The popular 2013 Zhuhai English Teachers Training Programme (ETTP) at UIC brought in 64 teachers from various local primary schools on 15-26 July, after the College had trained secondary school English teachers in the past three summers.

The selected Zhuhai English teachers complete 12 day training at UIC

Rounds of applause showed the audience’s appreciation for the drama, choral speaking, mock classes and other performances of the trainees. The atmosphere of the closing ceremony expressed a good feeling of appreciation for the training programme.

Amongst the trainees was Ms. Gao Hongying, who teaches in Foreign Languages School Affiliated with Beijing Normal University Zhuhai. She said what touched her the most during the whole training programme was that all the learners were exposed to delightful, new and creative ways of teaching, instead of the old, strict and customary ways of teaching.

The trainees performing a drama		Choral speaking

		Mr. Yu Xianze, Director of the Education Research Centre in Zhuhai Municipal Education Bureau, congratulated the completion of the ETTP and said: “UIC is a highly internationalised college, and the trainees are the core teachers from many primary schools. The training programme has been a success and will boost, I hope, education in Zhuhai to a new high.” “It makes the trainees rethink about their English teaching philosophy; that is, is it always about alphabet, glossary and grammar?” he added.
Mr. Yu Xianze hopes the teachers find pleasure in education

Mr. Zhang Jun, Deputy Director, who helped to bring about the training programmes and design their curricula, made it known that he had been impressed by the efficient way UIC staff worked in the summer programmes for four consecutive years. “The Education Bureau favours UIC’s unique Whole Person Education and abundant English teaching resources, and the College’s high teaching quality and learners’ good learning outcomes continue to prove the College’s competence,” he said.
		Mr. Zhang Jun admires UIC’s organisation of the programme

Mr. Nelson Chan, Managing Director for Financial Planning and Development of UIC, said UIC was grateful for the support of the Zhuhai Municipal Government and the Education Bureau, and in return, the College would always endeavour to conduct a successful training programme for English teachers.

The trainees having multiform classes

Dr. Dave Towey, Deputy Director of the English Language Centre of UIC, acknowledged that the ETTP this year had some new elements compared to previous ETTPs, and he was not surprised to see after only about 10 days the trainees had made very significant progress.

One of the trainees, Ms. Zhong Muzhen from Zhuhai Xiangshan School, said that she would apply what she had learned in the programme to her teaching. She also appreciated the rare opportunity to meet so many outstanding peers and learn from each other.

Prof. Zee Sze-Yong, Vice President of UIC, presenting the trainees with completion certificates

Hosted by Zhuhai Municipal Education Bureau, the 2013 ETTP at UIC consisted of several modules on English proficiency, teaching skills and a teacher’s overall quality. Besides the necessary lessons on academic reading and writing, the trainees experienced choral speaking, mock classes, drama performance, culture understanding, speeches and other innovative approaches to further improve their capabilities of English teaching.

Reporter: Deen He
Photographer: Huang Zibo, Irene Yu and Deen He
(from MPRO, with special thanks to the ELC)