XJTLU's 10th Anniversary Officially Commences by Exploring Higher Education Reform and Innovation

More than 200 participants from Mainland China, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia and Japan attended the conference for in-depth discussions on approaches to educational reform, to exchange experiences of reform practice, and to build collaboration opportunities.

Dr Xiaojun Zhang, deputy director of XJTLU's Institute of Leadership and Education Advanced Development (ILEAD), and coordinator of the event, said that the conference was a culmination of XJTLU's 10 years of exploration and practice in higher education.

"XJTLU and its peers from higher education explored trends in higher education development and discussed the direction of higher education reform over the next 10 years and beyond, contributing to the reform and development of higher education in China and internationally," he said.

To promote the importance of "talent training" in higher education and to draw attention to the adoption of a student-centred approach to education, ILEAD released a handbook on student-centred educational systems during the conference.

Professor Xi, executive president of XJTLU said: "The core position of talent training is still not fully reflected in current education. The majority of traditional Chinese education institutions are still focused on knowledge teaching and do not pay enough attention to students' development."

Higher education in China is shifting towards adopting a student-centred approach, subverting the popularity of the traditional teacher-centred approach. The handbook introduces what is meant by a student-centred education system and analyses existing challenges for domestic Chinese universities in light of educational reforms.

During the annual conference the XJTLU Annual Teaching Innovation Award in Higher Education was also presented in order to reward innovation in teaching in higher education. Sixty teachers from 23 universities across China were nominated in the final round.

On receiving the award, Professor Wan Xi from Chongqing University of Science and Technology thanked XJTLU and ILEAD for developing a national platform to exchange ideas in teaching and learning.

"The XJTLU Annual Teaching Innovation Award in Higher Education presentations have given university teachers at different levels a channel to demonstrate their innovative teaching and learn from each other through to further spread of the student-centered teaching philosophy," she said.