On the afternoon of November 1st, Professor Dr. Andrew P. Daire, Dean of Virginia Commonwealth University, and Professor Yaoying Xu, were invited to attend the lecture hall of Xuehai Building 111 in Xianlin Campus of Nanjing Normal University. The titles of this lecture were "Parents of Children with Special Needs: Challenges, Assessments, And Intervention" and "Adapted Peer Tutoring for Young English Language Learners" . The lecture also introduced the Master's and Doctoral Enrollment Program and summer visits at the Federal University of Virginia. The lecture was host by Mr. Zhao Jiarong, teacher of Education College. Some postgraduates and undergraduates from Teacher Education College also participated in the lecture.                 

After Mr. Zhao Jiarong's introduction, Dr. Andrew P. Daire explained from the following three aspects: the challenges of parents of children with special needs, the development and effectiveness of family adjustment methods, and the ways to improve personal solving ability, the ways to reduce emotional distress and to strengthen the intimate relationship between parents. Dr. Andrew p. Daire found that economic pressures, less time spent with couples, misconceptions about response, lower levels of relationship satisfaction, and rising divorce rates had an impact on couples. In addition, specific solutions are proposed from the aspects of social support, effective solution, adjustment of social relations and effective education. Dr. Andrew P. Daire discussed whether to help children wear oxygen masks or parents wear oxygen masks when they are in danger by flying. Dr. Andrew P. Daire believed that parents should take good care of themselves before they can be able to help children. Finally, Dr. Andrew P. Daire introduced couples and relationship education courses. In the course of the lecture, Dr. Andrew P. Daire gave his classmates a wonderful lecture with his humorous words and vivid actions.   

Next, Professor Yaoying Xu introduces a new teaching model, Adapted Peer Tutoring, which aims to study APT's social communication skills and reading and writing abilities for preschool children learning English. Professor Yaoying Xu emphasized that APT is different from traditional peer teaching. APT is to let children do mutual teachers, teach each other to learn, and give children equal opportunities for social communication. Xu teacher's research found that APT can promote children's social communication ability, language ability, common sense and vocabulary reserves, but it does not have a significant impact on phonological awareness, and there is no obvious difference between English learners and native speakers. Xu teacher's lectures have brought many educational implications to our classmates and aroused our students' reflection and resonance.

Finally, Dr. Andrew p. Daire introduced Virginia commonwealth university to the classmates by a short video. The excellent geographical position, numerous advantageous majors, sound teaching facilities and beautiful campus of university have left a deep impression on students. The university of Virginia and our school have a master's and doctor's admission program and a summer visit program. The two professors introduced these programs in detail, and the students showed great interest in them and had active communication with the professor about the issues they were interested in.

The lecture ended in applause, which benefited us a lot. Students had a deeper understanding of education and enriched their teaching methods. This lecture not only encouraged students to study and to explore the teaching and research approaches, but also encouraged students to strive to become an excellent teacher.

(teacher education college: article/zhang mi  picture/feng qi)