On November 26th, amid winter, the plummeting temperatures failed to dampen the enthusiasm of teachers from 23 provinces and autonomous regions, who gathered online for the opening ceremony of the UNNC Rural English Advancement Programme.
This marks the beginning of a new round of training, where teachers will embark on a year-long journey of learning and research as programme participants.
The UNNC Rural English Advancement Programme is initiated by CELE (the Centre for English Language Education) and supported by educational and outreach organisations including the Nottingham Ningbo Education Foundation.
The rural teacher training programme aims to cultivate excellent English teachers and support the development of rural education.
It is conducted through two delivery methods: online courses and offline workshops.
The first phase lasts for eight months, where teachers will engage in video courses to enhance their English communication skills and teaching abilities through professional and systematic English teaching theories.
The second phase, a week-long programme, selects outstanding rural teachers from online performance to visit Nottingham Ningbo, with expenses covered by the Education Foundation and the Centre for English Language Education. For the offline courses, the project team integrates cutting-edge educational experiences into local teaching, focusing on combining theory with practice and adopting innovative teaching methods to further improve participants' teaching skills.
Being people-oriented is the starting point of all education. The project team not only focuses on professional and systematic theoretical teaching but also pays attention to the personal development of teachers. During the training, the project team will join hands with professional coaching organizations to provide a series of coaching courses for teachers, addressing key educational issues such as teacher-student relationships in rural education. They also organize teaching experience sharing and round-table discussions to deepen the exchange of experience of best practice, stimulate teachers' self-potential, and promote their comprehensive development.
Over the past seven years, the public welfare rural teacher training programme has been continuously optimised and upgraded by the teaching team, with excellent professional knowledge, customised teaching design, and teaching quality, achieving a satisfaction rate of 100%, and has won the recognition of most participants.
With the unremitting efforts of the CELE Professional Services Office of the Centre for English Language Education, Professional Education and Training staff and partners, the training programme has flourished, and the number of participants and the numbers of participating schools in this training have reached a historical high.
Compared with last year, the number of participants has increased by more than 20%, with English teachers, school management such as directors, deputy principals, and principals from more than 90 schools actively participating.
The Centre for English Language Education is aware of its significant responsibility in the construction of the educational cause, committed to establishing a sustainable public welfare project to support the construction of rural education, sharing excellent educational resources, and promoting the exchange of teaching experiences between regions. As the organising team of the public welfare rural teacher training programme, the centre gives full play to the advantages of being at the forefront of international education, actively responds to the national rural teacher support plan, and injects new vitality into rural education with a professional teaching team.
In the future, the Centre for English Language Education will continue to support education that benefits the people, precise assistance across regions, support the development and comprehensive ability improvement of rural teachers, let the concept of international education go deep into the mountains, and provide more teachers and students with the opportunity to realise their potential and dreams. ■
