Recently, Fudan University held the launching ceremony for the "National Outstanding Primary and Secondary School Teacher Training Program" (hereinafter referred to as the "National Excellence Program"), admitting a total of 73 outstanding students aspiring to become teachers.
The "National Excellence Program" was launched in 2023, with 30 domestic universities, including Fudan University, designated as the initial pilot institutions. Currently, these pilot universities have fully initiated the training of graduate students under the "National Excellence Program." The program aims to promote high-level universities in cultivating high-quality teachers for primary and secondary schools, requiring selected graduate students to strengthen their disciplinary studies while concurrently pursuing modules in teacher education. It also introduces the concept of a "dual graduate degree" system.
This implies that nurturing graduate students under the "National Excellence Program" requires balancing academic and pedagogical aspects, emphasizing both disciplinary knowledge acquisition and teacher education enhancement. For the talent development efforts of pilot universities, this presents a significant challenge.
Building Bridges for the Integration of Academic and Pedagogical Aspects
From the implementation plans released by the pilot universities, they are primarily advancing the integration of talent development through academic and pedagogical aspects in several ways:
Firstly, they are implementing collaborative training. Universities are fostering collaborative training through intra-departmental cooperation, university alliances, and establishing practical bases, aiming to integrate resources and enhance educational synergies.
For instance, universities like Tianjin University and Central South University are assigning graduate students to different departments such as mathematics, physics, and education, integrating the strengths of various disciplines and resources in teacher education within the university. Similarly, Xi'an Jiaotong University and Jilin University have opted to sign collaborative training agreements with Shaanxi Normal University and Northeast Normal University, respectively, leveraging their own disciplinary development advantages while benefiting from the teacher education resources of the normal universities.
Moreover, establishing educational practice bases in high-quality primary and secondary schools is a common choice for these universities. Students engage in educational practice at these schools, receiving guidance from experienced teachers.
Secondly, they are constructing integrated curriculum systems. Universities are leveraging their disciplinary strengths to construct integrated curriculum systems that combine professional knowledge, educational theory, scientific research, and educational practice, promoting the integration of academic and pedagogical aspects in talent development through teaching content.
For example, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics utilizes its expertise in artificial intelligence to offer courses related to artificial intelligence technology in educational scenarios, integrating disciplinary knowledge into educational theory courses. Northeast Normal University has developed a curriculum system based on the concept of "integrated teacher education," comprising three major modules: basic courses, teacher education courses, and disciplinary courses, aiming for deep integration of disciplines with education and theory with practice.
Thirdly, they are implementing a multi-supervisor system. The "National Excellence Program" proposes the comprehensive implementation of a "dual supervisor system" where university teachers and primary/secondary school teachers jointly guide educational practice. Building upon this, universities have further refined the system to implement "triple supervisor systems" or "quadruple supervisor systems," combining excellent disciplinary education supervisors with teacher education supervisors to advance the integration of academic and pedagogical aspects through the mentorship of teachers.
For instance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University has proposed a "triple supervisor system," establishing a mentor team composed of educational supervisors, disciplinary supervisors, and practical supervisors. Northeast Normal University has implemented a "quadruple supervisor system," incorporating disciplinary education supervisors, educational supervisors, disciplinary teaching theory supervisors, and primary/secondary school supervisors.
Realistic Challenges in Integrating Academic and Pedagogical Aspects
Despite the various attempts and explorations made by the pilot universities to integrate academic and pedagogical aspects in the training of graduate students under the "National Excellence Program," several practical challenges remain.
Firstly, the significance of educational practice courses is not adequately emphasized. While the disciplinary foundation of graduate students under the "National Excellence Program" is unquestionable, their ability to effectively process and impart this knowledge to students needs to be honed and tested through educational practice.
The "National Excellence Program" requires graduate students to complete no fewer than 8 credits of educational practice courses. While 8 credits should be the minimum requirement for practical training, it has become the target for many pilot universities. Additionally, there is a variety of educational practice modes, and further clarification and refinement are needed regarding how to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of these practices.
Secondly, ensuring effective collaboration among multiple supervisors is challenging. Although universities have proposed "double supervisor systems," "triple supervisor systems," or "quadruple supervisor systems," the selection criteria, responsibilities, authority, guidance methods, and cooperation models of each supervisor are not clearly defined. Moreover, supervisors are often affiliated with different units or departments, leading to potential communication gaps and difficulties. This ambiguity may result in unclear guiding principles, overlapping guidance content, and delayed feedback, potentially transforming the "multi-supervisor" system into a scenario where students lack effective guidance.
Finally, balancing the learning of disciplinary education and teacher education is challenging. Academic research demands significant time and effort from graduate students. Adding the task of learning about teacher education on top of this can lead to a situation where students struggle to balance academic research and teacher education learning or remain perpetually insufficient in time and energy.
In particular, for graduate students selected through secondary selection methods, they are unable to study teacher education knowledge in their final year of undergraduate study like those selected through direct recommendation, leading to greater academic pressure.
Comprehensive Measures to Promote the Integration of Academic and Pedagogical Aspects
In addressing the aforementioned challenges, universities can take several approaches to promote the integration of academic and pedagogical aspects:
Firstly, they can enhance the practicality of teacher education. On one hand, they should establish practice-oriented teacher education evaluation standards. In addition to completing the required course credits and thesis, "delivering an excellent class" should be considered a basic requirement for graduate students under the "National Excellence Program" to obtain a master's degree in education. This emphasizes the assessment of students' classroom teaching practical abilities and outcomes, preventing students from becoming theoretical giants but practical novices. On the other hand, it is important to design a reasonable practical education model. Establishing a practice model integrating apprenticeship, internship, and further study, guiding students to interact more with frontline teachers, learn new educational concepts and methods, innovate teaching methods, actively identify, research, and reflect on problems.
Secondly, enhancing the synergy of the mentor team. In the setup of the mentor team, besides considering professional competence and disciplinary complementarity, it is also necessary to identify the teachers' sense of responsibility and enthusiasm for guidance, requiring mentors to be capable and willing to guide.
Based on this, the responsibilities of each mentor should be clearly defined, with the chief mentor responsible for overall communication and coordination, strengthening process guidance and management, achieving both division of labor and unity. Additionally, universities should establish platforms and channels for communication and collaboration. For example, recruiting primary and secondary school outstanding teachers as part-time lecturers at universities, arranging subject education mentors to practice in primary and secondary schools, encouraging mentor teams to collaborate on topic research, subject competitions, etc.
Lastly, enhancing the flexibility of educational management. Universities need to design flexible educational management systems and policies to help graduate students balance academic research and teacher education learning.
In this regard, firstly, it is necessary to flexibly conduct teaching. Offering courses during winter and summer vacations, adopting a combination of online and offline teaching methods to meet students' learning needs. Secondly, implementing mutual recognition of undergraduate and graduate credits. Courses that students have already taken and passed at the undergraduate level can be exempted at the graduate level. Thirdly, establishing a flexible academic system. Allowing graduate students who are selected for the second time to choose suitable learning progress and paths according to the requirements of double degrees. Fourthly, introducing a dynamic diversion mechanism. Emphasizing process-based evaluation, allowing students who are unable to cope with the tasks of double degree learning and have a weak desire for a teaching career to withdraw from the program, and admitting graduate students with a solid foundation in their disciplines and a passion for teaching.
(Author's Affiliation: School of Education, Soochow University)
