Ateneo Confucius Institute and Habi Education Lab successfully organize local teacher training for Mandarin language educators in the Philippines

Makati, Philippines - The Confucius Institute at Ateneo de Manila University (CI-Ateneo), in collaboration with Habi Education Lab, organized the Institute’s annual local teacher training program on 26-27 October 2024. The program, designed for Chinese Language Educators in the Philippines, aims to help educators equip themselves with new skills and strategies to enhance classroom teaching and learning experience. 

Held at the Institute’s Makati office, 66 participants from various schools across the Philippines engaged in a series of lectures by professors from Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) and a lecturer from Ateneo de Manila University (Ateneo), as well as learning design workshops by Habi Education Lab. 

Among the lecturers is Prof Zhu Qizhi of SYSU whose talk focused on analyzing biased errors commonly encountered by Chinese language learners in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Prof Zhang Ruipeng of SYSU discussed the construction and application of a Chinese interlanguage corpus during her online lecture. 

On the second day, Mr Jarred Irwin Chiang, Lecturer of the Ateneo Chinese Studies Program shared his insights on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT can personalize the Chinese language learning process.

To encourage deeper understanding of each session, Habi provided visioning and processing activities before and after each lecture. Moreover, Habi led a workshop on Building Better Learning Experiences, encouraging participants to start a more intentional approach to designing student learning processes. 

Mr Cris Gilbert Garcia, Director of CI-Ateneo, hopes these sessions will encourage the participants to evolve from being teachers to learning designers, who create better experiences that allow students to foster meaningful connection with the language and stimulate long-term learning.  

Dr Linjun Huang, Chinese Director of CI-Ateneo, emphasized that in the process of "reviewing the old to learn the new," she hopes all participants become more eager and diligent learners, achieving personal growth and development, as they carry the mission of providing excellent Chinese language education in the Philippines. 

Since 2006, the Ateneo Confucius Institute has been organizing teacher training programs and seminars for local Chinese teachers both in the Philippines and China. 

Apart from training programs, the Institute also launched the Master in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language Program (MTChnFL) in 2019, and is now offered by the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design.

Training fees were all subsidized by the Institute. All the participants who attended all lectures received a certificate of completion from the Institute.

List of Participating Schools

1. Ateneo de Manila University
2. Ateneo de Iloilo
3. Bicol University Language Center
4. Chiang Kai Shek College
5. Chinese International School Manila
6. Confucius Institute at the Ateneo de Manila University
7. Immaculate Conception Academy
8. Ilocos Sur National High School
9. Le Premier Language International Inc.
10. Little Owl Learning Center PH
11. Lyceum of the Philippines
12. Macasa Learning Center Inc.
13. Makati Hope Christian School
14. Manila Tytana Colleges
15. Mapuá University
16. Mariano Marcos State University
17. Meridian International Learning Experience
18. MGC New Life Christian Academy
19. Mind at Work Progressive School, Inc.
20. National University
21. Philippine Cultural College
22. Polytechnic University of the Philippines - Manila
23. Singapore School Manila
24. St. Clare College
25. St. Peter the Apostle School
26. St. Stephen High School 
27. TESDA National Language Skills Center 
28. University of Caloocan City
29. Willow Tree Learning Center
30. Xavier School

For inquiries on future Teacher Training Seminars locally and in China, follow the Ateneo Confucius Institute Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ateneoconfucius