Teaching – a phoenix rising from the ashes

Dear professors and colleagues,

On China’s 30th Teachers’ Day, I would like to wish you all a happy day!

On last year’s Teachers’ Day, I summarised that the reasons a holiday is established for a certain group or event: “It’s so fragile that we should pay more attention; it’s so special that we should celebrate; it’s so important that we all look forward to it; it’s so great that we should pay our respect. For the celebration of Teachers’ Day, I sensed respect and expectation.”

Ancient Chinese people regarded teachers as “masters”. Shang Shu, or the Book of History, said: “God created people and blessed them with monarch and master.” The master had the same status as heaven, earth, monarch and ancestors and were worshipped on the same memorial tablet, a sign of the highly respected status. Han Yu, eminent writer of the Tang Dynasty, wrote an article titled On Teachers: “In ancient times, those who wanted to learn would seek out a teacher, one who could propagate the doctrine, impart professional knowledge, and resolve doubts.” That is an excellent summary of the value of teachers. As time goes by, masters have become teachers. There are abundant metaphors for them, such as soul engineer, gardener, silkworm, candle, willing ox, spring rain and ladder, reflecting our admiration and expectation for teachers.

While we receive the sacred respect on Teachers’ Day, I’m immersed in reflection on the way of teaching. Why do the media mock us time and again if this job title has been so sacred? Why do the parents send their children to study abroad in spite of the high cost and risk? When a Harvard professor predicted that in 15 years, half of American universities would go bankrupt, what precautions should teachers take? Facing the disruptive technologies represented by the internet and MOOCs, what have we done to prepare for the changes? In a word, under the background of the latest technologies and social context, how should we teach so as to fulfil our obligation, embody our value, repay respect and live up to expectations?

The history of the university dates back over 1,000 years. Throughout history, teaching activities have formed a deep-rooted pattern. But when we face the new learning methods of the internet generation, dazzling network and information technology, convenient and effective global exchange and interaction, revolutionary learning and behavioural changes, we have to think back on the pattern we are so familiar with and take for granted. We should think, for instance, about how to change the traditional pedagogy by utilising new technology and a virtual environment created by massive resources in the cloud to make universities more attractive and improve the value of education. In cyber society, distributed storage of knowledge, fast access to information, convenient and friendly sharing and communication greatly relieve the pressure of content-driven teaching and memory-driven learning, but they tend to expose the students to the risk of fragmented knowledge, which is broad but superficial. So how should teachers and universities utilise our advantage and change the strategy and routine of teaching so that students learn the learning method, group their knowledge into an in-depth system, have the capability to integrate and use their knowledge and be creative?

To tackle those challenges, this academic year, XJTLU will discuss and formulate a Learning and Teaching Strategy for the next phase of development. We advocate research-led teaching and learning, which is not simply adding some research elements into traditional teaching such as introducing teachers’ research projects, teaching students some research skills and giving them research opportunities, but completely changing the traditional model of disseminating knowledge by inspiring interest and curiosity through questions, training independent thinking and critical spirit, and using research to guide learning and integrate, apply and create knowledge. We should conduct profound study to truly implement research-oriented teaching and learning. With our courage, innovation and exploration spirit, relying on our advantages of zero historical burden, integrated global resources, international platform, diversified staff background and cross-cultural synergy, let us work together to draw a whole new map of teaching to meet the needs of our time. At the crucial moment of huge transformation in human education, let us make our due contributions!

Innovative teaching philosophies, pedagogy, education models and principles of running universities tremendously improve the value of classrooms and universities for students, society and mankind. Teaching is an important part of the whole process. We hope the staff at XJTLU will undertake our sacred mission of facilitating the change and development of education so as to repay the respect from society and live up to the high expectations!

I sincerely thank you for joining XJTLU family and for your contribution to the University’s development. Let’s work together to make it a better place for learning!

Professor Youmin Xi
Executive President, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
10 September 2014