Inclusive approaches take centre stage at Welsh Confucius Institute tutor training
5 May 2026
Mandarin tutors from across Wales gathered at Cardiff University this month for a training event focused on inclusive and creative approaches to Chinese language and cultural teaching.
Held at the Centre for Student Life, the Tutor Training brought together 36 tutors from the Confucius Institutes at Bangor University, Cardiff University and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD). Together, they represented a wide range of school, university and community teaching contexts.
The programme opened with a keynote from Annest John from Cardiff University’s School of Welsh, who introduced participants to everyday Welsh language and classroom practice. As well as learning useful language for the workplace, Annest encouraged tutors to reflect on transferable teaching techniques for their Mandarin classes.
Ms. John’s lecture offered a vivid cross-linguistic model for language acquisition. It was very inspiring!
Three experienced Welsh Confucius Institute tutors also held workshops throughout the day which explored storytelling, creativity and learner support within Chinese lessons. Sessions included a TPRS‑based approach to storytelling led by Yunhua Xu from Bangor Confucius Institute, and creative extensions to HSK‑based adult teaching from Cardiff Confucius Institute’s Shaorong Lin.
The event also included a keynote from Lucy Morgan, Deputy Head of Ty Gwyn Special School, who introduced key principles around Additional Learning Needs. Lucy shared practical, classroom‑based strategies to help tutors recognise barriers to learning and support a wider range of pupils.
Ms. Lucy Morgan’s keynote speech demonstrated an important aspect in being inclusive in teaching – it was so helpful for our teaching.
The day closed with a practical cultural workshop led by Gong Dan from UWTSD’s Confucius Institute, introducing paper‑cutting as a flexible resource for language and culture clubs in schools.
