In June 1999, the Ministry of Education authorised the OUC (former CCRTVU) to implement the CCRTVU “Pilot Programme for the Reform of Learner Development and Open Education” in the form of a research project. Primary School Education was included in the first programme, and enrollment in the junior-college programme began in the spring of 2000. Over the past ten years, advances have been made in on-the-job teacher training and the instruction corresponding to it in order to meet the requirements of the programme, carry out in-depth research and implementation, and promote smooth and sound development. The skills taught are highly valued by employers.
From the outset, the pilot programme has operated under the direction of the Ministry of Education, and cooperated closely with the National Teacher Education Network Alliance.
I. Training Objectives
The Primary School Education junior-college programme aims to train educators to meet the needs of socialist education ideologically, intellectually and physically. Those seeking such training are mainly primary-school teachers with secondary normal education and some teaching experience. The programme helps them obtain a junior-college degree in Primary-school Education, and to improve the quality of their teaching.
The course objective is to train students to support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and to love socialism and the cause of the peoples’ education; to work hard at studying Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, and Deng Xiaoping Theory; to understand the perspective of dialectical materialism and learn to analyze and solve problems with it; and to behave ethically.
The students are taught basic theories, knowledge and skills, as well as cultural literacy, and the achievements of modern sciences and technology; to think correctly about education, master modern educational and information technology, and understand the laws related to education; to have the ability to deliver high-quality education on the basis of advanced theories and methods, to undertake both teaching and research, and to continue growing; and to have sound mental and physical health and correct aesthetic standards.
II. Teaching Team
The OUC Primary School Education programme has a staff of 12 tutors, including 10 full-time teachers from within the faculty and 3 part-time teachers from other departments; 3 professors and 7 associate professors, 5 teachers with doctorates; 360 tutors from 41 provincial branches who work full-time in the programme, including 102 with senior professional titles and 218 with associate titles; and about 500 part-time tutors from local universities and colleges. The programme leaders are renowned experts in Chinese education: professors Gu Mingyuan, Gu Lingyuan, and Hui Zhong. The experts invited to work as editors-in-chief and lecturers in the core courses include Gu Lingyuan, Guo Dejun, Hui Zhong, Wang Yichuan, Zhong Zurong, Peng Jixiang, Yuan Jun, Zhang Shunyan, Qi Huyang, Wu Ligang, Yang Qingyu, Ma Yunpeng, Shen Chuanfu, and Xie Liming.
III. Course system and resources
The core courses of this programme include Introduction to Modern Teachers, Educational Research Methods, Elementary-school Educational Psychology, Fundamentals of the Natural Sciences, Fundamentals of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Aesthetics and Aesthetic Education, and Classroom Questioning and Guidance, while electives include Literature for Children, Foreign Literature, Modern Chinese, and Introduction to Mental-health Education.
The degree-course resources of the programme include printed teaching materials, audio-visual materials, online courses and IP courseware, and learning is supported in an all-round way. Several high-quality course resources have been produced. Introduction to Modern Teachers was named a national-level online “exquisite resource-sharing course” in 2014, and the two courses Aesthetics and Aesthetic Education and Fundamentals of the Natural Sciences were named OUC “quality online courses”.