Education and its contemporary transformations: this is the subject that nine French and Chinese personalities chose to address during a virtual meeting on March 31.

Education has been undergoing profound changes in recent years. In order to offer an inclusive education adapted to the needs of the new generations, from school to university, methods and assessments, contents and the institutions themselves are being changed.

The French Institute of China brought together, during a virtual seminar on March 31, nine personalities from all walks of life, recognized for their expertise on educational issues:

  • Catherine Mongenet, director of France Université Numérique, the organization that manages the French platform for MOOCs, massive open online courses
  • Xu Yijie, Chief Content Officer of Beijing Waiyan Online Digital Technology Company and Secretary General of the China MOOC Alliance for Foreign Studies
  • Sylvain Wagnon, Professor of Education at the University of Montpellier and head of the Centre for Documentation and Research in the History of Education (CEDRHE)
  • Du Yixiong, lecturer in education at the University of Political Science and Law and the Beijing Foreign Studies University
  • Samuel Remérand, professor of life and earth sciences, president of the association Voyage, Recherche et Éducation au service de la Biodiversité
  • Zhang Boju, Executive Director of the NGO Friends of Nature, which has set up a vocational training facility for young people
  • Sophie Pène, director of the AIRE master's degree (Interdisciplinary approaches to research and education) at the University of Paris, of which she is vice-president for digital technology. She is also an exhibition curator for the Saint-Étienne Design Biennial.
  • Wang Shijin, Vice President of iFLYTEK's Artificial Intelligence Research Institute and a member of the expert committee of China's Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance, where he is vice director of the Technology and Industry Working Group.
  • Romuald Normand, holder of the Franco-Chinese chair on education policies in Europe at the University of Strasbourg and associate professor at Beijing Normal University, where he directs the Franco-Chinese centre for innovation and education.

The discussions were divided into five topics:

  • Digital and education
  • Alternative methods and positive pedagogy
  • Biodiversity education
  • Artificial intelligence in education
  • Social inequalities in education

The event, in partnership with Sina, was attended by around 50 people live and has already been viewed 30,000 times in replay. The latter is available in Mandarin on Weibo. For more information, you can visit the website of the French culture in China.

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Project manager: Judith Oriol, cultural attaché for books and debates within the cooperation and cultural action department of the French Embassy in China and the French Institute in China

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