Prof. Dr. Ferenc Hudecz

Senior Consultant of Confucius Institute Headquarters Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

5th Confucius Institute Conference

Beijing, 10-12 December, 2010

Benchmarking and Evaluating Performance of Confucius Institutes

1. Diversity of Confucius Institutes

- the stage of development: newly formed vs more experienced,

- focus of the mission (see next slide): - structure: institute vs classroom- relationship with host institution: integral part, associated

unit - geographical position: close vs in a distance from China,- large vs small Chinese community,

2. Diversity of the host institutions

- status: public vs private- curriculum driven courses (e.g. Universities) - extra-curriculum courses and other activities (e,g. community council)

3. 1 + 2 = Diversity of visions

Diversity influences benchmarking and evaluation

Missions: what are the values to evaluate?

1. Confucius Institutes could have multiple missions: - language teaching only,

- teaching culture, contemporary Chinese studies - transfer and dissemination of traditional cultural values of

China, - research activities - promote of exchange programs for students, for scolars

- business related activities.

2. Confucius Institutes are centers of- learning/teaching center - cultural center

- research center

3. Target groups: - the hosting Institue (University, Society, Community etc), - local Chinese communities,

- the general public.

1. Develop principles for classification.

2. These could be based on multiple factors like - date of establishment/operation,- mission (language education only vs. complex activities)- structure (classroom vs. institute),- status (linked to University vs. local community council)- geographical position (functioning in a big vs. remote city)- size of local Chinese community.

3. Establish appropriate groups for feasible comparison (e.g. University linked Institutes formed 3-5 years ago in cities with more 500 000 people in Europe)

1st step: Classification of Confucius Institutes

1. Development of different set of indicators considering diversity for different kinds of Institutes (see above).

2. Identification of indicators based on both statistical (quantitive) figures and on quality descriptors.

3. Statistical figures: - number of student per year (e.g. non-registered students, University students, secondary/primary school students)

- number of cultural events (e.g. movie club, dance event, concert, public lecture) per yea, number of participants- number of books, journals, CD, DVD etc. published per year- number of conferences organized/attended (national, regional, international)- number of exchange students/staff

2nd step: Identification of indicators for assessment of Confucius Institutes

4. Quality descriptors:

- stakeholders opinion -- students of the class

-- participants of cultural events-- teachers-- responsible officers of the host Institutions

- content analysis-- courses-- cultural events

-- website

- comparison of the planned and executed tasks.

1. Principles and methodology of classification have to be transparent and made available in time.

2. List and composition of groups should be discussed with interested parties and made public.

3. The assessment procedure including the evaluating boards/bodies involved should be transparent and made available.

4. List of indicators should be discussed with interested parties and made public.

5. Both classification and evaluation principles and procedures must be revised based on experience periodically

Recommendations

Thank you for your attention!

Budapest, Hungary

Opening the ELTE Confucius Institute

in collaboration with BFSU

Budapest7 December,

2006