Bay's best take their teaching expertise to Chinese classrooms
Tuesday 29 October 2013, 2:45PM
By Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology
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In April 2013 the Chinese and New Zealand governments signed a strategic education partnership agreement supporting stronger ties between China and New Zealand’s Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs).
One of the outcomes was the creation of a Chinese forum promoting stronger education research, teaching practices and collaboration within the ITP sector. The first forum, held in Qingdao, China, was targeted at teaching staff and senior managers within Chinese polytechnics, industry and central and provisional education authorities. Key New Zealand ITP educators were invited to attend the forum, including Bay of Plenty Polytechnic Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award Winners Sam Honey and Kelly Pender.
“It was fantastic to be even a small part of the massive education reforms which are sweeping China,” said Sam. “China is moving away from teacher-centred learning to student-centred learning and we shared with them how we work successfully with students through our own student-centred learning practices and they shared with us their newer teaching approaches and goals.”
“It was a real privilege to participate and our hosts were exceptional. I see a lot of opportunity for Bay of Plenty Polytechnic to share further practices with Chinese tertiary institutes.”
Traditional teaching methods in China have been ‘teacher tells you what you need to know so you can recite that knowledge back in an exam’. This approach leaves little room for creativity. In 2009 China ranked 1st in the world in math but came only 17th in creativity. This is of grave concern to Chinese authorities who recognise the need for creative workers if the country is to realise its international growth potential.
Student centred approaches encourage students to share (with peers and teachers) their combined knowledge and abilities that they come to learning with already.
“Group discussion, brainstorming ideas, peer work, lots of simulated activities and problem solving activities are common place in our student-centred learning environments,” says Sam. “In student centred learning the teacher’s role is to facilitate learning rather than teaching a fixed set of knowledge in a static form. It was this approach and how we integrate that into our curriculum that we shared with our Chinese counterparts.”