2018 In-service Training Workshop for Confucius Institute Directors Comes to Successful Ending

On July 8th, the first session of 2018 In-service Training Workshop for Confucius Institute Directors held by the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) at Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU) came to a successful ending.

Group photo

Ma Jianfei, Deputy Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters and Deputy Director-General of Hanban, Yu Yongming, Deputy Director-General of Department of Education of Zhejiang Province, and Jiang Guojun, Chairman of ZJNU University Council, attended and addressed the closing ceremony. Alison Groppe, Foreign Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Oregon in the United States (US), and Mashiri Pedzisai, Foreign Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Zimbabwe, delivered remarks on behalf of the trainees.

Jiang Guojun, Chairman of ZJNU University Council

Jiang Guojun thanked the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) and Department of Education of Zhejiang Province for their guidance and support to the Workshop. He expressed his hope that the foreign directors would take this training as an opportunity to strengthen contacts between Chinese and foreign universities and deepen cooperation in various fields. He said that the ZJNU will continue to bring its academic advantages into full play and provide high-quality services and support for the Confucius Institutes in various countries.

Yu Yongming, Deputy Director-General of Department of Education of Zhejiang Province

Yu Yongming emphasized in the speech that the success of the Workshop, which helped the directors learn the relevant policies of the Confucius Institute Headquarters and gain a comprehensive understanding of contemporary Chinese society and culture. He expressed his sincere wish that the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) would continue strengthening its guidance, support and help for Zhejiang’s work in education and Confucius Institutes.

Ma Jianfei, Deputy Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters and Deputy Director-General of Hanban

Ma Jianfei pointed out in his speech that the Confucius Institute is a great educational undertaking, inheriting educational philosophy that Confucius proposed 2000 years ago, who advocated that “In teaching there should be no distinction of classes”, and “Teacher should teach in line with each student’s aptitude”. Based on Chinese language education and established with an aim to meet local needs, the Confucius Institute is a project essentially featuring equal cooperation and joint management of China and foreign countries. It is also a cause that features continuous innovation and sustainable development, through which it has experienced a fundamental shift of its development mode from quantity to quality and thus stepped into a new era.

He proposed four objectives for the development of the Confucius Institute to improve quality and efficiency in the new era. First, the Confucius Institute should pay more attention to their localization, integrate themselves into the local universities, and play bigger roles in the universities. Second, they should attach more importance to professionalism ranging from teachers, teaching materials to curriculum. Third, they should focus more on informatization by building networks and digital platforms. Fourth, they should focus on specialized development by setting up courses in fields such as traditional Chinese medicine, martial arts, science, technology, business and music. Ma Jianfei concluded that the Headquarters will do its best to support the Confucius Institute and encourage more in-depth cooperation between Chinese organizations and their foreign partners.

Alison Groppe, Foreign Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Oregon

Mashiri Pedzisai, Foreign Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Zimbabwe

On behalf of the trainees, Alison Groppe and Mashiri Pedzisai summarized discussions of “functions of Confucius Institutes and international cooperation” and “connotation building, quality and efficiency improvement of Confucius Institutes”. They spoke highly of the style and effect of the workshop, and said that it benefited the directors a lot with its brilliant theme lectures, abundant activities and in-depth discussions.