Media

Faculty of Education celebrates a centenary of teacher education at HKU

23 Jan 2018

 

The Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) celebrated 100 years of teacher education at HKU, a history that began with the establishment of a Department of the Training of Teachers in the Faculty of Arts in September 1917, at its Gala Dinner held on January 19, 2018 (Friday) at Loke Yew Hall on HKU campus.  The Faculty was honoured to have Mr Sam Tin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tin Ka Ping Foundation (the Foundation); Professor Peter Mathieson, President and Vice Chancellor of HKU; and Professor A. Lin Goodwin, Dean of Education of HKU, to officiate the event. The warm reunion was joined by around 300 guests, alumni, friends, students and staff members in the Education family.

Professor Peter Mathieson recalled his experience in taking a “Teaching the Teachers” course when he started his new employment 25 years ago, in which he learnt that teaching was a very dynamic profession. He paid respects to the educators, especially modern teachers who embraced all sorts of changes in the progressively evolving education landscape. He congratulated the Faculty and the former colleagues at HKU for the achievements and contributions to the society through quality education, beginning a century ago.

Mr Sam Tin congratulated the Faculty for being ranked World No.4 in 2018 among the top education faculties worldwide by the Times Higher Education, after Stanford University, Harvard University and the University of Oxford. According to Mr Tin, the connection between the Tin Ka Ping Foundation and the University can be traced back to the establishment of the Tin Ka Ping Visiting Fellowship Programme in 1990. From this scheme to the recent Gansu School Professional Development Programme, the Faculty had inspired a generation of scholars and frontline educators from Mainland China, brought new perceptions of education and made a great difference in serving the education sectors along the Silk Road. He looked forward to many more collaborations and joint efforts with the Faculty in enhancing education in China in the future.

“We cannot help but feel the spirit of the past century in this hall, and pay homage to the many educators and graduates—some of whom are in this room—who paved the way to this very moment…by striving for excellence, seeking creative answers to enduring learning challenges, and making a difference in the lives of young people,” said Professor Goodwin. She also expressed her gratitude to various parties for their unfailing support to the Faculty throughout the decades and added: “With strong support from all of you, we are poised to continue collaborating with our partners and different stakeholders in the community around teaching and learning, research and community engagement for countless years to come.”

For details about the centenary celebration, please visit http://100.edu.hku.hk.

For more information about the Faculty of Education, HKU, please visit the Faculty website at http://web.edu.hku.hk/ and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/education.hku.

For media enquiries, please contact Ms Emily Cheung, Senior Manager (Development and Communications) (Tel: 3917 4270 / E-mail: emchy@hku.hk).