A conference on the University of Windsor campus this week is bringing together educators from across Canada and China to discuss ways the two countries can build a cross-cultural understanding of school and teacher education.

The conference, “Envisioning Reciprocal Learning between Canada and China,” is a project of a partnership involving two Canadian and five Chinese universities, two Canadian school boards and more than 40 schools in China and Canada. It began with a public component Monday and Tuesday and will continue Wednesday and Thursday with detailed planning among research partnership team members.

Speakers discussed a variety of topics, including the role of gender, culture and language in science education; transnationalism in education and knowledge exchange; and the costs and benefits of full-day kindergarten.

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) has provided funding support for the partnership, co-directed by UWindsor education professor Shijing Xu and Michael Connelly of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

The full program is available on the conference website.