Having completed textbooks on traditional culture for primary and middle schools nationwide in China, the China Traditional Culture and Art Center (CTCAC) announced at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday that it will establish a program with other institutes, such as The Open University of China, aimed at training educators how to teach traditional culture.
A team dedicated to incorporating traditional Chinese culture into school curriculums, CTCAC, with the backing of the Ministry of Culture, spent 10 years developing the series of textbooks.
At the press conference, Zhang Jian, the secretary-general of CTCAC, told media that in addition to developing textbooks for primary and middle schools, CTCAC has also focused on adult education, including developing handbooks for officials that discuss how traditional administration concepts can be applied in today's Chinese society.
While CTCAC finished textbooks on traditional Chinese culture for primary and middle schools in 25 provinces and cities earlier this year, the center said it acknowledges that teaching this material still poses a difficult challenge for many teachers today due to the complexity and sheer size of the material involved as well as historical factors [such as the Cultural Revolution (1966-76)], which led to a temporary break in the transmission of China's cultural heritage.
With this in mind, the new program is designed to bring teachers up to speed.
At the conference, Liu Chen, vice president of The Open University of China, told media that training will start with pilot districts, such as Beijing's Tongzhou district, where CTCAC's textbooks were distributed during the development phase.
Additionally the university plans on establishing traditional Chinese studies as a major so that teachers may further pursue education in this field.
Classes in calligraphy, painting and the traditional instrument known as guqin will be required for the major.
