In-Service Training Workshop for Confucius Institute Directors, July 2017

The 2017 in-service training workshop for Confucius Institute Directors was held in Beijing, July 8th-16th 2017 at Beijing Normal University. The workshop was organized by Beijing Normal University and hosted by Hanban Headquarters located in Beijing.

Beijing Normal University (BNU) is a key university under the administration of the Ministry of Education and it is a renowned institution for teacher education, education science and basic learning in both arts and sciences. BNU promotes broad international cooperation and exchange, having signed cooperative agreements with nearly 300 universities and research institutes from more than 30 nations and regions. There are regular exchanges of exchanges with countries such as Japan, United States, Canada and UK.

BNU is one of the earliest universities in China to participate in the development of Confucius Institutes (CIs) and BNU has established partnership, through CIs, with 7 universities such as Manchester University (UK), Sherbrooke University (Canada) and University of Oklahoma (US).

Confucius Institute has been an important part in the university’s international strategy and BNU strives to make CI into a comprehensive platform for foreign cooperation and exchange. The new teacher-training base is one of the first Chinese international promotion bases established by the Confucius Institute headquarters in 2008, and its main task is to train international Chinese teachers and undertake related research projects.

At the 2017 in-service training workshop for Confucius Institute Directors, there were 35 foreign directors/deans of Confucius Institutes from 20 countries. The workshop included lectures by experts in education, Chinese culture and economy and they were about “The Belt and Road Initiative and Globalisation”; Contemporary China’s Reform and Development”; “A Glance at Education in China: systems, Policies and Reforms”; “Twenty-Four Solar Terms, Chinese Knowledge System of Time and Related Folklore”; “Environmental Governance in China: Struggles and Innovations from Ancient Time to Modern Era”; Understand China: Language Learning and Cross-cultural Communication”; and “The Complexity of Contemporary Chinese Culture”. Other lecturers and seminars were about the development of Confucius Institute and they included subjects such as “Key Projects of Confucius Institute: Planning, Scholarship and Examination”; “Functions of Confucius Institute and Cooperation between Chinese and Foreign Parties”; and “Division of Confucius Institutes, Finance”. There were also a number of cultural visits organized by the host and they included: “Visit to the Great Wall”; Visit to the Ming Tombs”; “Visit to the Capital Museum” and “Tai Chi Experience Activity”.

The in-service training workshop for Confucius Directors provides a rich knowledge and experience of Chinese culture and folklore. It also allows the new foreign Director to get a comprehensive grasp of the roles and functions of Confucius Institutes in the world.