2022

December 2022

SEAMEO Research University Network (SEA-RUN) Inaugural Meeting  

SEAMEO Research University Network (SEA-RUN) Inaugural Meeting was held on 2 December 2022. SEA-RUN serves as a “Network of Research and Sharing for Development” platform that combined and amplifies the expertise of regional think tanks from SEAMEO Member Countries to foster holistic development of human resources in the region.  The SEARUN initially comprises 9 invited universities from different Southeast Asian countries which have strong proficiency in research and innovation. 

Professor Lee attended the Meeting to share the importance of research, partnership and network in response to the educational challenges in the post COVID-19 pandemic era.

November 2022

The 45th SEAMEO High Officials Meeting (HOM) 

The SEAMEO Secretariat in collaboration with the Ministry of Education of Thailand convened the 45th SEAMEO High Officials Meeting from 28 to 30 November 2022. Professor Lee gave his presentation during the Plenary Session on proposed and updates on collaboration with SEAMEO Secretariat and SEAMEO Centres or Network in 2022 onwards to the SEAMEO Secretariat.

The 45th SEAMEO HOM was attended by more than 150 participants comprising the head of delegation and high officials from 11 SEAMEO Member Countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam), representatives from SEAMEO Associate Member Countries, Affiliate Members and 26 SEAMEO Regional Centres/Network as well as SEAMEO partners, and so on.

The 30th Annual General Meeting cum Symposium 2022 

The Chair was invited by Organisation Mondiale pour ľÉducation Préscolaire Hong Kong (OMEP-Hong Kong) to the 30th Annual General Meeting cum Symposium as the keynote speaker of the 30th Annual General Meeting cum Symposium. The title of Professor Lee’s talk was “Development of Early Childhood Education: Personal Reflections”. The symposium was well received by the audience and the OMEP-Hong Kong expressed their sincere appreciation for Professor Lee’s participation in the Symposium. 

UNESCO Chair project: Development initiatives’ strategies for self-sustainability 

The Chair is one of the co-authors of the project, Development initiatives’ strategies for selfsustainability. The project is a long-term project that seeks (a) to identify cases where education development organisations across the world have successfully implemented and sustained change in the domains in which they work; (b) to understand those changes in terms of complexity theory and integrated service delivery; (c) to disseminate emerging best strategies and practices to other organisations in the field through our project website; and (d) to theorize those changes and cases for publication in leading journals. Three papers with the co-authors of this project (Emilia Szekely, Mark Mason and the Chair) would be published in the Journal of Education Policy.

October 2022

Conference on National and Internal Experiences for Developing Early Childhood Education Curriculum 

The Chair was invited to be the keynote speaker for the Conference on National and Internal Experiences for Developing Early Childhood Education Curriculum on 17 October 2022.

Professor Lee shared the pedagogy and curricula content, including case studies from Finland and Hong Kong. The Conference was part of The World Bank’s support for the Vietnam Government’s comprehensive reform agenda on early childhood education. The presentation was well received by the audience. Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and The World Bank expressed their appreciation and contribution to Professor Lee’s efforts in the early childhood education curriculum reform. 

The Fourth UNESCO World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage Teachers’ Training Programme 

The training programme was jointly organised by UNESCO Hong Kong Association and the Hong Kong Institute of Education for Sustainable Development. Teachers who have completed the training programme can organise and develop school-based curriculum related to natural and cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage. 

September 2022

UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning: Forum on the Futures of Education 

The UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning: Forum on the Futures of Education was successfully concluded on 30 September 2022. This online forum was organised by Professor John Lee Chi-Kin, UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) with the support of the UNESCO Beijing Cluster Office and the UNESCO Headquarters, involving 25 experts from the UNESCO Offices and 18 universities in mainland China and Hong Kong. 

In November 2021, the International Commission on the Futures of Education released a report, Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education and its executive summary. The UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning proposed to host this Forum on the Report soon after its release with a theme of “Schools, teachers and basic education in China: Looking to the future”. Building on this, this Forum was arranged to raise awareness and promote discussion of the themes contained in the Report within China and the region, building on and extending a previous university initiative that involved senior university managers from around the Pacific.

The occasion was honoured by the presence of Professor Shahbaz KHAN, Director of the UNESCO Cluster Office in Beijing, and Mr Sobhi TAWIL, Director of the Future of Learning and Innovation at UNESCO, who delivered the welcoming remarks and the introduction to the Forum. 

Four renowned speakers presented a compendium of speeches insights and reflection keynote speeches at the Forum. The keynote speakers, including Professor John Chi-Kin LEE, UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning of EdUHK, Professor Huan SONG, Director of the Institute of Teacher Education Research at the Beijing Normal University, Professor Yuhua BU, Deputy Head of the Institute of Schooling Reform and Development at the East China Normal University and Professor Zeyuan YU, Vice-Dean of Faculty of Teacher Education at the Southwest University, shared their invaluable views on future education in China. 

Following the keynote speeches, four breakout sessions were arranged in parallel, enabling invited participants to exchange ideas and make recommendations for future education in China with different foci on “Future Teachers”, “Future Schools and Schooling” and “Basic

Education in China”. 

The Forum attracted students and staff from EdUHK and other local, mainland China and overseas universities, as well as members of the UNESCO and SEAMEO networks.  Positive feedback was received from participants via a post-event online survey. The stimulating breakout group discussions and the insights shared by the keynote speakers inspired the participants. All were, in general, very satisfied with the Forum and agreed that it was useful for gaining an understanding of the development of future education and for fostering potential collaborations. 

A booklet was published in February 2023 serves as a compendium of speeches insights and reflections of the Forum, with contributions from the Keynote Speakers, Coordinators of each Breakout Session on the conference theme, as well as their reviews of the Future of Education report “Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education”. 

UNESCO Forum on Teacher Education in China 

The Chair was invited as one of the keynote speakers for the UNESCO Forum on Teacher Education in China on 13 September 2022. The Forum was hosted by the UNESCO Teacher Education Centre at the Shanghai Normal University. The Forum aimed to promote SDG:4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all and strengthen the collaborations between China and the countries in Chain’s One Belt One Road in the field of teacher education. The theme of the Chair’s speech was “The Future Orientation of Teacher Education in China” which discussed the teacher education in China from Hong Kong perspectives and share his experience on teacher training in Hong Kong.

The Chair was invited as one of the keynote speakers for the UNESCO Forum on Teacher Education in China. Scholars shared their insights on teacher education in China in the event.  

July 2022

SEAMEO Centre Directors Meeting 2022 

The Chair was invited to deliver a short presentation to introduce EdUHK and the future plan for collaboration with SEAMEO and SEAMEO Centres in the SEAMEO Centre Directors Meeting 2022 held on 27 July 2022. The Meeting served as a platform for the Center Directors and senior officers of 26 SEAMEO Regional Centers/Network to share and discuss regional development programs and work plans for improving education, science, and culture for the Southeast Asian region, as well as a venue for expanding the collaborative programs with new partners and strengthening existing partnerships.

May 2022

The Third UNESCO World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage Teachers’ Training Programme 

Professor Lee was invited as the guest speaker of the sharing session of the Third UNESCO World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage Teachers’ Training Programme on 7 May 2022. Professor Lee gave a speech on curriculum design and review. The presentation was well received by the attendees.

The training programme was jointly organised by UNESCO Hong Kong Association and the Hong Kong Institute of Education for Sustainable Development. Teachers who have completed the training programme can organise and develop school-based curriculum related to natural and cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage. 

January 2022

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) Research Project on Higher Education and Ageing Societies 

In his dual capacity of UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning and Senior Advisor of Elder Academy at the University, Professor Lee was invited by UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) to attend an interview about the University’s strategies in addressing the learning needs of ageing societies in support of lifelong learning. 

During the online interview held on 28 January 2022, the Chair shared the institutional support at EdUHK and good practices of EdUHK’s Elder Academy to address the needs of older learners and ageing societies with the wider research community in the field of lifelong learning as well as the region. In November 2022, Professor Lee was invited to review the draft research report and provide advice on highlighting the unique contribution of the Elder Academy regarding the provision of lifelong learning for older adults in Hong Kong.

SEAMEO Special Webinar on International Day of Education

Organised by the SEAMEO, the SEAMEO Special Webinar on International Day of Education under the theme ‘Changing Course, Transforming Education’, was held on 24 January 2022. 

The webinar aims to support the realisation of Sustainable Development Goals 4; showcase education transformation during the pandemic from SEAMEO Schools’ Network, TVET and Teacher Education Network; and share the teachers’ voices on the future of their profession, from integrating technology in their practice to orienting teaching and learning around new skills and mindsets for people and planet and promoting lifelong learning for all.  The webinar is available for free on the SEAMEO Secretariat YouTube Channel to approximately 5001,000 educators, teachers, and students from the Southeast Asian countries and beyond.

Professor Lee gave a speech titled “Impacts on Curriculum and Instruction under the COVID-19 Pandemic” for the event to share the pandemic’s consequences for education and strategies emerged for teaching and learning.