Welcome to the UCLan Confucius Institute! Over the past 5 years, we have tried to be both visionary and practical in the rewarding process of promoting Chinese language and culture locally. We take delight in our contributions to the University, to the wider education community, and to the enrichment of the cultural fabric of Preston and the surrounding area.
Within the University, as well as offering regular credit-bearing classes and many enrichment programmes, we have enabled hundreds of students to pursue Chinese courses in China, with funding support from the CI. We have provided UCLan staff with one-to-one Chinese lessons and pre-visit cultural briefings. We have also facilitated CI-funded staff mobility schemes, which last summer enabled several UCLan staff to study or even teach in China. Such exposure to “real China” helps the staff to both collaborate with Chinese colleagues and understand the learning style of Chinese students.
Our educational work is not confined to the University. We have a strong presence at local schools and colleges, in the form of regular weekly lessons and China Days. Not only school pupils have benefited from our work; over 100 local headteachers and other senior school staff have taken up the funded opportunity to visit and observe Chinese schools, with great benefits to both sides.
Besides, we make a remarkable presence in the local community. We have become a regular feature of civic events, with considerable coverage from BBC Radio Lancashire, Preston FM and the Lancashire Evening Post. Part of the local community is, of course, the world of business. We have already provided cultural briefings and business Chinese instruction for East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, and have been invited to work with St George’s Shopping Centre. We anticipate contributing even more in this area.
We are very proud of what we have achieved ever since the UCLan CI was established five years ago, and we do intend to celebrate the increasing awareness of the advantages of cultural pluralism, and expand the ranges of our activities over the next five years … and beyond.
Feixia Yu
UCLan CI Director