GDUFS News - On October 25th, the Symposium on the Reform and Development of English Education across Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Levels in the New Era was successfully held at GDUFS’ Baiyunshan Campus. Co-hosted by the Faculty of English Language and Culture (FELC) of GDUFS and the School of Education of the University of Leeds (UoL), the symposium was co-organized by Guangdong Provincial Undergraduate Teaching Steering Committee for Foreign Language Disciplines, Guangdong IFlytek Qiming Technology Development Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Foreign Language Association, and the Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education Research Branch of Guangdong Higher Education Association. Professor Liu Humin, Deputy Dean of FELC, and Professor Vanessa Kind, Dean of the School of Education of UoL, attended the symposium. Nearly 100 attendees were present, including experts and scholars from GDUFS and UoL, principals, English-teaching researchers, and frontline English teachers at primary and secondary levels from various regions. The symposium was hosted by Dr. Wang Yunfeng from FELC.
Symposium Venue
During the Principal Forum session:
Zhou Xiaofei, Principal of the Experimental School of Science City, an affiliated school of GDUFS, shared his journey of identity transformation from an English learner to an English education researcher, and then to an educational administrator. He also explained how he addressed the challenges posed by changes in the work environment and target groups.
Huang Shaoka, Vice Principal of Dongguan Foreign Language School, talked about the educational management experience he had refined from English education concepts. He argued that cultivating cross-cultural communication and adaptability capabilities applies to a broader range of academic contexts.
Huang Yongheng, Principal of Foshan Yuanjia School, shared her successful experience in integrating traditional culture with modern educational concepts in educational management practice, with a particular focus on fostering students’ language proficiency and cross-cultural awareness.
Zeng Liheng, Vice Principal of Jianshe Dama Road Primary School in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, analyzed the cross-cultural concepts in basic education from an international perspective.
Nie Wenyan, Principal of Nansha School of Guangzhou Zhixin High School, expounded on the concept of building a distinctive campus: the Juvenile Academy of Sciences, with the theme of "science and diversity", integrates the spirit of innovation into the talent cultivation mechanism.
The participating guests engaged in lively discussions and interactions on the above topics, creating a harmonious atmosphere at the venue.
Principals’ Forum
In the parallel forums:
Dr. Martin Wedell from UoL explored how teachers can interact positively with local contexts to achieve self-sufficiency in teaching resources.
Dr. Martin Lamb discussed the relationship between teachers’ teaching, research, learning, and motivation from the perspective of teachers’ career development.
Professor Judith Hanks shared the difficulties teachers encounter in English-language training and the solutions to address them.
Dr. Richard Badger introduced the dilemmas English teachers face and strategies to resolve them.
Dr. Loreto Aliaga talked about the shift towards social justice in language education.
Dr. Zhang Ronggan, an alumnus and a faculty member at Xingyi Normal University for Nationalities, explored the impact of teachers’ roles on students’ social development from two aspects: needs and motivation.
Dr. Xie Jianmei, an alumna, analyzed how AI empowers English teaching from a glocal perspective.
Professor Ma Bingjun, an alumnus and a faculty member at Fuyang Normal University, introduced the Total Physical Response (TPR) theory in basic English education and its application paradigms. He also demonstrated on-site an innovative educational practice that combines English vocabulary instruction with gestures.
Zhang Xiangtao, an alumnus and Dean of the E-Learning Research Institute of iFlytek, shared the development and application of English listening and speaking training software guided by TESOL curriculum concepts.
Gong Xianfeng, an alumna, expounded on the application of the holistic education concept in teaching senior high school English reading against the backdrop of digital technology.
Wang Jiaying, an alumna, proposed the significance of experience accumulation for teachers’ career development from the perspective of role transformation between listeners and educators.
Zhao Xin, an alumna, shared research on the application of cross-methods to enhance reading comprehension and reasoning abilities in high-stakes tests.
Professor Vanessa Kind, Dean of the School of Education at UoL, provided in-depth comments on the sharing mentioned above and engaged enthusiastically with the participants.
Parallel Forum Venue 1
Parallel Forum Venue 2
The successful holding of this symposium has provided GDUFS with essential references to support the reform and development of English education across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels in the new era.
