SMILE Held the Expert Consultation Meeting on the Global Ranking of China's Learning Society Development and International Lifelong Learning Development Research

On the morning of December 8, the Expert Consultation Meeting on the Global Ranking of China's Learning Society Development and International Lifelong Learning Development Research was held in the small auditorium of the office building of East China Normal University (ECNU). The meeting was chaired by Prof. Li Jiacheng, executive vice president of the Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education (SMILE). Prof. Cui Xinyou, former president of Jiangsu Open University and chairman of Jiangsu Lifelong Education Research Association, Prof. Zhang Jixian, vice president of Zhejiang Open University, Prof. Li Jie of East China University of Political Science and Law, Prof. Xun Yuan of the Institute of Higher Education, Faculty of Education of ECNU, Prof. Peng Zhengmei, director of the Institute of International and Comparative Education, Prof. Wang Baoxing of the Department of Education, Prof. Chen Xiangdong of the Department of Education Information and Technology, and more than thirty members of the research group participated in this meeting.

The scene of the Expert Consultation Meeting on the Global Ranking of China's Learning Society Development and International Lifelong Learning Development Research

Associate Professor Zhu Min from Institute of Vocational and Adult Education, Faculty of Education of ECNU, chief researcher of the SMILE ESD Program, first introduced a number of phased results in the research of Global Learning Societies Ranking, focusing on analyzing and explaining the data and rankings in 2012, 2015, 2022, and 2023, and put forward reflective thoughts on the follow-up study.

Prof. Li Jiacheng, executive vice president of SMILE, focused on the general situation of the construction of the International Lifelong Learning Database and the research progress on the development of lifelong learning in five cities. President Li mentioned that SMILE focused on important issues such as learning cities, education for sustainable development, climate change education, etc., and actively carried out academic interactions and practical exchanges with the world, during which progress relying on talents, practice and ecology was the fundamental driving force for the development of the institute. After that, Prof. Li consulted the invited experts on three aspects of SMILE: team building, resource acquisition and achievement formation.

More than thirty members of the research group, part-time researchers of SMILE and relevant postgraduates of the Institute of Vocational and Adult Education of the Faculty of Education of ECNU took turns to put forward their own observations, reflections and follow-up suggestions on the work related to the subjects they have been involved in.

In the session of expert guidance and discussion, professors and experts put forward detailed guidance and suggestions on the above two research topics of SMILE from their respective professional perspectives and thinking focuses.

Prof. Xun Yuan believed that the study of learning society indicators could be developed into the study of learning society development index and transformed into a long-term research project. The current indicators could be further refined and the connotation of the existing indicators can be enriched. Prof. Xun Yuan talked about the international comparison of the number of educated people in higher education, and believed that the popularization of open education, continuing education and adult education deserved our attention, and that campus cooperation can be carried out on related topics.

President Zhang Jixian pointed out that there were differences in data acquisition in different countries due to different national conditions. Collection and analysis of indicator data of building county learning society has been carried out in Zhejiang province and there are many challenges in the validity, accessibility and accuracy of the indicator data. The difficulty in obtaining data on skill training for continuing education and non-formal education institutions is a common challenge faced by all. President Zhang suggested that in addition to the concept of a learning city, the concept of learning villages, learning counties might also be considered when designing the indicators.

ChairmanCui Xinyou highly affirmed the importance of the study on the global ranking of learning societies, and believed that the study could be used to accelerate China's lifelong education legislationandbetter ensure the implementation of local lifelong learning for all, and that post-school education was an important way to build a leading country in education and realize the modernization of education. In the concrete implementation of the indicator study, it was necessary to promote work in all areas by drawing upon the experience gained on key points and gradually spread to the international level.

Director Peng Zhengmei talked about the different understandings of the concept of “society” in the West and in China, pointing out that before establishing the indicator system, we should first analyze the connotation of “society” in the context of a learning society. Second, the establishment of China's own learning-oriented indicator system should be based on respecting the existing international common related indicator system, and reflecting on the progress and shortcomings of our country by comparing it with the existing international data.

According to Prof. Wang Baoxing, the study on the ranking of the international learning society was essential, and it was necessary to find the theoretical foundation with Chinese characteristics. The high level of cultural dimension of China's building of learning society proved that China focused on the civilization construction of learning society and the improvement of people's cultural cultivation level; the issue on economic feedback of building learning society could be analyzed again gradually, in addition, the building of learning society should be based on national conditions and China's understanding of learning society and great learning nation, and relevant basic theoretical and historical researchesshould be carried out.

Prof. Li Jie made detailed suggestions on the specific connotation, theoretical construction, service subject and internal logic of the indicators, including lifelong learning opportunities and rights, learning culture and policy guarantee, and believed that the construction of the current indicator system of learning society and the common indicator systemof UN could be linked.

Prof. Chen Xiangdong talked about the technical problem of the universality of the indicator research work. As forthe indicators of learning society, it was equally necessary to point to a clear direction, cover a wide range, have a clear focus, and highlight the realistic representations in order to provide clear and intuitive suggestions for decision-makers. The research group should subsequently focus on the mining of indirect measurement indicators of a learning society, and learn to use the current artificial intelligence large model corpus for new model sampling, so as to provide a more efficient way of working for the construction and measurement of indicators of the development of a learning society.

President Li expressed his sincere thanks to the invited experts for their valuable opinions and warmly welcomed and thanked all the researchers of the project team. The expert consultation was thematically focused and the exchanges were insightful, pointing out a clearer and more valuable development direction for the follow-up research work. SMILE will continue to serve decision-making and consulting with its professional strength, and carry out extensive exchanges and dialogues with more experts and scholars at home and abroad, so as to contribute to the formation of more achievements and support the transformation and innovation of practice.

Group photo of participants

Contributed by: Shi Keyuan

Reviewed by: Zou Wen, Li Jiacheng