About 500 senior educators and experts convened in Dongguan on Friday to advance a coordinated framework for teachers’ professional ethics within the Guangdong- Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The initiative aims to establish a Greater Bay Area model that can inform the development of the national teaching workforce.
Now in its seventh year, this year’s forum centered on teaching practices in the digital-intelligence era and strategies for enhancing professional ethics. Attendees included education administrators, scholars, school principals, and prospective teachers from across the region.
During the opening ceremony, Deng Hang, director of the Teacher Ethical Conduct Division at the Ministry of Education, commended the seminar’s theme for its connection between teacher ethics development and the digital intelligence era.
Deng stressed the importance of promoting the core principles of the educator’s spirit and aligning efforts with national development strategies. She said this spirit should be integrated throughout the teacher training process and called for exploring the intersection of education and technology as a new pathway for teacher development.
“We should strive to translate the seminar’s outcomes into concrete actions and institutional innovations that strengthen teacher ethics and professionalism,” Deng said.
She added that the educational landscape of the Greater Bay Area has injected strong momentum into education reform, underscoring that a high-quality teaching force, deeply rooted in the educator’s spirit, is essential for the region’s progress.
Fang Shusheng, general inspector at the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education, said that the digital wave, epitomized by artificial intelligence, is reshaping the educational landscape. Against this backdrop, how to uphold the torch of the educators’ spirit and focus on fostering morality and cultivating talent is a collective challenge.
It is important to refine the institutional framework and standardize professional conduct, as well as use targeted research initiatives to confront the challenges of the digital era, he said.
Fang said that Guangdong will continue to join forces with the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions to continuously refine the long-standing mechanisms for the construction of teacher ethics and conduct. The province will enhance the training system to elevate the comprehensive quality of educators, as well as deepen regional collaboration to polish the significant brand of teacher ethics construction in the Greater Bay Area, he said.
ALSO READ: HK students awarded for producing videos of local wartime relics
Wang Yan, deputy secretary of the South China Normal University (SCNU) Committee of the Communist Party of China — the event’s organizer— agreed that the Greater Bay Area should serve as a model in the building of teacher ethics.
He said that SCNU has always focused on the moral buildup of teachers in the digital age, and has undertaken a series of systematic explorations in the hope of forging a new path for the construction of teacher ethics that unifies technological empowerment with humanitarian concern amid the surge of digitalization.
Iun Pui-iun, deputy director of the Education and Youth Development Bureau of the Macao SAR government, said that Macao has always insisted on a policy to build a better city through education, and incorporated the development of teacher ethics and professionalism as the core principle element of the education employees’ professional development activities.
Quan Hanyan, deputy director of a subcommittee of the Ministry of Education, spoke on the ethical conduct and professionalism of teachers in primary and secondary schools and kindergartens. He stressed the importance of fostering the integration of smart campuses with the cultivation of teacher ethics, and helping teachers empower their teaching with technology while remaining true to the original mission of education.
He proposed constructing a more developmental evaluation system on teacher ethics to support the growth and advancement of teachers.
Wang Miaojia, a representative from Dongguan’s Education Bureau, briefed the forum on the city’s efforts to elevate education quality. He said Dongguan is committed to expanding and enhancing education by providing more teaching positions, competitive subsidies and guarantees, and has conducted monthly discussions on “why I chose to become a teacher” during the past four months.
The Hong Kong Education Bureau sent a congratulatory letter to this seminar, expressing the desire to deepen cooperation with education sectors within the Greater Bay Area, to jointly inherit the spirit of educators, and to collectively establish a solid foundation for teacher ethics and professionalism.
Ethical values
The keynote speech session was delivered by four veteran educators.
Wu Yingmin, a former SCNU vice-president, noted the new challenges faced by teachers, such as knowledge updating, capability enhancement, personal quality cultivation, and value shaping.
Wu said that in the digital intelligence era, the professional ethics of teachers hinge upon the dual pillars of AI literacy and professional competency, and an exemplary teacher must embody a progressive professional spirit without becoming excessively dependent on technology, while discerning the veracity of AI-generated content.
Other speakers at this session include Yin Hongbiao, chairperson of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction of the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Feng Jianjun, director of the Institute of Moral Education at Nanjing Normal University; and Chai Songfang, principal of Dongguan Middle School-SSL School.
These experienced insiders shared their views on the adaptation to the rapidly developing digital technologies in education, and how to act as great mentors to teach students under the guidance of the spirit of educators.
Four award-winning teaching pioneers and a student teacher shared their own stories to illustrate the value of teachers and its role of lighting up directions for students during a TED-style presentation session.
Hu Rongping, named by the central government as one of the country’s Most Beautiful Teachers of 2025 for her dedication and her work with students, has been an educator for nearly three decades.
She told the audience how education helped children in rural areas change their destinies.
Wong Yee, vice-principal of Po Leung Kuk Horizon East Primary School, shared her efforts in promoting traditional Chinese culture in Hong Kong, and deepening Hong Kong students’ recognition of traditional culture through various immersive experiential activities.
Choi Piu, a teacher from Macao’s Keang Peng Middle School, reviewed his journey as a teacher, and noted the importance of being a caring teacher and cultivating students’ patriotism.
Other speakers of this session include Yu Jie from Kunshan Gejiang Middle School, and You Kaiwen from SCNU, a double-degree graduate student under the National Excellent Teacher Training Initiative.
During a roundtable forum session in the afternoon, participants discussed the reshaping of teacher ethics guided by the spirit of educators in the digital age.
ALSO READ: HK honors top international students to bolster global education hub
Speakers of this session included Song Huan, professor and the director of the Institute of Teacher Education Research of Beijing Normal University; Chan Chi-fong, from Macao Polytechnic University; Cai Chenmei, from Guangzhou University; Huang Xianhan, from the Education University of Hong Kong, Cai Zhi, from Guangdong Experimental High School; Chai Songfang, of Dongguan Middle School-SSL School; and You Kaiwen, of SCNU.
Six panel discussions held on Friday afternoon focused on the development of the spirit of educators in digital era. Nationwide teaching elites unreservedly shared their views on the challenges and possibilities in this era, the motivations of choosing to be a teacher, and the cultivation of digital ethical literacy and professional development.
A doctoral forum session was notably added to this year’s event. During this segment, scholars from SCNU and Guangzhou University shared their insights on the spirit of educators.
During this event, the Department of Teacher Education of the Ministry of Education concurrently convened a work meeting on 10 national bases for the construction of teacher ethics and professionalism.
