From June 17 to 21, 2024, Associate Professor Song Jia and Researcher Li Tingzhou from the Centre traveled to Helsinki, Finland, to attend the academic conference Reimagining Teachers and Teacher Education for Our Future. Hosted by the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, the conference aimed to implement the concept of promoting global teacher development outlined in UNESCO’s report Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education.
Invited by the World Bank, Associate Professor Song Jia represented the UNESCO Teacher Education Centre at a special thematic seminar, convened by Laura Gregory, Senior Education Officer at the World Bank. Focusing on the theme Promoting Sustainable and Resilient Teacher Preparation and Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, the World Bank brought together Suhair Qasem, Director of the School Education Department, Ministry of Education and Higher Education of Palestine; Remane Selimane, Director of the Teacher Department, Ministry of Education and Human Resources of Mozambique; Jussi Karakoski, Senior Education Adviser, Development Policy Department, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland; and the UNESCO Teacher Education Centre to share and exchange views on their respective countries’ teacher policies and international cooperation projects. Associate Professor Song Jia delivered a thematic speech on the unique experiences of China's teacher policies, typical models of teacher education, and progress of China's projects aiding teacher development in African countries. During the Q&A session, Associate Professor Song Jia and Researcher Li Tingzhou responded to questions from attendees regarding school leadership, in-service teacher training and development, among other topics.
During their stay in Finland, Associate Professor Song Jia and Researcher Li Tingzhou also paid a special visit to the China-Finland Education Research Centre at Tampere University, where they discussed issues of China-Finland cooperation in teacher education and higher education with Professor Cai Yuzhuo, Director of the Centre.
