In Shenzhen, educational reform begins with innovation

Acting on its commitment to boost educational cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Shenzhen's Nanshan district has organized a series of events and made notable achievements.

At a forum themed "Innovative Leadership for STEAM Education", Nanshan's education bureau announced it was cooperating with the Education University of Hong Kong. Also, four education experts from Hong Kong were invited to join think tanks at the district's education science research institute.

Since November, the district has worked with a talent exchange center of the Ministry of Education. In November, School Leadership across GBA forums, a group that focuses on school construction and information exchanges, was jointly launched with Education University of Hong Kong.

Its second session in March centered on STEAM Education and was attended by more than 300 experts and scholars across China. Hundreds of principals also participated online.

The primary purpose of STEAM education is to deepen education in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, said Zhong Weitao, head of Shenzhong Nanshan Innovation School.

In 2015, the ministry proposed the STEAM education concept and designated it as a school course. As a form of interdisciplinary education, it cultivates the key abilities of students and improves their overall literacy from a multidisciplinary perspective, helping them find new learning patterns, Zhong said.

The goal is to make Nanshan a pioneer in educational research, draw attention from advanced international educational organizations and cultivate more talent to meet the needs of future development. This has been driving Nanshan's educational work to a new level, officials said, adding that they are making efforts to foster high-quality education in the district.

Yang Jun, director of Nanshan district's education bureau, said that development opportunities brought under the national strategy will combine the advantages of innovation-driven industries, technology and talent, which will inject new momentum into the high-quality development of education.

As one of the pilot districts to introduce the STEAM concept, Nanshan has explored an interdisciplinary project-based learning model. It has deepened the path of scientific and technological education, pioneered educational methods and realized a new educational work mechanism.

In May last year, the district held a forum called "Value Reshaping and Pathway Reconstruction" and released a new action plan to guide curriculum reform at the compulsory education stage. The goal was to build a talent cultivation model with the characteristics of innovation and entrepreneurship.

In recent years, the Nanshan bureau has focused on creating innovative education demonstration schools and laboratories, developing science and technology innovation courses and innovative education projects.

So far, the district has created 49 innovative education demonstration schools, 88 innovation laboratories, more than 100 science and technology associations and more than 150 innovative education projects.

At the 2022 Shenzhen Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition and Shenzhen Student Maker Festival, participants from Nanshan district won 36 first prizes, which placed them among the best in the city.