The Alliance for International Education - China Branch will hold its third conference in Shenzhen from March 2 – March 4, 2012. Using the theme of this year’s October AIE World Conference in Doha, the China branch provides an opportunity to submit papers or working projects for feedback from peers in preparation for the Doha Conference. The conference will begin Friday, March 2, 2012 at 6:00 with registration and a reception provided by the AIE China Branch. There are no conference or registration fees. There will be refreshments offered at breaks. Meals are open and at your own cost.
The opening address on Friday at 7:00 p.m. will be given by special guest Prof. Ng Seok Moi on communication, becoming bilingual with cross-cultural understanding, and how to achieve fluency at a level that allows one to go in and out of languages – some of the central issues in international education. This will be an interactive session with Q&A.
The Education Bureau of Nanshan District, Shenzhen, will welcome conference participants. Keynote speakers will be Prof. Sang Xin Min (Nanjing University) and Mr. Michael Izzard (Little One Creative Enterprises) who will address the conference theme: Educational Futures: Innovations and Aspirations. They will look at the impact of technology on the broad spectrum of education. A plenary session on The Architecture of Learning Spaces will lead into smaller breakout sessions on education issues affecting the future of education at all levels.
The architecture of learning is changing, both in the physical sense, and in its practice. Rapid changes in the way we access knowledge and communicate with people are certainly some of the drivers of change. How is education - schools, learning spaces, and the role of the teacher - impacted by rapidly changing technologies? Is technology changing the way we think and feel and to what extent does it impact on the structure of the way we teach and on the way students learn? We know about technology, the rate at which new devices, tools, classroom aids and so on come into being and enter into our teaching sphere, but do we use new technologies effectively? Do we really recognize that slowly, but surely, our classroom walls are changing which causes a change in the way we structure our learning fundamentally. What is the nature of these new structures? Such is the flux of change that defining them is difficult. Yet the broad goals of education remain relatively unchanged. What will the architecture(s) of learning be 50 years from now? What will schools look like and what purposes will they serve in the future? What is the role of the teacher – deliverer of knowledge or facilitator of learning? These questions and more will be addressed by participants in the various strand groups.
STRAND THEMES
All presentations should be in English or Chinese; simultaneous interpretation services will be provided. You do not have to present a formal completed paper, but submitted papers with the author’s permission will be posted on the website www.aie.org.cn. This conference is a platform to explore new ideas in international education, to make connections, establish partnerships and build communities of interest. We invite you to submit papers, abstracts, or outlines of projects for presentation and discussion on any topic related to Educational Futures – Innovations and Aspirations, such as but not limited to:
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| Leadership and Management |
Community building |
Local and Global Citizenship |
| Language |
Curriculum |
Technology |
| Pedagogy |
Quality Assurance |
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| Assessing Intercultural Competence |
Regional and Global developments |
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Leadership and management: How can different leadership/management styles and techniques enhance intercultural understanding? How are they impacted by technology?
Pedagogy: How are teaching and learning impacted by technology? How will they change in the next 50 years? How can different teaching styles and techniques enhance intercultural understanding? How can professional development provide support?
Curriculum: How can intercultural understanding be promoted through national and international curriculum innovation? How will technology impact curriculum development? How can Early Childhood Education (ECE) begin the process of international learning? Is there a process from ECE to Primary to Secondary that will guide students into becoming international learners? How is this impacted by technology?
Technology: How can we use technology to support intercultural understanding? (e.g., through the curriculum, through service projects, through international connections)
Local and global citizenship: How can we promote intercultural understanding through local and global citizenship programs? (including understanding of sustainability and social issues); What is the impact of international learning on character formation?
Regional and global developments: What regional and global developments are positively impacting the promotion of intercultural understanding through education? How does technology impact such developments?
Quality assurance: With the proliferation of technologies and consequent emergence of alternative ways of accessing, processing, and disseminating knowledge, how can we assure quality and depth in education? How can we ensure quality in systems for promoting intercultural understanding? (including accreditation, inspection, authorization, evaluation of school-based work)
Language: How do political, societal and organizational language policies and approaches support intercultural understanding? Is technology changing language structures and the way we think and feel?
Assessing / evaluating intercultural competence: How can intercultural understanding be assessed/evaluated with validity? How do we assess international learning? How do we know we are producing an international child, a global citizen?
Community building: How can partnerships be developed in such a way as to promote intercultural understanding?
Deadline for submission of papers, abstracts, or outlines of projects: February 15, 2012
Language of submission: English and / or Chinese
Length of abstract: 200 words
Identify the strand or topic for which you are submitting the paper, proposal, or project
Send abstract to: garym@ycef.com and copy to angelc@ycef.com
** Please note that presenters will still need to register for the conference **
