Australian education experts visit Hangzhou in 2025

From 11 to 17 October 2025, Nick Rose, Chair of Curriculum Writers Association Australia, and Ross Halliday, a program director at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Education, visited Hangzhou for a week of educational exchange. Across school visits and discussions with local educators, they explored artificial intelligence (AI), classroom teaching and school leadership, focusing on how new approaches could improve student learning and support teachers.

On 13 October, they met with the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education and the Shangcheng District Institute of Education, gaining perspectives on local school education from both provincial and district institutions.

The Australian experts meet with the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education on 13 October.

The Australian experts join a discussion at the Shangcheng District Institute of Education on 13 October.

At Binjiang Experimental Primary School, Halliday discussed curriculum development, collaboration across subjects and assessment with school leaders and teachers, drawing on his experience to answer questions.

Ross Halliday meets school leaders and teacher representatives at Hangzhou Binjiang Experimental Primary School.

At Maiyuqiao Primary School’s Wenrun Campus,Australian experts shared approaches to using this information to help students understand their learning strategies and teachers adapt their teaching.

Students at Maiyuqiao Primary School’s Wenrun Campus present their English corner designs.

At Xiandai Experimental Primary School, Rose explored AI-assisted learning with teachers, including ways to avoid overreliance on tools. At the Baishi Campus of Hangzhou Guancheng Education Group’s primary section, he observed a mathematics lesson on percentages before discussing classroom interaction, teaching for students progressing at different rates, and appropriate student use of AI.

Nick Rose observes a mathematics lesson at the Baishi Campus of Hangzhou Guancheng Education Group’s primary section.

On 15–16 October, both experts joined a China–Australia teaching exchange at Sandun Primary School’s Lanli Campus. Rose moved from observing lessons to teaching, using activities such as creating images with shapes and rewriting sentences to explore AI’s capabilities and limitations. Halliday emphasised that classroom technology should improve learning and reduce teachers’ workloads, allowing them to devote more attention to teaching.

Nick Rose leads a demonstration lesson about AI at Sandun Primary School’s Lanli Campus.

For the Australian visitors, the exchange also offered an opportunity to reconsider their own educational experience. Reflecting after his return to Australia, Rose described conversations with teachers as the most meaningful part of the visit. They revealed many shared challenges, despite different educational contexts. He valued both sharing practical experience and learning how Chinese colleagues approached similar problems.