Dr. Charles CHEN Yidan: Innovative education for the post-pandemic era

Esteemed Dean Yan, 

Distinguished experts, 

Scholars and guests:

Hello and welcome. I am glad that this year's Yidan Education Forum can be held in Beijing as scheduled.Unfortunately, I can't be there due to the pandemic. However, I will be participating in the entirety of the forum, online, which is similar to most of our international guests. These alternative means of participation and outreach not only demonstrate the impact of the pandemic, but also highlight the need for innovation in education as an important issue.

While the pandemic has greatly impacted local and global education ecosystems, it has also brought newer perspectives and opportunities.For example, from a biological perspective, the sudden change in the environment will trigger change in us to adapt to the changing ecosystems. Similarly, education environments are also undergoing great changes. On one hand, the pandemic has challenged and strengthened our educators' resilience; While on the other hand, it is in the nature of education to seek for experimentation and innovation. At the moment, we have no idea when the pandemic will come to an end. But I believe it is an opportunity to explore the innovative education for the post-pandemic era.

One of the prominent changes in the education industry during the pandemic is the proliferation of online education. We have witnessed a lot of online courses gain popularity overnight. A pragmatic approach under current times is to first propose the question: what do we have and what don’t we have? And then the question: what’s good and what’s not good? Meanwhile, even though we may be able to digitise our classroom learning in the future,  we cannot simply rely on technology to build their social and emotional skills and foster interpersonal relationships between their peers and their teachers.And these emotional needs will be more distinct under a high-tech background. Education innovation must reflect the needs of the society and account for individual differences,It cannot simply achieve scale and efficiency on the premise of scientific and technological progress.

While education innovation should focus on smart technology, we should not forget the general technology. In the past, educational innovation has focused heavily on technological empowerment.While technology does bring about innovation,education, cannot just be aimed at and achieved through smart technology, but rather in learning how to use general technology in a smart way. We must recognise that education is a process of development, not of production. The outcomes can be varied because students vary individually.Technology can often bring process efficiency and definitive outcomes.But in education, the human values of care, patience, love, kindness, companionship and comfort, are more important.Technology cannot substitute the teachers’ emotional commitment.

Thus, education innovation first needs to deeply understand the current social concerns and thereby seek to address the issues of our future. The society are highly concerned about education, and thus, education issues often become hot topics of discussion in our society. We have noticed that people are concerned about the "involution" caused by excessive competition in schools,and “burning out” as a result of undue exhaustion in adulthood.This is not the purpose of education.Education is not a zero-sum competition game. It should result in value creation.The best way to solve a social problem is to create increments.And the best way to create increments is through innovation. The more innovative and diversified we are, the more prosperous and healthier our ecosystem will be.

For individuals, qualities like curiosity, imagination, interdisciplinary problem-solving skills, etc are often overlooked in the process of excessive competition. It is only by creatively exploring a more diverse and flexible assessment system that we will truly realise our potential as humans. As far as society is concerned, education innovation lies in whether it can cooperate with people and industries from all walks of life to change the pattern of “struggling over a single-plank bridge,” And to let the path of schooling become the path of wholesome student development.

Education builds our future. It is the essence of human development.The kind of future we have will depend on how we help our young people develop.We are prone to overestimate the short-term impact of a problem and underestimate the long-term impact of innovation.We should keep finding creative solutions to problems even if they seem impossible to resolve for the time being.Education innovation should always focus on the future of humanity and remain optimistic about the future.

Every major event in the world often prompts a turning point for innovation. Innovation is not about doing something different and detached from reality.  It means to return to the original source, explore its essence, and reexamine and reimagine its structure and functions, to improve ability and use for all.

At last, I would like to stress that the ultimate goal of education innovation is to focus on the needs of people. We should always pay attention to how students study and whether they have really learnt something. In the end, I hope that all participants can speak freely, have in-depth exchanges, and share more insightful views on education innovation. I wish this forum a complete success! Thank you!