SOE featured at China-U.S. Educational Conference

Dean Andrew Daire, Ph.D., and Yaoying Xu, Ph.D., at the 1st International Conference of China-U.S. Educational Collaboration.
Dean Andrew Daire and Dr. Yaoying Xu at Jiangnan University.

October 24, 2019

The opening ceremony of the 1st International Conference of China-U.S. Educational Collaboration – a joint conference between the VCU School of Education and Jiangnan University – took place earlier today in Wuxi, China.

The ceremony featured keynote speeches by SOE Dean Andrew Daire; Dr. James Lane, superintendent of public instruction, Virginia Department of Education; and Dr. Yaoying Xu, professor in the Department of Counseling and Special Education and director of the Asian American Educational Studies Center.

Daire spoke on cross-cultural international partnership development, including strategies and concepts that are beneficial to healthy relationships and partnerships, as well as cultural considerations when developing healthy partnerships.

Lane spoke about the Virginia Is for Learners initiative, a commitment to ensure that every public school student in the commonwealth is ready to thrive after graduation.

Xu, who grew up and received her foundational education in China, obtained her advanced degrees in the U.S. In her keynote, she shared personal experiences from her cultural and educational journey, as well as her professional views from the perspective of a researcher and educator.

Keynotes were also delivered by Dr. Jun Li, professor at Western University in Canada, and director of its Global Center for Educational Partnership; Dr. Tien-Hui Chiang, distinguished professor at Zhengzhou University and former president of the Taiwan Educational Sociology Association; Dr. Wu-Tien Wu, emeritus professor of special education at Taiwan Normal University, honorable chair professor at Pingtung University and distinguished professor at Lingnan Normal University; and Dr. Liangchen Tian, dean of the School of Humanities at Jiangnan University and professor in the Department of Education.

The day's activities included forums on curriculum and teaching, family and children’s education, and intercultural and comparative education.

In addition to Daire, Lane and Xu, the 21-person delegation from Virginia includes Dr. Gail Hackett, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs; seven SOE faculty members and one faculty member from Virginia State University, seven SOE doctoral students, one visiting scholar and one staff member.

The conference promotes cross-cultural conversations among students, researchers and educators from Jiangnan University and VCU, K-12 schools, education systems, educational institutions and partners from China and the United States. It runs through Friday, October 25, and will be followed by a Recruitment and Admissions Fair on Saturday, October 26, also in Wuxi.

Link to Flickr Album

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The full Virginia delegation on the campus of Jiangnan University on October 24, 2019.
On the Jiangnan University campus. From left: Katie Brendli, doctoral student; Dr. Chin-Chih Chen, associate professor; Dr. Yaoying Xu, professor and director of the Asian American Educational Studies Center; Dr. Chriss Walther-Thomas, professor; Dean Andrew Daire; Dr. James Lane, superintendent of public instruction at the Virginia Department of Education; Dr. Tomika Ferguson, assistant professor; Dr. Jenna Lenhardt, recruitment specialist; Michelle Boulanger Thompson, doctoral student; Dr. Lisa Abrams, professor; Dr. Christine Spence, assistant professor; Dr. Pamela Reed, associate professor, Virginia State University; Misti Mueller, assistant professor; Yingying Jiang, doctoral student; Dr. Jeffery Wilson, associate professor; Fa Zhang, doctoral student; Wei Yang, doctoral student; and Lan Liu, SOE visiting scholar.