Yong Zhao speaks around the world on educational issues, particularly on issues related to globalization and education, creativity, global competitiveness, educational reforms, and educational technology. His main messages are:

• Education should focus on developing children’s strengths, not “fixing their deficiencies.”
• Education is much more than the addition of instruction of course content, especially in a number of limited subjects.
• National standards/standardization have serious negative consequences.
• What makes a nation, a community strong is diversity of talents and creative citizens.
• To succeed in the globalized world, we need to cultivate global competences.

The following are videos of some his more recent speeches/interviews:

1. No Child Left Behind and Global Competitiveness? Part of a film series produced by the Mobile Learning Institute’s called “A 21st Century Education”

2. Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization. Keynote speech at Asia Socity’s A World Class Education conference on July 11, 2009, Washington DC.