A training session for the "seed teachers," which is an integral component of the "Leading the Future and Driving Revitalization: Growing Up Together Empowerment Action," was jointly hosted by the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF) and the Bank of China (BOC) in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, from May 20 to 24.
Under the theme "Digital and Intelligent Empowerment for Future Vocational Education," the four-day training session was co-undertaken by Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University and South China Institute of Talent Development. It drew the attendance of nearly 60 frontline teachers and senior teaching management personnel from over 40 vocational and technical colleges in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Guizhou along with staff workers of relevant women's federations.
The training session closely followed the student-oriented development approach and placed greater emphases on all-round qualifications and practical application. It organized a wide range of thematic activities, which included expert lectures, visits to intangible cultural heritage (ICH) classrooms and State-level bases, and exchange seminars, to further enhance the artificial intelligence (AI) literacy and skills of teachers from vocational and technical colleges in economically underdeveloped regions in terms of professional theory, practical abilities, and teaching and research capabilities.
Several experts from South China University of Technology, Jinan University, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University and other higher education institutions in the fields of vocational education and AI talked about the application of AI-driven teaching facilities, the building of smart curriculum, the enhancement of teachers' theoretical and practical teaching capabilities, and AI empowerment for mental health, in a move to lay a solid foundation for the high-quality development of vocational education.
At the opening ceremony, Xu Ling, Vice-President of Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, gave a lecture titled "Towards Future Teachers: the Logic and Pathways Behind Digital and Intelligent Transformation of Vocational Educators." She made in-depth analyses of new circumstances and requirements for the transformation and upgrading of vocational education amid rapid AI development and expounded the necessities for vocational education teachers to follow the future-oriented approach from the perspectives of industrial revolution, technological evolution and educational development. She also elaborated four key pathways of learning design, AI application, curricular reconstruction and platform-based collaboration and related the practices and results of an intelligent platform building to demonstrate new models and paths for vocational education teachers in shifting their focus from experience to data, from individual exploration to platform empowerment, and from capability accumulation to capability generation.
During the on-site teaching session in the Primary School Affiliated to South China Normal University, trainees visited an ICH museum and learned more about its special ICH education practices as well as innovative achievements of aesthetics education.
Wang Zhaohui, Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee of Guangzhou Vocational School of Tourism and Business, talked with participants about its practices and experience in the building of a family-school-society collaborative mechanism for secondary vocational schools. They also toured around hands-on training workshops of Western beverages, tea art and cooking skills and gained a deep understanding of the school's disciplinary building, teaching practices and personnel training in alignment with the fast development of modern service industry.
At the closing ceremony, attendees spoke highly of the training session, as it broadened their horizons, helped them acquire new knowledge, facilitated exchanges with counterparts, and enhanced their overall competence.
"I have grasped an understanding of regional gaps in digitalized development of education. In the future, I will make full use of my professional knowledge to organize AI literacy enhancement training for teachers in Nanning and nearby areas, further bolster their digital and intelligent teaching capabilities, and promote the balanced development of digital vocational education in different regions," said Long Yan, a teacher with Nanning Vocational and Technical University.
"The training session has refreshed my mind and benefited me much. I will start from details to improve other teachers' teaching and professional capabilities and strive for an in-depth transformation of classroom teaching practices," said Chen Dan, a teacher with Guizhou Forerunner College.
Xu said Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University will further leverage its educational resources and strengths, carry out online courses, professional guidance, exchanges and exhibition of teaching achievements, and support the "seed teachers" to bolster their teaching capabilities and become backbone forces in the reform and development of vocational education.
Hu Ti, Vice-President of Guangdong Women's Federation, gave a summary speech on behalf of the CCTF at the closing ceremony. She said the CCTF will give full play to its functions as a State-level public welfare platform, bring together more high-quality resources, and promote the sound development of both relevant teachers and vocational education. She called on trainees to adhere to the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education, shoulder personal obligations in the implementation of the spirit of educators, digital and intelligent empowerment, and the integrated development between industry and education, cultivate high-quality and skilled talents, and make positive contributions to nurturing new generations capable of shouldering the responsibility of national rejuvenation.
In 2023, the CCTF and the BOC jointly kicked off the Growing Up Together Empowerment Action" program to provide assistance to children and families from economically underdeveloped regions. So far, it has convened several rounds of "seed teachers" training sessions and family education guidance activities in Tianjin, Hebei and other provincial regions, benefiting nearly 80,000 people.
Photos from CCTF
(Source: CCTF/Women of China)
Editor: Lei Yang
