On 13 January 2025, the Faculty of Education (FED) of the University of Macau and the Ziqi Experimental Primary School of Capital Normal University (CNU) in Guangdong-Macao in-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin held the signing ceremony on internship cooperation agreement. On the basis of friendly exchanges and cooperation, the two parties signed this agreement on the principles of complementarity, equality and mutual benefit, and common development to provide opportunities for students in the Primary Education programme in FED to undertake teaching internship in Hengqin, so as to enhance students’ knowledge and skills in mainland primary schools and to promote cooperation between Guangdong and Macao, as well as to jointly contribute to the cultivation of teachers for the Greater China Area and the Macao SAR Government.

The participants included Prof. Lianghuo FAN, Dean of FED; Prof. Zhaowei KONG, Associate Dean (Teaching) of FED; Prof. Tien Ping HSIANG, Programme Coordinator of Bachelor of Education Programme (Primary) of FED; Ms. Cuibing TANG, Director of Division of Education Development, Livelihood Affairs Bureau of Guangdong-Macao in-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin; Principal Lian ZHANG, Vice-Principals of Geliang LUAN and Min GUAN, Diector Dongxu YU of Moral Education, Director Lujia WANG of Curriculum and Instruction, Vice-Director Fengju ZHANG of Academic Affairs and Director Congliang WU of Administration of the Ziqi Experimental Primary School of CNU.

The Signing Ceremony was kicked off by two videos introducing the Ziqi Experimental Primary School of CNU and the University of Macau respectively. Director Tang delivered a speech to express the importance that Hengqin Bureau attaches to this cooperation. Dean Fan and Principal Zhang also delivered speeches, emphasizing that the cooperation between the two schools will not only help the development from each other, but also make a positive contribution to the education of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area. Finally, Dean Fan and Principal Zhang signed the cooperation agreement and exchanged the souvenirs. The ceremony was successfully completed.

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Director Tang	Dean Fan
Dean Fan and Principal Zhang represented to sign the agreement between two schools	From left: Dongxu YU, Geliang LUAN, Min GUAN, Cuibing TANG, Lian ZHANG, Lianghuo FAN, Zhaowei KONG, Tien Ping HSIANG, Lujia WANG, Fengju ZHANG and Congliang WU

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Faculty of Education

On 7 January 2025, the Faculty of Education（FED）held an Academic Council & Faculty Meeting in E34-G011. The participants of the meeting included all FED faculty members. At the beginning, Prof. Lianghuo FAN, Dean of FED gave a speech. Dean Fan expressed his gratitude to all faculty members for their help and support in the past year. At the same time, he emphasized that a new year brings new expectations, and that in the future, where opportunities and challenges exist side by side, he hoped that all of them can work together to achieve better results and everyone would work together to make a good progress.

During the meeting, Prof. Mingming ZHOU, Associate Dean (Research) of FED, announced the winners for the academic awards of the academic year 2024/2025. Kindly refer to the details below:

Teaching Award: Prof. Katy Ieong Cheng HO WEATHERLY
Research Award: Prof. Lijia LIN and Prof. George Chun Wai CHENG
Service Award: Prof. Yang GONG
Incentive Scheme for Outstanding Academic Staff in Research: Prof. Shulin YU and Prof. Rui YUAN
Best Paper Award: Prof. Xiaowei TANG and Prof. Nan ZHOU

At the end, Dean Fan made a comprehensive and profound conclusion, and the meeting was successfully concluded.

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Prof. Lianghuo FAN	Prof. Lijia LIN
Prof. George Chun Wai CHENG	Prof. Yang GONG
Prof. Shulin YU	Prof. Rui YUAN
Prof. Xiaowei TANG	Prof. Nan ZHOU

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Faculty of Education

From 21 to 25 December 2024, a group of 14 FED undergraduate students led by Prof. Jin-Jy SHIEH, participated in the “Macao Teachers and Students Volunteer Teaching in Guizhou” programme, organized by the Student Union of the Faculty of Education at the University of Macau and the Youth Association of The Chinese Educators’ Association of Macau. The group also included 15 in-service teachers from Macao.

On the 21st, the group visited the Guizhou Provincial Museum, Jiaxiu Pavilion, and Qingyun Market. Coinciding with the Winter Solstice, each group prepared performance activities after dinner, including singing, dancing, and drama. On the 22nd, the group visited the Biasha Miao Village and Luanli Dong Village to learn about local culture. On the 23rd, the group visited the San Gong District Primary School in Cuili Township, Congjiang County, which included campus tours, classroom observations, and exchanges. In the afternoon, the group members were divided into six teams for home visits with six students, engaging with the students and their parents. That evening, the team members prepared the content for their volunteer teaching sessions, and three leading teachers from the Youth Association of the Chinese Education Society, along with Prof. Jin-Jy SHIEH, visited each group to understand their lesson preparation and listen to their presentations.

On the morning of the 24th, the group conducted two subject-based teaching classes at the San Gong District Primary School, followed by two specialty classes about Macao culture in the afternoon, where the group evaluated and exchanged ideas with the teachers from the school. On the 25th, the group visited Congjiang Second National High School for exchange activities.

This volunteer teaching initiative provided the students from the Faculty of Education with an opportunity to understand and recognize the differences between schools in Mainland and Macao. FED students experienced the creativity and strategies needed for teaching in diverse settings, especially how to conduct group activities in large classes in an orderly manner, capture students’ attention, and engage them in learning—an entirely new experience. Additionally, the FED students were assigned to different groups to prepare lessons alongside in-service teachers, allowing them to learn from these teachers and gain practical teaching experience as they took turns as lead teachers in their groups.

For the students of the Faculty of Education, this was a highly meaningful activity that allowed them to practice teaching in distinctly different school environments, learn from in-service teachers, and care for students from diverse backgrounds. This activity also broadened FED students’ horizons and enhanced their awareness of the concept of tailored teaching.

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Visited Guizhou Provincial Museum	Visited Luanli Dong Village
Visited San Gong District Primary School	Performing Voluntary Teaching

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Faculty of Education

From 20 to 22 December 2024, the third “Language and Culture” exchange programme collaborated by the University of Macau (UM) and Beijing Normal University（BNU）was successfully held. Led by Prof. Yang GONG, Assistant Professor and Programme Coordinator of Bachelor of Education Programme (Chinese). 23 students from UM traveled to Zhuhai to join 25 students from the BNU Zhuhai for the event. The exchange programme aimed to promote communication between universities in Macao and Mainland and enhance the sense of identity among teachers and students from both universities as builders of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

At the opening ceremony on the first day, Prof. Xiaohui SUN Deputy Dean of the School of Foreign Languages and Literature of BNU, extended a warm welcome to the teachers and students from UM. Prof. Gong also sincerely wished the programme a great success and hoped it would be better and better and to facilitate exchanges between teachers and students from both universities. After the opening ceremony, the teachers and students visited Qunxian Primary School in Zhuhai to learn about its campus culture, observe language classes, and exchange ideas with teacher representatives.

On the second day, Prof. Yongguo CHEN from BNU delivered a lecture titled “The Task of Literary Translation from the Perspective of Intelligent Translation,” sparking in-depth discussions among students from both universities. The delegation also visited the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone for an inspection and cultural tour. On the third day, the teachers and students toured the Zhuhai Museum and the ancient town of Tangjiawan to experience the city’s culture. They also appreciated the unique artistic charm of Cantonese opera in a lecture on Cantonese Opera Art Appreciation by Mr. Weiwen YANG from Guangdong Vocational College of Art. Finally, student representatives from both universities summarized their experiences and impressions of participating in the programme at the closing ceremony, and all participating students received project completion certificates.

Centering around the theme of “Language and Culture,” this exchange programme leveraged the disciplinary advantages and rich language education resources of both universities’ teacher education programmes to carry out diversified activities, promoting mutual exchanges and cooperation. By participating in this programme, students not only broadened their horizons but also strengthened their sense of mission and responsibility in building the GBA. They are expected to contribute their wisdom and strength to the prosperity and development of the GBA.

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Opening Ceremony	Visited Qunxian Primary School
Visited the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone	Visited Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre
Visited Zhuhai Museum	Closing Ceremony

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Faculty of Education

From 15 to 18 December 2024, an exchange group of 6 postgraduate students from the Faculty of Education (FED) at the University of Macau (UM), led by Prof. Pou Seong SIT and Prof. Fu CHEN, went to Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai (BNUZH) to participate in the exchange programme on “Educational Assessment and Monitoring” of the Ten Thousand Talents Programme 2024. This exchange programme was jointly organized by ETARC and the Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment for Basic Education Quality of BNU.

During the exchange programme, the group first listened to seminars “Application of Results of National Compulsory Education Quality Monitoring” by Prof. Ping REN from BNUZH, and “Development of Mathematical Literacy Assessment Items – Practices in Item Development and Exchange on Evaluation Methods and Techniques” by Dr. Lidong WANG from BNUZH. Principal Zuoping LIU from Zhuhai Phoenix Middle School delivered an academic lecture on “Implementation and Achievements in Cultivating Technological Innovation Talents and Applying Core Competencies”. Additionally, Prof. Kwok Cheung CHEUNG of FED, also attended the opening ceremony of the event, where he delivered a speech and reported on the achievements of the “TIMSS 2023 Study” in Macao. Meanwhile, Prof. Pou Seong SIT shared insights on the “PISA 2022 Creative Thinking Study.”

Furthermore, Mr. Jiakan LAI from Zhuhai Phoenix Middle School organized the seminar on “Science and Technology Innovation Activities in Basic Education”. Mr. Lai explained to UM experts and students the topics of AI Science and Technology Innovation Curriculum Design, Textbook Compilation, Practical Applications, and Effectiveness Evaluation, and engaged in in-depth discussions and experience sharing with the experts and students present. In the end, Prof. Hongbo WEN from BNUZH presented certificates of completion to UM students, encouraging them to contribute to the field of educational assessment and monitoring in their future studies and careers.

Throughout this programme, the exchange group also visited Zhuhai Qunxian Primary School and Phoenix Middle School. Focused on the theme of “Educational Assessment and Monitoring,” this exchange programme not only broadened the students’ horizons and strengthened their patriotism and sense of identity with their motherland but also greatly sparked their interest in educational assessment and monitoring, promoting exchanges and collaboration between the two sides.

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A group photo of UM and BNUZH experts and students	Dr. Lidong WANG’s lecture sharing
UM students’ photo outside the venue	Visit to Zhuhai Phoenix Middle School
UM Students interacting with Zhuhai Qunxian Primary School students	Presentation of certificates

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Faculty of Education

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland, CGTN organized a roundtable event on 09 December 2024 by inviting guests from Macao to share their perspectives and personal stories during the rapid development in education, culture and economy in Macao in the past decades.

Prof. Mingming  ZHOU, Associate Dean (Research) of FED joined the sharing session in the education segment and introduced the uniqueness of education system in Macao. She also shared successful cases and experiences of educational exchange and cooperation between the mainland and Macao, such as the three national key laboratories in the University of Macau, the exchange programs between elite teachers in Macao and the Chinese mainland. Prof. Zhou also shared her perspectives on how we could develop an organizational structure that supports cooperation in educational programs within the Greater Bay Area. Now it perhaps is a good moment to take the road of industry-education integration and innovation. Universities need to think about the development characteristics of the Greater Bay Area’s pillar industries and strategic emerging industries, as well as the academic disciplines and emerging research areas. By combining them, we can build a discipline structure that is compatible with the Greater Bay Area’s industrial structure, and cultivate professional talents that meet the needs of industrial upgrading.

Last, when looking forward, Prof. Zhou expressed her optimism about the future of Macao and her cooperation with the mainland. One of the central government’s new directive is to transform Macao into an international hub for top-tier talent. To achieve this objective, Macao should leverage her distinct advantages and policy incentives to attract and retain external talent, while strengthening mechanisms for nurturing local talents. For the interview, please click the following the link for reference:

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-12-17/Watch-Youth-Talk-Macao-s-next-chapter–1zp4flSvdhC/p.html

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Faculty of Education

On 10 and 12 December 2024, Prof. Gert Felix SCHUBRING visited the Faculty of Education (FED) at the University of Macau (UM) and delivered a series of lectures on the theme of “Mathematics, Society, and Education.” Prof. Schubring is a recipient of the 2019 Hans Freudenthal Medal from ICMI and has made remarkable contributions to the field of mathematics education history over four decades. He pioneered research that emphasized the importance of social context in studying mathematics education history and founded the International Conference on History of Mathematics Education (ICHME).

Prof. Schubring presented two lectures titled “Debates about the Universalism of Mathematics – Local Origins, Global Spread, Ethnomathematics, Colonialism Claims” and “The Conceptual Problems in the Understanding of the Historical Evolution of the Notion of Negative Number.” During these lectures, he explored the social contexts related to the development of mathematics and the relations between mathematical practices and epistemological stances in differing mathematical cultures. In addition, Prof. Schubring visited the UM faculty collection room, where Dr. Jianzhong WU, the University Librarian, warmly received him.

Prof. Schubring’s visit and lectures not only deepened the understanding of mathematics education history among mathematics educators and researchers but also fostered international academic exchanges, providing invaluable insights and inspiration to the faculty and students of FED.

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Prof. Schubring visited the Rare Book Room in UM Library	From left: Prof. Gert Felix SCHUBRING, Dr. Jianzhong WU
Seminar on Mathematics, Society and Education Lecture Series: Debates about the Universalism of Mathematics – Local Origins, Global Spread, Ethnomathematics, Colonialism Claims	Group photo
Seminar on The Conceptual Problems in the Understanding of the Historical Evolution of the Notion of Negative Number	Group photo

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Faculty of Education