News--Welcome to National Chiayi University

　　National Chiayi University has been carrying out the “plan on a community of teacher education professors and a workshop for prospective teachers under new curriculum standards” for the academic year 2018-2019, thanks to funds from the Ministry of Education. All these are conducted in correspondence with the new curriculum standards that have been announced and implemented, and to shed light on teacher education under the new curriculum standards for the teachers and students of teacher education. By means of a diversity of empowerment activities, they hope to facilitate teacher empowerment and curriculum collaboration, literacy-oriented curriculum development and teaching skills, combination of theory with practice, and the prospectiveness, creativity and practicality of teaching among the teachers and prospective teachers.

　　The 2019 is a year to celebrate the centennial anniversary of NCYU. Organized by the Teacher Education Center from Feb. 22nd to 24th, “Curriculum Design and Creative Teaching Under the Literacy-Oriented New Curriculum Standards–‘Dream Big’ Collaborative Workshop” serves as the first grand event of a series of anniversary activities. The workshop is held with substantial support from one of the top professional teacher teams in Taiwan–“Dream Big,” led by Tom Wang, Chairperson of Nantou Shung Wen Junior High School. This marks the first time “Dream Big” has ever collaborated with a teacher-training university in organizing a workshop with a particular focus on prospective teachers. In addition to support from “Dream Big,” the workshop is jointly organized by the departments of education from both the Chiayi County Government and Chiayi City Government. Led by professional teachers, the teachers of teacher education, prospective teachers, and current teachers in elementary and junior high schools will be engaged in collaborative lesson preparation, self-empowerment, and connection with the locality. The aim is to promote professional growth of on-site teachers, and to translate flipped teaching into classroom practice.

　　The opening ceremony on Feb. 22nd was officiated by NCYU Vice President Huang Guang-liang and Chiayi Mayor Huang Ming-Hui. Cheng Yuan-chuan, Director-General of the Department of Teacher Training and Art Education, MOE, and Tom Wang, organizer of the “Dream Big” workshop, were specially invited to deliver three keynote speeches on topics including “Literacy-oriented New Curriculum Standards and Teacher Education,” “New Curriculum Standards, New Thinking, and New Opportunities” and “Innovation And Practice of the Literacy-oriented New Curriculum Standards.” The objective of the keynote speeches were to prepare participants for the new curriculum standards in the academic year 2019-2020, and to promote creative thinking, and flipped teaching. NCYU Vice President Huang expressed gratitude to the MOE for their greatest support to make this grand event happen. As an alumna and teacher trained at NCYU, Mayor Huang gave encouraging words to all the participating teachers, and expressed her concern and support for education on behalf of the Chiayi City Government.

　　The workshop from Feb 23rd to 24th will be carried out in groups of different disciplines, a total of 13 across elementary and junior high schools, including Chinese, English, mathematics, natural science, society, counseling, experiential education and special education. During the workshop, Mr. Tom Wang demonstrate the teaching of junior-high Chinese, and as many as 38 distinguished senior teachers from elementary and junior high schools around the country are invited to the event. More than 500 people registering for the grand event, ranging from teachers of teacher education universities, prospective teachers, to current teachers at elementary and junior high schools. The keynote speech sessions and workshop carried out in groups of different disciplines will last for three days. All these are implemented with a view to stimulating creativity and passion in teaching among the participants, and creating more “autonomy, interaction, and win-win situations,” through sharing of practical teaching experiences in curriculum design and creative teaching.

　　The Teacher Education Center of the university shoulders the responsibility to carry on the educational mission embraced by National Chiayi Teachers College, now NCYU, of developing remarkable prospective teachers for elementary and junior high schools. Each year, it has been cultivating around 301 prospective teachers, among whom 31 have received grants from various city and county governments. It is also one of the few teacher education universities that provide teacher training for kindergartens, special education, and elementary/junior high levels. As the spring of 2019 unfolded, NCYU established “Strategic Alliance of Teacher Education Partner Schools” with 37 national elementary and junior high, senior high and vocational schools in the Chiayi region. The alliance is expected to strengthen cooperation with the educational system of elementary and junior high schools in the Chiayi region. In conjunction with the MOE teacher education policies, the Teacher Education Center will be committed to initiating “a training program for both elementary and junior high school teachers,” developing “English-speaking teachers” as well as elementary and junior high school teachers who meet the requirements under the literacy-oriented new curriculum standards to be implemented in the upcoming academic year 2019-2020. In addition, NCYU will work with neighboring renowned private education institutions on “an academic-industrial cooperation project for teacher training.” With the educational practice in Nordic Finland as a model, they hope to encourage outstanding more people to devote themselves to the mission of solidifying the national basic education.