From April 4th to 11th 2019, a delegation from the Faculty of Education, ECNU, led by Dean Yuan Zhenguo, visited Ontario Institute of Education (OISE) of University of Toronto, Canada, Institute of Education of University College London (UCL), UK, and School of Education and Lifelong Learning of University of East Anglia (UEA), UK, to further promote internationalization and implement cooperation on educational disciplines with world-class universities. The following members were also in attendance: Prof. Yang Fuyi (Director of the International Affairs Division), Prof. Yan Hanbing (Head of School of Open Learning and Education), Associate Prof. Zhang Minghong( Head of Department of Preschool Education), Associate Prof. Zan Fei (Head of Department of Special Education), and Dr. You Li, Managing Editor of ECNU Review of Education.
The delegation’s first stop was Ontario Institute of Education (OISE), University of Toronto, Canada. Glen Jones (Dean of OISE), Doug McDougall (Associate Dean of OISE), Helen Huang (Chief Administrative Officer), Earl Woodruff (Director of the Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development), and Xia Xiaoyong (International Student Program Coordinator) had an in-depth communication with the delegation. During the talks, the two sides discussed and reached common consensus on the “International Academic Exchange Week” program, publishing papers on the special issue “Educational Equity” of the Journal of East China Normal University (Educational Sciences), and the teachers and students’ exchange programs on preschool and special education.
The second stop of the delegation’s visit was the Institute of Education of University College London, which consistently ranked the top of the QS rankings on education discipline. The purpose of this visit is to expand more substantial exchanges and collaborations based on former scholars’ exchanges. Becky Francis (Dean of the Institute of Education), John O’Regan (International Associate Dean of the Institute of Education), and Yannan Yu (Director of Centre for Teacher and Early Years Education) met with the delegation. Zhou Jianwei (Chair of the British-Chinese Cultural Education Cooperation and Promotion Center; Executive member of the Steering Committee of Centre for Teacher and Early Years Education, UCL) also attended the meeting.
Becky Francis extended a warm welcome to the delegation and introduced the situation of the Institute of Education, UCL and its development priorities in recent years. Yuan Zhenguo introduced the important measures of the Faculty in recent years to promote internationalization and interdisciplinary cooperation. He said ECNU and UCL have maintained a good relationship for many years, ECNU has abundant resources in teacher cultivation and training, and it is the time for two sides to establish long-term, stable and mutually beneficial collaboration in academic research and educational practice in the near future. The teachers and students of UCL are very welcome to join International Academic Exchange Week program. The two sides also held further and detailed discussions on early childhood education collaboration which was discussed when UCL paying a visit to ECNU in last November.
The delegation’s final visit was School of Education and Lifelong Learning of University of East Anglia, located in Norwich, UK. Representatives from UEA attended a meeting with the delegation, including Richard Andrews (Dean of School of Education and Lifelong Learning), Karen Blackney (Director of International Office, UEA), Victoria Carrington (Director of Department of Scientific Research) et al.
The two sides held discussions on the doctoral students exchange program, “International Academic Exchange Week”, and jointly publishing comparative education research papers on online teacher training. Dean Andrews also introduced newly established Digital Literacy Research Hub and doctoral programs in educational psychology. And the two sides discussed cooperative possibilities in related research fields.
During the visit, Vice President Neil Ward of UEA also met with the delegation. Vice President Ward warmly welcomed the delegation and introduced the development status of UEA. Dean Yuan introduced the Faculty of Education, ECNU, especially the achievements in internationalization in recent years. Both sides expressed their expectations for further exchange and cooperation on education disciplines in the near future.
Through the visits, the delegation had a deep understanding on research development of world-class education institutes, and further implemented the exchange and cooperation projects with them, especially “International Academic Exchange Week” program. It is of great significance to promote first-class disciplines construction on education and the development strategies of internationalization.