EdUHK Professor Yuzhuo Cai Shares Insights on Finnish Teacher Education at Greater Bay Area Academic Conferences
On 13-14 December 2025, Professor Yuzhuo Cai, a Professor from the Department of Education Policy and Leadership, Co-Director of Global Research Institute for Finnish, European, and Global South Education (GRIFE) and Programme Leader of the Master of Arts in Comparative Education and Collaborative Innovation at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), attended two major academic events held at South China Normal University (華南師範大學 ) in Guangzhou: the Greater Bay Area Teacher Education Strategic Cooperation Exchange (粵港澳大灣區教師教育戰略合作交流會) and the Greater Bay Area Teacher Education Integration Development Academic Seminar & 40th Anniversary of South China Normal University’s Macao Operations (粵港澳大灣區教師教育融合發展學術研討會暨華南師範大學 澳門辦學四十周年回顧與展望.
During the conferences, Professor Cai participated actively in two key sessions. As a Panelist, he joined a round‑table discussion on “Exploring Pathways for Collaborative Development of Teacher Education in the Greater Bay Area”( 粵港澳大灣區教師教育協同發展的路徑探索 ) alongside scholars from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao.
He also served as a keynote speaker with a topic on “The Historical Evolution, Contemporary Development of Finnish Teacher Education and Its Implications for the Greater Bay Area.” (芬蘭教師教育的歷史演進、當代發展及對大灣區的啟示).
In his keynote, Professor Cai traced the 170‑year evolution of Finnish teacher education, highlighting its cultural, political, and social foundations and explaining how it has become a globally recognized model characterized by equity, professionalism, and innovation. The presentation examined four distinct phases—early institutionalization, post‑war reconstruction, comprehensive reform, and contemporary innovation—while spotlighting key figures who shaped Finland’s educational philosophy and its deep‑seated respect for teachers.
Core values such as national identity, social equity, and trust‑based governance were emphasized throughout the talk. Professor Cai further connected these lessons to the context of the Greater Bay Area, proposing concrete pathways for regional teacher‑education integration. These included establishing shared competency frameworks, institutionalizing cross‑border collaboration, advancing mutual recognition of qualifications, developing practice‑school networks, and fostering trust‑based governance models.
Professor Cai’s participation underscored EdUHK’s active role in facilitating academic exchange and policy dialogue within the Greater Bay Area, contributing valuable international perspectives to the ongoing discourse on teacher education development in the region.
