The fourth Singapore Early Childhood Education Chinese Symposium which took place virtually on 1 Aug 2020, saw an audience of over 800 people.
The symposium, whose theme is “Building and Strengthening Singapore’s Early Childhood Education Research”, featured three speakers from Shenyang Normal University (SNU) and nine local preschool teachers who are graduating from the Master of Education in Early Childhood Education (in Chinese), a programme jointly offered by SUSS and Beijing Normal University.
Professor Cheong Hee Kiat, President of SUSS, highlighted in his opening remarks that the COVID-19 outbreak posed a serious challenge to educational institutions as campuses closed and lessons had to be conducted online. He urged both teachers and students to adapt to the new normal and rise to the challenge.
Professor Dan Fei, Dean of the School of Preschool and Primary Education at Shenyang Normal University, explored the design and benefits of massive open online courses (MOOC). Based on her hands-on online experience, her keynote speech was appropriately titled "Early Childhood Development as MOOC: Curriculum-building and reformation in online learning environments”. Many participants found her speech informative as it was based on empirical evidence and highly relevant to their work. Dr Suo and Dr Wu, who were SUSS’s visiting scholars last year, shared findings from their comparative studies on early childhood education professional development between China and Singapore. The three speakers also answered questions posed by the audience during the live webinar.
The nine local preschool teachers delivered their research presentations, facilitated by Dr Sin Joo Ee, who is Head of the Master and Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood Education (Chinese) programmes at SUSS. These presentations struck a chord with the audience as they dealt with practical issues faced by industry practitioners. One participant’s comment reflected this sentiment, “Their presentations are based on the local early childhood education scene and their recommendations are useful.”
The compilation of the nine dissertations, Building and Strengthening Singapore's Early Childhood Education Research, will be published this year. Development of Singapore’s Early Childhood Education (1842-2018), co-authored by Dr Sin Joo Ee and Dr Ng Sok Hoon, will also be published this year and the online book launch will be held on 4 September 2020. You can enjoy a 20% discount with the promotional code “SUSS20” if you preorder the two books between 1 Aug to 14 Aug 2020.
The 2020 Singapore Early Childhood Education Chinese Symposium was co-organised by the Centre for Chinese Studies (CCS@SUSS) and the S R Nathan School of Human Development (NSHD).
第四届新加坡学前教育论坛于2020年8月1日（星期六）举行。由于目前仍无法举行大型集会，本届论坛改为免费网上活动，但也正因如此，与会者达到约800人。
本届论坛的主题为“根植与共建——新加坡学前教育研究”，主讲嘉宾为沈阳师范大学的但菲教授、索长清博士和吴佳莉博士。九位本地学前教育工作者也发表了他们的研究报告。
新跃社科大学校长张起杰教授在开场时指出，当前的疫情令许多教育机构在教学方面面对严峻挑战，但无论是教还是学，我们都要积极应对变局，不只要适应，还要趁机求新求变。
因应疫情带来的挑战，但菲教授根据实际经验讲解“基于线上教学的《儿童发展》课程建设与教学改革”，说明了设计大规模在线课程（MOOC）或“慕课”的要点。与会者在意见调查表中表示，但菲教授的演讲深入浅出、数据充足、学术性强，与教育现状密切接轨，对设计线上课程有很大的帮助。
去年在新加坡访学的索博士和吴博士则分享了有关新、中两地学前教师专业发展的比较研究结果。沈师大的三位老师都通过现场连线与观众交流，解答各种疑问。
随后，在本校学前教育学士及专硕课程主任陈如意博士穿针引线下，九位毕业自专硕课程的幼教老师发表了她们的研究报告。她们的报告分为“专业发展"和“实践研究”这两大主题，所探讨的课题都令前线老师有所共鸣，有观众说：“跃大研究报告贴近本地学前教育现状，利于本地一线老师学习借鉴。”
这九位在职老师的研究论文将结集成书并在今年出版，书名正是本届论坛的主题——《根植与共建——新加坡学前教育研究》。详述新加坡幼儿教育发展过程、由陈如意博士和黄雪云博士合著的《新加坡幼儿教育发展（1842-2018）》也将在今年出版，并于9月4日上午10点至11点举行线上新书发布会。在8月1日至14日之间预购这两本书（使用“SUSS20”折扣码），还可享有20%的折扣。
2020新加坡学前教育论坛是由新跃中华学术中心和纳丹人力发展学院联合主办。
《联合早报》的相关报导:
学者：学前教育开发线上教学须建立课程特色