Winners of 2022 Outstanding Chinese Educators revealed

The Campaign of Finding Outstanding Chinese Educators in the New Era announced the winners of 2022. They are Professor Deguang Yang, former President of Shanghai University; Yinglong Hua, Vice Principal of Beijing No.2 Experimental Primary School; Dayuan Jiang, Research Fellow at the Central Institute for Vocational and Technical Education of China’s Ministry of Education; Professor Yongan Cao, Founder of Qiqihar Institute of Engineering; and Professor Qiang Zheng, Secretary of the Communist Committee at Taiyuan University of Technology.

Professor Youmin Xi

The campaign was launched in 2021 by Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. It aims to explore future-oriented education in China and cultivate Chinese educational leadership.

“We hope to create an open discussion that can help people understand what their future life will be, and how education can help children and society thrive in the future,” says Professor Xi.

Every year, the campaign will nominate six candidates from primary education, six from vocational education, and three from higher education, with five winning the top prizes.

There are three ways to nominate a candidate: self-nomination, nomination from an individual, and nomination by the Expert Committee. The candidates will be evaluated according to five educational criteria: ideology, theory, practices, effectiveness and influence.

In November, 15 nominees gathered to discuss the new era of education. The Donor Committee, the Expert Committee and the on-site participants then voted to determine the winners.

From left to right: Professor Qiang Zheng, Professor Deguang Yang, and Dr Xiaojun Zhang

At the event, Dr Xiaojun Zhang, Executive Dean of XJTLU’s Academy of Future Education, expressed his excitement for next year’s campaign: “We welcome people from all walks of life – students, parents, educators, companies, government departments and NGOs – to join our conversation.”

The event recording will be available on XJTLU Learning Mall, and a monograph called Theory and Practice of Chinese Educators in the New Era will be published in July 2023.

The campaign was supported by many companies and institutions, including Suzhou ecMAX Information Technology, the Operational Centre of China Xuan Paper Company and more. They will remain as XJTLU’s strategic partners for the year ahead.

By Bo Kou and Xiaoyan Jin

Translated by Xiangyin Han

Edited by Xinmin Han and Patricia Pieterse

Photos courtesy of Academy of Future Education