Bernie Frolic, executive director of ABMP and professor emeritus at York University; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; and He Jinsong, president of BIE
A $5-million, five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Schulich Executive Education Centre’s Asian Business Management Program (SEEC-ABMP) and the Beijing Institute of Education (BIE), affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education, will renew and expand education training programs to school teachers, administrators and principals.
The programs will be offered through SEEC-ABMP in both China and Canada.
The agreement is one of 56 accords between Canadian and Chinese companies, valued in total at $1.2 billion, and was noted on Sept. 1 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his visit to China.
Bernie Frolic, executive director of ABMP and professor emeritus at York University, and He Jinsong, president of BIE, agreed the partnership will provide high-quality education and training programs in both countries.
The understanding will allow SEEC-ABMP, in collaboration with the Faculty of Education, to deliver face-to-face training programs in Beijing and Toronto, as well as online and blended programs.
The training topics include, but are not limited to: educational leadership; science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education; technology in the classroom; and inquiry-based learning.
“Recently we began our 16th year training Chinese officials, executives and educators, and we have more than 5,000 graduates living and working in 15 provinces of China,” said Frolic. “It has been an exciting journey and I am grateful to have been present at the creation of our program and to participate in its extraordinary development.”
The MOU is built on ABMP’s long experience in running training programs for numerous education institutions in China. This year, SEEC-ABMP will deliver more than 20 programs, training approximately 1,000 educators in Beijing.
The feedback has been encouraging and positive, said Frolic: Trainees provided positive evaluations in terms of the growth of pedagogical strategies that promote student voice and critical inquiry. Faculty members have commented that this experience has broadened their teaching methodology and understanding of cross-cultural communication.
“We are proud that our training of China’s educators has helped with the reduction of cultural barriers between our two countries,” Frolic said. “In the coming months and years we look forward to continuing and expanding this cooperation.”