, and culture salons have also been held to promote mutual communication. JIAO stated that with all these efforts, GDUFS has made great achievements, and this forum was another significant step to encourage thought collisions and further cultural understanding.

JIAO Fangtai recalled the achievements in the past and emphasised the importance of the forum

As the organisers of the forum, the Faculty of Asian Languages and Cultures (FALC) and the School of Interpreting and Translation Studies (SITS) made great efforts during the preparation process. CHEN Duoyou, Dean of FALC, and ZHAO Junfeng, Dean of SITS, also gave speeches in which they recalled the achievements gained in the past and wished the forum a success.

At the forum, many international teachers expressed their ideas of education based on their teaching experience. Timothy Craig Huson, a teacher from the School of English Education, addressed the importance of classic (Greek and Chinese) notions of education as inner enlightenment and activation of one’s own inner critical faculty. He mentioned that, nowadays, teachers themselves tend to be mere tools for applying theories cooked up elsewhere, rather than drawing their methods of teaching from their own classroom experience; and the goals given to students amount to reciting and regurgitating other theories from outside, rather than awakening students’ own capacity for critically thinking and learning for themselves. Therefore, he believed that it is necessary to teach students to be more prepared to function as an independently thinking member of a free society.

Vivik, an Indian teacher from the Faculty of Asian Languages and Cultures, also shared his experience of teaching Hindi. He attached great importance to building a rapport with students, encouraging students’ answering of questions and enhancing the practicality and diversity of classes. He said that it is necessary for international teachers to know more about their Chinese students and adapt to the current situation of Chinese classes. Only in this way can they know what students need and find out the suitable teaching methods.

16 international teachers from 12 countries delivered speeches

At the closing ceremony of the forum, YUAN Changqing, Director of the Academic Progammes Division and CAI Hong, Director of the Office of International Communication and Exchange, gave speeches to express their thanks for international teachers’ participation at the forum. CAI Hong said in her speech: “we heard different voices today and thanks to these voices, all of us felt a harmonious atmosphere here. The forum showed that integrating international teachers into the university and driving up academic standards are always our striving directions. ”

Group photo of the attendees of the forum