On July 2, 2025, the UNESCO Teacher Education Centre (UNESCO TEC) – Nazarbayev University Regional Educational Leaders Training Program officially opened in Shanghai. Co-hosted by UNESCO TEC and Nazarbayev University of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the program themed Teachers and Artificial Intelligence: Building a Professional and Innovative Working Environment for Teachers focuses on exploring new trends and pathways for teacher professional development in the context of artificial intelligence. A total of 25 officials, experts, and scholars from the Republic of Kazakhstan participated in the program.
The opening ceremony was chaired by Professor Ning Bo, Vice Dean of the College of Education at Shanghai Normal University (SHNU). Professor Jiang Mingjun, Vice President of SHNU; Zhou Qinjian, Director of the International Exchange Division of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission; and Professor Zhang Minxuan, Director of UNESCO TEC, attended the ceremony and delivered speeches, extending a warm welcome to the Kazakh educational delegation and guests from all sectors, and expressing expectations that the training would promote educational exchanges and innovative cooperation between the two countries. Professor Xiao Shengxiong, Director of the International Exchange Division of SHNU; Professor Hu Guoyong, Deputy Director of UNESCO TEC; and Dr. Guo Jing, Deputy Director (on secondment) of UNESCO TEC, also attended the opening ceremony.
Zhanyl Zhontayeva, Director of Continuing Education at the Graduate School of Education of Nazarbayev University, and Laura Butabayeva, Director of the Department of Inclusive and Special Education under the Ministry of Education of Kazakhstan, also delivered speeches on behalf of the Kazakh side. They thanked UNESCO TEC for its warm reception, highly praised the achievements of China-Kazakhstan cooperation in education, and emphasized the significance of teacher professional development and digital transformation of education in promoting educational equity and inclusiveness.
After the welcome speeches, the Chinese and Kazakh sides exchanged symbolic gifts and took group photos to commemorate the occasion.
Subsequently, Professor Zhang Minxuan, Director of UNESCO TEC, delivered a keynote speech titled Studying Global Trends to Support Educational Development, systematically outlining nine major trends in current global educational development. He pointed out that the role of teachers is shifting from knowledge transmitters to knowledge creators and agents of change, and called on countries to strengthen teacher education reform and comprehensively enhance teachers’ professional competence to promote in-depth future-oriented transformation of education systems.
This one-week training program, centered on artificial intelligence and educational transformation, is divided into three modules: Educational Reform and Development, AI Empowering Educational Development, and Educational Supervision and Quality Monitoring. It includes various activities such as forum discussions, thematic lectures, and field visits. The program aims to promote regional educational innovation and teacher professional growth through concept exchanges and practical mutual learning, and deepen experience sharing and cooperation among all parties.
(Text/Photos provided by: UNESCO Teacher Education Centre)
