ENTEP Joint Project proposal has been initiated with the aim of improving the quality of education and teaching, enhancing teaching practices and further developing educational science in Russia and China. Partners experienced in HE teacher training formed a consortium in order to benefit from their different experiences, profiles and specific expertise and to produce relevant and high quality outcomes. The Project is focused on building cooperation and exchange of good teaching practices among European, Russian and Chinese Universities, which will eventually result in the modernization of PCIs. The project started in October 2017 and will be finished in October 2021.
Effective teacher education is key to teachers’ ability to face educational change and handle various socioeconomic conditions, however, more professional training is required throughout a teacher’s career as different professional needs emerge and contextual circumstances shift.
RU and CN educational authorities require that HE teachers, who lack pedagogical education, must receive training through professional development in-service programs on theory and practice of teaching, including advanced teaching methods and pedagogy. Thus, the proposed establishment of Centres for Teaching and Learning at PCIs with trained personnel and methodological support will provide a model for such high quality training on a regular basis and engage educators with the most up-to-date technologies to support teaching design and delivery. In order to be able to fit the changing learning environment, University teachers will be informed of modern pedagogy, curricula and syllabi design, contemporary teaching methodologies and psychology in the classroom, thus, being able to teach graduates who will meet needs of the labour market. Consequently, continuous professional development of university teaching staff will be focused on shared international and national ‘centres of excellence’, best practices, advanced teaching methodology and educational psychology in convergence with EU initiatives.
A university-wide, cross-departmental network of Centres for Teaching & Learning will be established in RU & CN PCIs and a comprehensive set of professional guidelines for teacher training providers and leaders will be developed. Learning and teaching tools, methodologies and pedagogical approaches including learning outcomes and ICT practices will be available for professional development of the PCIs’ teaching staff. Training of trainers will be done through the training workshops at EUIs.
A modern, tailored, module-based curriculum for HE teacher training based on contemporary education science and aimed at professional development of the academic staff will be developed and piloted at each PCI. A comprehensive set of professional guidelines for teacher training providers and leaders will be developed, incorporating learning and teaching tools, methodologies and pedagogical approaches including learning outcomes, ICT-based practices and blended courses and introduced at PCIs.
