Overseas Community Affairs Council R.O.C. (TAIWAN) Host the 2025 Taiwanese Culture and Folk Art Teacher Training Program

To cultivate overseas cultural teachers and event planning talent, the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) is joining with National Taiwan University of Sport (NTUS) this summer to hold the two-week  “2025 Taiwanese Culture and Folk Art Teaching Training Program”. The OCAC was represented by Chen Po-Chin, Deputy Director of the Department of  Overseas Compatriate Education Affairs, who welcomed the overseas cultural seed teachers to Taiwan at the program’s opening ceremony on July 17. She encouraged the trainees to make good use of their participation to enhance their cultural teaching and event planning competences and to apply what they learn to overseas Mandarin and cultural teaching and various promotional activities after they graduate. Then they can contribute to building bridges for the promotion of Taiwan’s diverse culture around the world.

This year, 54 seed teachers from around the globe have come together at NTUS. Through theory, hands-on practice, and field visits, they will acquire a deeper understanding of Taiwanese culture and learn various folk arts. Each participant will select one area of specialization from three groups: folk sports, folk arts, or folk dance. Courses include: Lion Dance, Lion Drumming, Towel Exercise Based on Baduanjin (Qigong), Dough Figure Art, Introduction to Glove Puppetry and Puppet-Making, Shell-Flower Weaving, String Art, Paper Cutting Art, Formation Dance, Martial Dance, Dance Curriculum Design and Application, Techno Prince Nezha, and Taiwan Indigenous Dance. Administrative courses include Planning and Execution of Overseas Cultural Promotion, Introduction to Taiwan’s Cultural Diversity, and Introduction to the “Protection Act for the Traditional Intellectual Creations of Indigenous Peoples”.

New core professional courses this year include: Cultural Instruction on Taiwanese Tea Culture and Creating and Displaying Cultural Guide Plans, designed to help seed teachers enrich the contents of their cultural promotion. They will also visit the Yunlin Hand Puppet Museum and Lukang Old Street to learn about the history and performance art of Taiwanese glove puppetry, as well as the architectural styles and historical context of traditional Taiwanese streets firsthand. This will allow them not only to experience the charm of Taiwan’s traditional culture but also enhance the connection of teaching and culture in future.

With demand for Mandarin continuing to grow strongly globally, this training program helps participants transform their learning into the knowledge and skills for overseas teaching and cultural activities so they can sow the seeds of Taiwan’s cultural diversity around the world. The OCAC hopes that these participants will use what they learn to increase the depth and influence of their Mandarin teaching and that they are able to serve as cultural bridges between Taiwan and the world, so Mandarin learners around the world will see the richness and diversity of Taiwanese arts and culture.