In recent years, the Institute has placed a strategic focus on transforming the regional education landscape. We have intensified our efforts on the international and regional fronts, seeking to extend our footprint through academic networking, programme and research collaboration, and the organisation of international conferences and symposia.

During the year, the Institute’s academic impact reached new heights, with international recognition given by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for our work in lifelong learning and vocational education, as well as in culture and creativity in education.

In January 2011, UNESCO awarded the Institute a highly prestigious Chair in the area of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Lifelong Learning. This was the first time for UNESCO to award an Education Chair to a tertiary institution in Hong Kong. The award recognises the Institute’s growing profile and sphere of influence, and its capacity in and commitment to education and human development within the Asia-Pacific region. The UNESCO Chair will help the Institute advance knowledge and promote best and innovative practices in TVET and lifelong learning not just in Hong Kong but also throughout China, the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

Through the Chair, the Institute has already forged strong links with 40 prestigious universities and international organisations, such as the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in the UK, the University of Melbourne in Australia, the Beijing Normal University Institute of Technology and Vocational Education in Mainland China, the UNESCO Offices in Paris, Beijing and Bangkok, and the Asian Development Bank.

In April 2011, the Institute and UNESCO Bangkok Office signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a UNESCO Observatory for Research in Local Cultures and Creativity in Education. This Observatory testifies to the Institute’s standing and impact in arts education, as well as its expanding academic and research capacity in the areas of music, visual arts and cultural studies, at both the regional and international levels. The Observatory will form a network of collaborations with other UNESCO Arts Education Observatories, including its counterparts in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand, cooperative partners in other UNESCO member states, and the wider arts community.

In recent years, the Institute has played host to and become a popular venue for a great number of regional and international academic events. Through active engagement with strategic partners beyond Hong Kong, the Institute has played a leading role in regional and international discourses in education. Major international conferences held during the year covered a range of areas, such as university education, teacher education and learning, lifelong learning, language education and spirituality education, with highlights as follows.

The Institute organised the Second East Asian International Conference on Teacher Education Research with the theme “Teacher Education for the Future – International Perspectives” on 15-17 December 2010. At the Conference, 650 teacher educators, researchers and government officials from 30 countries converged to share their research findings on teacher education. The participants also exchanged views on addressing the challenges of globalisation, international competition and technological advancement, through a change in the focus of teacher education from an instructorcentric to a student-oriented teaching approach.

On 12-13 January 2011, the Institute hosted an International Symposium on Lifelong Learning. High ranking members of the international education community, including the directors of the UNESCO Offices in Bangkok and Beijing, the Head of the Education Section of the Asian Development Bank in Manila and 50 influential education policymakers, researchers and practitioners from around the world gathered to explore future directions of research and developments in lifelong learning, particularly in relation to poverty alleviation and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.

With the rise of Asia, there is an increased need to study the shift of focus in higher education among Asian countries and beyond. On 14-16 January 2011, the Fourth World Universities Forum took place with 170 academics, researchers, university administrators, policymakers and analysts exchanging views and sharing the latest findings on issues related to the development, role, management and governance of universities, under the theme of “Asia Rising and the Changing Architecture of Global Higher Education”. This was the first time that Hong Kong had hosted the Forum.

Building on the success of the inaugural Asian Roundtable of Presidents of Universities of Education in May 2009, the Institute worked at full steam during the year to prepare for the Second Asian Roundtable, to be held on 3 November 2011 under the theme of “Envisioning the Future of Asian Universities of Education”. The upcoming Roundtable will again provide a platform on which university presidents can share insights into how to shape the future of the region’s universities of education in the face of global challenges and opportunities, and to support social transformation and human development through education. It is expected that around 40 presidents or their deputies from across Asia and Europe including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Austria and Switzerland will attend the Roundtable.

The Institute has been working actively in forging closer ties and academic collaboration with institutions around the world, as far afield as Russia and Saudi Arabia. In June 2011, with newly signed agreements, the Institute boasted a network covering 133 institutions in Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau, other parts of Asia, Australia, Europe and North America for academic collaborations and student exchange.

During the year, the Institute reached an agreement with South China Normal University to offer dual degree programmes, with students taking courses in both institutions. Outreach to Taiwan also successfully developed further links and student exchange programmes.

Building on its growing international network, the Institute actively partnered with other institutions to plan and provide dual degrees or joint programmes for enhancing student learning. For example, a Master of Social Science Education (Ethnicity and Global Citizenship) programme was planned for launch in 2011-12 in collaboration with the University of Illinois, USA, and a new Master of Arts in Education for Sustainability was planned for launch in 2012-13 in partnership with Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia.

The Institute has been working towards creating a dynamic campus, thriving with diversity. With close to 500 non-local postgraduate and undergraduate students, together with an increasing number of international inbound exchange students, a vibrant pluralistic environment is being created, helping to raise local students’ global awareness and fostering cross-cultural understanding among students from different countries and ethnic backgrounds.

The Buddy Programme is a successful initiative that enables local students to extend their international exposure while serving as local ambassadors. Other cultural learning and exchange activities beyond the classroom such as cultural excursions, Cantonese classes, social gatherings and receptions were organised throughout the year. A Farewell Party in May rounded out the diversified profile of year-round activities, with inbound exchange students sharing their feelings about and experiences of time spent at the Institute, giving local students much food for thought about their education paths.