Comparative Education in China

On November 30, 2015, Professor SUN Qi from the University of Wyoming, USA, delivered a lecture entitled “Research Perspectives of North America Adult Education and Emerging Research Subjects of Adult Education” for the IICE’s International Education Podium. The lecture was chaired by IICE Professor WANG Lu and attended by teachers and graduate students.

Prof. Qi is head of Adult & Post-Secondary Education Program at the University of Wyoming. She previously served in the Adult Education Department of the Ministry of Education in China where was in charge of policy research on adult education and of coordination of international projects. Currently, she is a co-editor of Adult Education Quarterly, a core journal of international adult education, a member of editorial boards of multiple western educational journals, and a core leader of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE). Her main research interests include international and comparative education, adult education philosophy, adult education theory, adult development theory, adult learning methods, teaching strategies for adult higher education, lifelong learning and learning society, international students, and cross-culture teaching and learning. She has also long been committed to exchanges between eastern and western education especially among Sino-American academic institutes.

In her talk, Prof. SUN focused on emerging areas and subjects of North America and international adult education. First, she talked about adult education courses in North America, including assessment of and support for doctoral and master’s students. Then, she discussed the aim, terminologies, and concepts of adult education with attendees, such as how the aim and function of adult education and learning differ among individual learners, organizations and countries. She also guided attendees in group discussions and exchanges on the concepts of adult education. Through these conversations, she exemplified that adult education is a research area in which different countries and societies in different development stages give different definitions and have different requirements.

Later in the talk, Prof. SUN looked back on how the practice of western adult education has developed and changed over the past thirty years. From the perspective of how the development of adult education research will fit into globalization, she used substantial materials to introduce relevant research on this topic, including how to apply specific models and theories, how to develop new subjects, and how to choose the right research method. Lastly, she showed new areas and subjects that emerge in adult education research in North America.