ITI/UNESCO Network for Higher Education in the Performing Arts
Secretary
The responsibilities of the Secretary of the ITI/UNESCO Network are:
Secretary of the ITI/UNESCO Network for Higher Education in the Performing Arts
Since her childhood in the 1960's, Chen Zhongwen has had a dream to become an educator.
After graduating from Shanghai Preschool Education College, she became a kindergarten teacher in the late 1980s. In her work, she came into contact with Maria Montessori’s teaching theories and became a firm advocate and practitioner of her methods. At the turn of the century, she worked with Sun Ruixue Education Group to establish Shanghai's first 'love and freedom kindergarten' and served as its principal.
By 2008, Chen Zhongwen moved to Paris, France, in order to further her studies. She undertook a three-year course studying the language, history and cultural civilization of France at the University of Paris III/Sorbonne Nouvelle allowing her to broaden her reading and become further immersed in the writings of Maria Montessori and other luminaries in the field of education. After establishing this basis, she went on to apply her learning more specifically to education at the University of Paris VIII/Vincennes Saint-Denis, in the department of Science, Humanities and Social Education. She wrote her thesis entitled 'The Application of Montessori's Pedagogical Theories in China', helping her to obtain a master’s degree in the field of Education, Training, and Social Intervention with specific emphasis on lifelong learning.
Chen Zhongwen officially joined the international Theatre Institute (ITI) in 2015. The efforts made by ITI in the fields of cultural development, humanism and theatre education were her motivating factors for undertaking the work. She served as Assistant Director-General of the International Theatre Institute from the beginning and was appointed by board members as Deputy Director General of in 2017. She is mainly responsible for the management and operation of the General Secretariat of the ITI. Chen Zhongwen joined the establishment and management of ITI/UNTESCO Network for Higher Education in the Performing Arts in 2015 and has since served as the head of the Secretariat of the Network.
