On July 16, 2015, "the Fifth Forum on the Cultivation of International Chinese Teachers" was held in Beijing, with the theme of "Refined Cultivation". More than 120 experts, teachers, and graduates from domestic and international education institutions, colleges, and universities in China, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam participated in the forum.
Vice President of the Open University of China (OUC) Liu Chen delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. Liu Chen introduced the achievements of the OUC in the three years since its founding, in particular its exploration of "Internet and education" in the application of “Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages”. In the second decade of the development of Confucius Institute, the OUC will continue to leverage its own advantages to explore new methods for the construction of the Confucius Institute by cooperating with global open universities and other distance educational institutions, and provide Chinese language and culture education services and support to overseas Chinese learners and institutions through distance education means. In addition, with the help of information technology, the OUC will continue to build a communication platform for the cause of international Chinese education and its promotion, so as to contribute to the enhancement of China's soft power.
Head of Teaching Resources of Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) Yang Jincheng attended the forum and presented a speech. Yang Jincheng introduced Hanban’s recent efforts in the cultivation and training of international Chinese teachers. He pointed out that, in terms of the present development of international Chinese education, it is necessary to discuss "Refined Cultivation" throughout the whole process of the cultivation and training of international Chinese teachers. He added that, if the "accreditation, accumulation, and transfer system for learning outcomes in national continuing education" project (otherwise known as the credit bank project) undertaken by the OUC can be applied to the training of teachers on a national level, this would be very significant.
Five scholars from different regions and fields were invited to give related keynote reports in this forum. Professor Jiang Liping from Beijing Language and Culture University introduced their experience of training three kinds of teachers (international Chinese educators, overseas teachers to receive training in China, and volunteer teachers) under the Standards for Chinese Teachers for Speakers of Other Languages and proposed a means for the reconstruction of capabilities for international Chinese teachers and the cultivation of international Chinese teachers. In view of the fact that international Chinese teachers in Vietnam are insufficient to meet the increasing demand for Chinese teaching, Professor Ruan Huangying from Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) gave suggestions on training content and training methods, so as to ensure the sustainable development of Chinese teaching in Vietnam. Taking the Confucius Institute in the United States as an example, Professor Liu Meiru from Portland State University made an in-depth analysis and exploration of the education of international Chinese teachers, including further training, professional development, and a teacher certification model. Her analysis provided food for thought on the professional development of international Chinese teachers and the establishment of a professional training model. Professor Guo Xi from Jinan University made a speech entitled Rethinking the Diversity of Chinese Teaching, which outlined the types of Chinese teaching, discussed the diversity of overseas Chinese teaching in terms of school system, model, students, requirements, teachers, and teaching methods, and then put forward methods to address the diversity of overseas Chinese teaching. Deputy Director of the OUC Credit Bank Management Office (Learning Outcomes Accreditation Centre) Yan Xiaoping introduced "Accreditation, accumulation, and transfer system for learning outcomes in national continuing education" project and shared his ideas about it. Yan Xiaoping mentioned that the credit bank enabled the integration of the learning outcomes of degree and non-degree education for the construction of lifelong learning overpass, which is particularly significant in the promotion of the cultivation of local Chinese teachers overseas. Four sub-themes were also discussed and studied in this forum: “Studying the sustainable development of international Chinese education”, “Studying the cultivation of international Chinese teachers”, “Studying the objects of international Chinese education”, and “Evaluating the professional development and capabilities of an international Chinese teacher”.
The number of research papers on local situations（including the local situations in the overseas countries and the local situations in China）has increased dramatically in this forum, accounting for nearly a third of all papers delivered. Several articles studied school-based situations or schools with distinctive features.
Based on feedback from the previous forums, this year’s forum set up a new technology application "workshop" for current graduate student and young teachers. The forum organization committee invited the project team from the writing guide for international Chinese textbooks, and introduced the "Writing guide platform for international Chinese textbooks", newly developed by Hanban, a one-stop self-service platform for the teaching and learning of the Chinese language, integrating "compiling, learning, teaching, reading, checking, reviewing, and purchasing", and providing guidance and services for Chinese language teachers and learners around the world. The "MyEChinese Intelligent Teaching Cloud Space" developed by the Chinese Language Centre (CLC) at the OUC integrates a web page, online teaching, and teaching affairs administration into one, providing rich Chinese teaching and learning resources, and resolves a range of problems encountered in the daily teaching process in a friendly and convenient manner. The "E-pen micro-courses" programme (using a dot matrix digital pen to record micro-courses) demonstrated by Bell&Horn Education and Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. leverages an e-pen to record digital micro-video courses in a traditional method that is familiar to the teachers i.e. without changing the traditional writing mode and without interrupting their original teaching thought process. The forum not only gave the audience a chance to learn the course; it also allowed them to practice using it onsite.
Inspired by the spirit of "cooperation, service, openness, and sharing", the "Forum on the Cultivation of International Chinese Teachers" provides a public platform for the practitioners, teachers, experts, and scholars of Chinese international education to conduct industry exchanges, academic research, and project cooperation. With the Internet as source of strength, the forum aims to promote the sustainable development of Chinese international education. The forum consisted of a series of forums with "The cultivation of international Chinese teachers" as a core theme. Since 2011, five such forums have been successfully held.
By Cao Xiaoyan, Jiang Nan, OUC