“For ordinary teachers, although we don't control the destiny of the Open University of China (OUC), we can try our best to march towards our dream of the OUC in our heart. In the process, we can play a valuable role as teachers of the OUC, feeling a sense of self-satisfaction, and undertake the responsibility of the OUC in the name of the teachers!”
At the awards ceremony and the meeting held by the OUC to celebrate the 2014 Teachers’ Day on 9 September, Sun Mei from the School of Education gave a speech on behalf of the awarded teachers, expressing the aspirations of all teaching and administrative staff.
The OUC leaders Li Ling, Yan Bing, Zhang Hui, Li Linshu, Zhang Shaogang, Liu Chen, Yang Xiaotang and the entire teaching and administrative staff attended the meeting. Staff members who have worked at the university for 30 years and those who won honors in such aspects as resources construction, scientific research, and teaching management from the year 2013-2014 became the most beautiful “scenery” at the meeting.
In order to carry forward the Chinese nation’s fine traditions of respecting teachers, valuing education, and enhancing the teachers’ feeling of glory, responsibility, and mission in contribution to the country’s open education cause, the OUC awarded 39 teachers and staff members who have worked at the university for 30 years. Vice President of the OUC Yan Bing read the names of the award winners, wishing that the awarded teachers and staff could continue to play an exemplary role in making new contributions to the OUC’s construction and development. He hoped that all teaching and administrative staff would imitate the awarded staff, love and respect their posts, forge ahead, and do their utmost to make contributions to the development of the university. Two representatives of those who received awards, Liu Zhimin from Learner Support Centre (Student Affairs Department) and Wei Jie from the OUC Multimedia Centre, affectionately reminisced about their detailed work experience with the China Central Radio and TV University (CCRTVU, now OUC) over 30 years, and expressed their lofty sentiments and aspirations as employees of the OUC.
During the 2013-2014 academic year, centring on the construction of the university, the OUC’s teachers made positive contributions to educational and teaching reform and made outstanding achievements in course development, teaching resource construction, scientific research, and so on. Eight courses, including “Economic Math Base”, were rated as “State-level Excellent Resource Sharing Course (online courses)”; Eight courses, including “Secretary Practice”, were rated as “2013 Excellent Teaching Material of Beijing”; Three courses, including “Features of Modern Chinese”, were rated as 2014 Excellent Course of the OUC. “Construction and Practice of Distance Teaching Public Service System” and “Practice and Exploration of Distance Education Model for Non-commissioned Officer — ‘6N51’ Education System Innovation of Military-civilian Integration” were awarded first prize and second prize, respectively, in the Seventh Higher Education Teaching Results Award in 2013; Research Report on Chinese Distance Higher Education Development (2012) and Research on Chinese Higher Engineering Continuing Education Structure won first prize in excellent investigation reports in the Ninth Chinese Adult Education Excellent Scientific Research Achievements Evaluation; Five essays, including “China Open University System and Mechanism Study”, won first prize in excellent essays. Du Ruo from the Department of Teaching Resources Management was named “2013 Beijing Advanced Individual of Construction Work of Higher Education Teaching Materials”, and Li Jing from the Development and Planning Departmen was named “2013 Beijing Excellent Individual of Statistical Work of Education Cause”. The OUC Vice President Zhang Shaogang announced the award winners. On behalf of the awarded employees, Sun Mei from the School of Educational made a speech, expressing “undertaking the responsibility of the OUC in the name of the teachers”, which garnered loud applause from all teaching and administrative staff.
A short movie, “I Am Proud of Being a Teacher at the OUC”, was played during the awards ceremony. In the movie, the teaching and administrative staff who silently struggle to support all fields of the OUC including teaching, scientific research, and management related in simple words the progress and development of the university, giving voice to their sincerest aspirations.
Party Secretary of the OUC, Li Ling, delivered the concluding remarks. On behalf of the leadership of the university, he paid highest tribute and expressed festive greetings to all teaching and administrative staff leading the way in teaching, scientific research, management, and service, and those retired old comrades who had made outstanding contributions to the university’s construction, reform, and development over the years. Li Ling pointed out that today’s achievements obtained by the university are inseparable from the unswerving and persistent exploration and practice of several generations of RTVU staff, from the silent work and selfless dedication of tens of thousands of full-time and part-time teachers in the organizational system of the OUC. Their professional dedication and determined spirit for the cause of open and distance education show that these employees are the most valuable resource in the university. He hoped that all people could learn from them, and promote this kind of spirit, so that it can be passed on to a new generation and be eternally renewed. He also hoped that the entire staff could heighten their sense of responsibility and the continuing mission of constructing the OUC.
Li Ling noted that, under the joint effort of all teaching and administrative staff, the construction of the OUC was off to a good start and made steady progress. The embryo of a new-style university has begun to take shape, laying a solid foundation for the further development of the university. However, the development of the university still faces difficulties and challenges, with arduous innovating and development tasks still ahead. He hoped that leaders from all levels could perform their roles and undertake their respective duties, and that all teaching and administrative staff could build a consensus, sincerely cooperating with each other so as to push forward every aspect of the work.
Li Ling emphasized that one crucial factor in building a high-level open university lies in the construction of a team of teachers with reasonable structure and fine quality, a team that loves the open and distance education cause. It was necessary to set up and perfect all kinds of incentive mechanisms step by step and to try to create a good environment for all teachers to excel in their job and showcase their talents. And at the same time, teachers should adapt to the needs of a learning society, continuously perfecting their own knowledge, enhancing teaching ability and the capability to use information technology to carry out open and distance education, further establishing the school's management and service philosophy of keeping the learner as the core, and do their utmost to become the model of loving and respecting their jobs, engaging in humble hard work, and making positive contributions.
Li Ling stated his belief that as long as all staff keep and carry forward the pragmatic spirit of RTVU staff, further free their own thinking, and dare to be enterprising and innovate, that this will definitely result in the development and creation of a new OUC.
To celebrate the 30th Teachers’ Day, the OUC also held the third information technology teaching application show. More than 40 items were collected to show the positive exploration and achievements made in pushing forward the deep integration of information and teaching by the OUC’s staff. OUC Peking Opera Club gave its first performance, and the operatic masters both inside and outside the university performed on the stage in succession, which contributed a great deal to a happy atmosphere for this Teachers’ Day.
By Jin Hongyu, the OUC