Sino-Danish forum focuses of the well-being of children and students
What does it take to thrive in kindergarten, school and in youth education programmes? We ask Danish and Chinese teachers, experts, young people and parents in a six-hour online forum on 23 September.
"Well-being and the desire to learn" is the title of the second edition of the China Denmark Education Forum on China's online platforms – among others SOHU and NetEast
Here, Learn for Life and the Chinese think tank China Education 30 Forum have brought together 14 well-being experts, teachers, parents and young people to debate a topic that requires action in both countries. Why do many children and young people have pain in life? Is it due to performance anxiety, competition? or simply topic that has been given high priority today?
Viktor Axelsen opens
The Olympic champion 2021, Viktor Axelsen, opens the forum in a conversation with former school principal Mr. Li Zhenxi, who is a popular teacher and speaker. Li has taught thousands of Chinese children and is also the author of more than 72 books, including the - in this context - important publication "Happiness first". The conversation will be in Chinese, and here Viktor will talk about his own experiences in kindergarten, school, his inner drive and his road to the gold medals.
12 guests from China and Denmark
This is followed by presentations and dialogue between 12 guests from China and Denmark, who each discuss their views on well-being.. The participants are primary school teachers and leaders, kindergarten leaders, parents, students well-being experts. Backgrounds and causes are different in the two countries, but figures and analyzes show that too many children and young people today are unhappy. A paradox at a time when children, young people and their parents have a far better economy and more opportunities than just 20-30 years ago.
Challenges in both countries
Well-being is a complex phenomenon with innumerable facets with equally complex causations. In Denmark, there are a large number of young people - especially girls - who suffer from anxiety and depression. Researchers are in doubt about the causes, but broadly agree that there may be many, among other things, young people experience a culture of performance and perfection, which adds to pressure and increased competition. Another factor is cited by researchers to be a result of insecure parents who do not dare enforce rules or set boundaries.
In China, they are working on education reforms and policies targeting prevention of stress and performance anxiety. Many young Chinese succumb to the pressures of parents and teachers, giving up learning and education. Reformers want to change this development by discouraging extra tuition and focusing more on well-being.
Who is behind?
Behind the seminar are the Chinese educational think tank China Education 30 Forum and the Danish association Learn for Life which has close collaboration with Nordfyns Højskole. In recent years, the latter has completed courses in kindergarten pedagogy for Chinese kindergarten leaders / teachers as well as courses in Life Education for Chinese parents.
China Education 30 Forum is a think tank established in Beijing in 2014 with the aim of promoting education reforms. The forum works across sectors and national borders and organizes forums and conferences with educational experts from all walks of life in politics, economics, humanities and social sciences. In November 2019, the forum was named one of the three most influential in China.
1.03 million visitors in 2020
In September 2020, Learn for Life and China Education 30 Forum conducted the first joint online forum. More than 1.03 million Chinese people watched when six educators from China and Denmark, respectively, presented their views on how Covid-19 had affected the field of education. In contrast to last year, this year’s forum focuses on dialogue in order to create more dynamics and the opportunity to exchange ideas and attitudes.
Viewing in Denmark
An English-language version will be ready after streaming in China. The version will be available on youtube under China Denmark Education Forum from 1st of October. Here we also publish the forum from 2020.
Participants 2021
Viktor Axelsen, Dubai, Copenhagen - Li Zhenxi, author and former principal of Chengdu Wuhou Experimental Middle School
Rasmus Emil Vedel Vindvad Kristensen, teacher, Juelsminde School - Guo Wenhong, teacher Nanjing FAngcaoyuan School
Mads Poulsen, principal of Eisbjerghus International Efterskole - Li Zewu, Principal Chengdu Waldorf School
Henrik Axelsen, parent, Odense - Wu Lei, parent
Chili Nørgaard Christiansen, HF student, Thy - Vincent Zhang, student Shanghai
Hans Henrik Knoop, well-being expert, DPU, University of Aarhus - Cheng Hongbing, Education expert
Jakob Stenmann Hansen, kindergarten leader, Lærkereden Odense - Zhang Dongqing, Principal, Beijing Ririxin School