On 22 September, the 2024 Jiangsu Postgraduate Academic Innovation Forum on ‘Theory and Practice of High-Quality Development of Basic Education’ was successfully held at Jiangsu University. The forum was conducted by the Jiangsu Province Education Graduate Education Steering Committee and was undertaken by Jiangsu University. Over 120 postgraduates from Nanjing University, Nanjing Normal University, Northeast Normal University, Hunan Normal University, Jiangnan University, Nantong University, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Information Engineering, Jiangsu University and other universities participated in the Forum.

Forum Opening Ceremony

Speech by Professor Yingfeng Cai, Vice President of Jiangsu University

During the opening ceremony, Professor Yingfeng Cai, Vice President of Jiangsu University, warmly welcomed the experts, educators, and graduate student representatives attending the Forum on behalf of the university. Yingfeng Cai, the Vice President of Jiangsu University, briefly presented an overview of Jiangsu University and the progress of the School of Teacher Education at Jiangsu University. She anticipated that the forum participants would actively contribute to advancing primary education and postgraduate training, formulate consensus opinions and recommendations at both theoretical and practical levels, and simultaneously foster academic exchanges and collaboration among universities to enhance the quality of postgraduate training collectively.

Speech by Professor Xuejun Chen, the Jiangsu Provincial Education Graduate Teaching Committee

Professor Xuejun Chen, the head of the Secretariat of the Jiangsu Provincial Steering Committee for Postgraduate Education, extended congratulations on behalf of the Steering Committee for successfully convening this Forum. Professor Xuejun Chen presented the activities organized by the Jiangsu Provincial Steering Committee for Postgraduate Education and emphasized the significant value of the Jiangsu Provincial Postgraduate Academic Innovation Forum. Professor Xuejun Chen stressed that this conference should concentrate on the term “research”, including the foundations of research, contemplation of research, and the execution of research, to ensure that the delegates derive insights from the research and foster innovation in the discourse.

Jiajia Wang, Dean of the School of Teacher Education at Jiangsu University, officiated the opening ceremony.

Keynote Report of the Forum

During the keynote report session of the Forum, Professor Xianming Xiang, Dean of the Institute of Educational Theory and Policy of Nanjing Normal University; Professor Baoge Zhang, Dean of the College of Teacher Education Ningbo University; Professor Linhai Lv, Deputy Director of the Institute of Curriculum and Teaching of Nanjing University and Associate Professor Shuo Zhao of the School of Teacher Education Jiangsu University presented special reports respectively titled 'The Great Changes in Education in the Post-Industrial Era, The Dilemma and Solutions of Primary and Secondary School Teachers’ Burden Reduction under the 'Double Reduction' Policy, Reflections on Chinese Education in the Involution Era, Early Cultivation of Top-notch Innovative Talents: The Development Process and Practical Path of Japanese Elite Education.'

Professor Baoxi Wang and Professor Yongwei Zhong from the School of Teacher Education at Jiangsu University hosted the keynote presentations

Sub-forum exchange and reporting

The afternoon sub-forum comprised four sessions, focusing on the themes of “Theoretical Exploration and System Construction of High-Quality Development of Basic Education,” “High-Quality Development of Basic Education and Curriculum Reform,” “High-Quality Development of Basic Education and Teaching Reform,” and “High-Quality Development of Basic Education and Evaluation Reform.” The sub-forums were overseen by four educators: Yijun Yang, Xiaoxu Liu, Yuyuan Fu, and Guanghui Shen from the School of Teacher Education at Jiangsu University. Thirty-four representatives of postgraduate students presented and shared views in the sub-forums. Following the sub-forum reports, the four educators provided an excellent summary and commentary on the participants’ submissions. They compiled a report on the sub-forum exchange seminar for the General Assembly.

Forum Awards

During the award ceremony of the Forum, Professor Xuejun Chen, head of the Secretariat of the Jiangsu Provincial Education Instruction Committee, and Vice Dean Zhengsong Zhou of the Graduate School of Jiangsu University conferred awards to the recipients of the first and second prizes, respectively. After the call for papers, expert assessment and review by the Forum organizing committee resulted in the selection of 9 papers for the first prize and 25 papers for the second prize.

Summary by Jiajia Wang, Dean of the School of Teacher Education, Jiangsu University

Closing Ceremony

During the closing ceremony, Professor Jiajia Wang, Dean of the School of Teacher Education at Jiangsu University, provided a summary of the Forum.

Guangqing Bu, Secretary of Party Committee, School of Teacher Education, Jiangsu University

Guangqing Bu, Secretary of the Party Committee, School of Teacher Education, Jiangsu University, hosted the sub-forum exchange report, forum awards and closing ceremony.

Group photo of guests attending the meeting