Overview

Soochow University has a long history of teacher education. As early as 1952, in following the trend of restructuring of colleges and departments in China, the School of Arts and Sciences of Soochow University merged with the Southern Jiangsu College of Culture and Education and the Department of Mathematics and Physics of Jiangnan University to form the Southern Jiangsu Teachers’ College, which was later renamed Jiangsu Teacher's College in the same year, located in Suzhou Tianci Zhuang, the original site of Soochow University School of Arts and Sciences. Jiangsu Teachers’ College was a key provincial Teachers’ College, and it was an important base for the training of secondary school teachers in Jiangsu Province. In 1981, Jiangsu Teachers’ College became one of the first universities in China to confer master’s degrees and doctoral degrees. In 1982, it was reorganized and renamed Soochow University. During the 30 years from 1952 to 1982, Jiangsu Teachers’ College fostered 15,450 normal college and junior college students and 55 graduate students with master’s degrees for the country, and made great contributions to the development of secondary education in Jiangsu Province. In order to further develop teacher education and foster excellent teachers, on September 16, 2019, Suzhou Municipal Education Bureau and Soochow University, after friendly consultation, reached an agreement to co-sponsor the development of the Teachers’ College of Soochow University, thus jointly opening a new chapter in the reform and development of teacher education of Soochow University. On March 13, 2020, Soochow University issued “Implementation Plan 2.0 for the Fostering of Outstanding Teachers in Teacher Education of Soochow University”, marking a new historical stage of development in the cultivation of teacher education talents in Soochow University.

Soochow University has 13 majors related to the curriculums of primary and secondary schools. The 9 humanities majors include Chinese Language and Literature (normal), Ideological and Political Education, History (normal), English (normal), Fine Arts (normal), Physical Education, Education (normal), Education and Technology (normal) (enrolled every other year), and music (normal). The 4 science and engineering majors include Mathematics and Applied Mathematics (Normal), Chemistry (Normal), Physics (Normal), and Biological Sciences (Normal). At present, the university has a total of 100 teacher education practice training bases, of which more than 30 have been frequently used in the last three years. More than 20 other high schools and primary schools participate in Suzhou Industrial Park Excellent Interns and other training projects, thereby rendering the training system of teacher education more and more mature. Supported by the Tin Ka Ping Foundation, and based on all the teacher education majors in the university, without changing the current models of running teacher education by different colleges, the Teachers’ College of Soochow University is mainly responsible for the overall coordination of the whole university’s teacher education. It aims to fully play the leading role of a comprehensive university in the development of a distinctive trajectory of teacher education, teacher education professional ability training, teacher education talent cultivation, and produce modern teachers with noble morality, solid professional skills, innovative pedagogy, and outstanding capacity through an innovative mode of management.

The Teachers’ College of Soochow University is oriented towards undergraduates in Teacher Education, full-time masters of Teacher Education and non-normal undergraduates who are ready to engage themselves in teacher education, aiming to explore the integration of undergraduate and postgraduate education, elevate the cultivating level and quality of teacher education, improve the practical training of normal skills, establish and perfect the practical teaching system throughout the whole training process. At the same time, the Teachers’ College will actively expand foreign cooperation and exchanges, deepen school-local cooperation, further promote cross-border exchanges and cooperation, and expand the international influence of teacher education of Soochow University.

Current  Leader

 Integrated  office