2022 Teachers’ Day Letter from XJTLU Executive President
Hardship and adversity breed success
Dear colleagues:
The Teachers’ Day and Mid-Autumn Festival weekend is quickly approaching as we begin the new semester with hope and joy. I would like to wish everyone a happy Teachers’ Day and a delightful Mid-Autumn Festival with happiness and health!
The permeating fragrance of Osmanthus flowers, meeting new students and colleagues for the first time, and a brand new campus in Taicang… there is much to look forward to this September at XJTLU.
For the past two years, we have gone through many ups and downs together. In particular, the pandemic situation in Suzhou back in February created a host of new challenges for the University on many fronts, whether it was teaching, research, managing a large student body or operating the University on a day-to-day basis.
Many were frustrated and complained about the situation, but in the end, we worked together as a team to overcome the obstacles and made sure the University could open smoothly as scheduled.
As we traversed through these difficult times, we were also fortunate to have borne witness to countless acts of dedication, perseverance, camaraderie and resilience; a true display of the XJTLU spirit.
As such, I would like to extend my deepest respect and gratitude to the members of the XJTLU community for your company throughout this journey.
Despite the setbacks, the University chose to forge on. The path we chose, while it will be better in the end, is not without its challenges. However, your efforts have carried us to the position of strength in which we stand today.
A resurrection must occur through fire, and hardship and adversity breed success. Our strategic vision pushes the University and its people to the limit, helping them realise their full potential.
XJTLU will only emerge stronger than ever from the crises, becoming better positioned to take things to the next level. Innovative ideas and models continue to emerge – the Syntegrative Education, the XJTLU Learning Mall, the University-Industry-Government-Society ecosystem, and the Five-Star Education Blueprint are some of the most representative examples.
1. Aiming at the future - creating innovative education models
Over the past 15 years, XJTLU has made great efforts in rethinking education, reshaping learning and teaching, and redefining the University. XJTLU Models 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 are the results of years of efforts and wisdom, providing society with what we think may be the solutions to address prevailing issues in education.
The XJTLU 1.0 model has innovated and upgraded the traditional education of professional elites, transitioning away from simple knowledge acquisition to a model that focuses on the individual growth of students, with a flexible course offering that enables students to pursue their academic interests, a research-led education that trains students on learning in the right way, and the Industry and Enterprise Tailored Education (IETE) to hone their skillsets.
XJTLU 2.0 deployed the Syntegrative Education model that explores beyond the boundaries of academic programmes, cultivating future industry leaders through education innovation and industry-driven collaborations.
XJTLU 3.0 introduced the academies to create an ecology of education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship for future industries.
XJTLU’s drive for excellence constantly pushes us to innovate and upgrade. Case in point: to better facilitate individualised learning and teaching innovation, we will further enhance the flexibility of education at XJTLU by adopting the Extended Study Scheme, a credit system and modularising programme-specific courses starting in 2022 to give students more freedom when choosing required or optional courses, while diminishing the prevailing progression rules and encouraging teachers to explore more fruitful education approaches.
2. The Digital Age – creating an education technology platform for the future
While the pandemic presented enormous challenges to staff, students and the University, we stood our ground and accelerated the build-up of our new education technology platform.
In parallel with the roll-out of the Five-Star Education blueprint strategy, we continued with the upgrade of the Learning Mall launched in 2020, which has now attracted wide attention at XJTLU as the next technology platform.
The system provides over 20,000 students with access to the platform to meet their learning needs, assists faculty with providing high-quality teaching, and enables XJTLU to better navigate and cope with the practical challenges presented by the post-pandemic environment.
In addition, to fulfil XJTLU’s mission of impacting education and contributing to society, the XJTLU Learning Mall launched LM Premium, a platform accessible to everyone that serves as a bridge for communication with the outside world, a community for people around the world who want to pursue learning.
Finally, with smart digital becoming increasingly relevant, the Learning Mall aims to provide world-class educational resources and supports the XJLTU education system with an ecosystem that promotes interest-driven lifelong learning and innovation by combining the University education and industry experience and conducting online and on-site learning activities for all users, no matter their country, region, age, or professional background.
3. Syntegration - breeding an educational ecosystem in the new age
For 16 years, XJTLU has remained committed to finding the right educational models, where we hope that our exploration may serve as a reference for the reform of education in China and the world, facilitating the development and advancement of our society.
In XJTLU Model 3.0, we took a step further from being just the cultivator of industry leaders that is the backbone of Model 2.0. The University will redefine its social functions by acting as the catalyst and connector to create a new ecosystem for innovation.
From 2020 to 2021, we launched the XJTLU Wisdom Lake Academy of Pharmacy, XJTLU-JITRI Academy of Industrial Technology, Academy of Future Education, and Academy of Film and Creative Technology. A lot of progress has been made since then.
Going forward, XJTLU will further strengthen the University’s collaboration with industries to create more integrated platforms, such as the XJTLU Yangtze River Delta National Technology Innovation Centre Demonstration Base, and the Wisdom Valley Entrepreneurial Base.
These will both be housed at the Taicang campus area that was launched in collaboration with the local government and corporate partners, supporting an education ecosystem that promotes interest-driven, lifelong learning, innovation, entrepreneurship, research, and industry transformation.
They say the only constant is change. For staff members and employees, this year brings a campus in flux. However, changes translate into new hope and opportunity, as well as fresh responsibilities. Here’s my advice for staying level-headed in times of difficulty and change:
First, transform your mindset and become an explorer of educational innovation.
Learning and teaching go hand in hand, and one gets better with the other. It is the ultimate responsibility of teachers to create an environment that is conducive to learning and growing. In this digital age in which information and knowledge have become readily available for everyone to access, the act of providing knowledge is no longer a critical function of education.
Instead, helping students analyse complex information, maintain the ability to discern truth from falsehood, and navigate with ease in a world experiencing an increasing level of uncertainty, ambiguity, complexity and changeability (UACC) are what really count.
Therefore, teachers should go beyond imparting knowledge. Rather, they must guide and support students in gaining critical thinking skills, honing the ability to conduct independent learning and research, and developing a habit of life-long learning that is driven by interest and self-motivation.
A teacher must transition away from being a mere conduit of knowledge to someone who can inspire and guide students who will try to understand themselves and the world around them, build dreams, learn in the right way, realise their potential, and constantly evolve into a better version of themselves.
Therefore, staff and students alike must get out of their comfort zone and develop a complexity mindset in order better tackle the challenges of today’s tumultuous world.
Next, use technology to shape digitised education.
In the digital age, the manner in which we live and learn constantly changes, while cognitive and research methods quickly evolve.
Universities must move away from knowledge dissemination and serve a new function befitting this changing world, where education models need to adapt and upgrade.
For instance, with the emergence of new digital, network and smart technologies, the way universities teach must be upgraded, and teachers must proactively leverage the power of new technologies to seamlessly integrate online and offline settings, creating an environment that can provide students with an immersive learning experience.
Our academic staff must also find ways to help students adapt in a fast-changing world where technologies and knowledge become obsolete in the blink of an eye, so they are prepared to engage in fierce competition that awaits them.
When dealing with students with a variety of talents, interests and personalities, individualised teaching catered to each student is necessary to stimulate curiosity, motivation, imagination and creativity, and in this case, a teacher serves in the capacity of a mentor and coach.
Consequently, both students and academic staff should be well-versed in new tools (including new theories of teaching and student psychology) and technological developments, while leveraging technology platforms and new academic theories and modules.
Lastly, promote synergy and benefit from the ecosystem created.
As everything connects with one another, a platform and ecosystem that foster collaboration, integration and innovation is needed to develop one’s career.
It is therefore important for you to build your own platform and ecosystem in order to advance your career and life. In the ecosystem we built, we can concentrate in performing research or exploring education, collaborate with our partners around the world, establish a domestic and international network, and share research findings, unique education exploration and practices.
This way, we can pursue our interests in research and teaching, and at the same time leverage the University’s platform to connect with the industries and participate in major research projects.
The University enjoys a tremendous level of freedom, so while it builds an ecosystem within itself, you can build one for yourself, further diversifying and upgrading the bigger one that XJTLU has already created, with everyone benefitting from a shared, symbiotic ecosystem.
On 11 November 2021, with the support from people who are enthusiastic for education, I launched the Finding Outstanding Chinese Educators in the New Era initiative, which aims to find common ground through dialogues, identify role models to facilitate reform, and invite discussions on education in China.
The evaluation process for 2022 is currently underway and you are welcome to observe. I look forward to having more of you in the future, becoming true educators who can make a profound impact.
"The wise and informed adapts to the changing time and circumstances." I hope that all of you will stay current with time, adhere to the spirit of innovation and pioneering, keep informed with trends and what the society demands of talents, make use of modern technologies and our platform to solve the challenges we face, bring about advancement in society and the humankind, reshape education, and innovate the future model of education.
So, everyone, let us work as one team and continue to achieve great things together!
I sincerely wish all staff members at XJTLU a happy Teachers’ Day. I wish you good health, happiness and success!