Alternative Japanese Study Tour

A group of Japanese teachers are involved in a series of seminars in Japan talking about ECE in Aotearoa New Zealand. Usually at this time, the group comes to New Zealand on a study tour to experience first hand the New Zealand Early Childhood sector. As they say “New Zealand's early childhood education is attracting attention from the world because it is closely related to children. In these seminars, two Japanese nursery teachers living in New Zealand have been invited as lecturers to talk about New Zealand's early childhood education.

Thank you so much for sending me your warmful movie message.
I appreciate it so much. On Aug 1st, Yukie Guy has a presentation for us. So before it, I will have a time to share your movie message. Also on Aug 8th (last seminar), I will have a time to share your movie message again.

With your message, we will have more motivation to study ECE in NZ , especially Te Whariki.
Near the future, I hope to tell thankful message to you directly.

Many thanks,
Makoto Uesugi

A post from Early Childhood Ireland!

Celebrating Children’s Stories with Wendy Lee

September 12, 2017

On Saturday, Early Childhood Ireland, in partnership with DCU, Institute of Education, presented Celebrating Children’s Stories, A Masterclass in Documentation with Wendy Lee. An inspirational day of questioning and reflection as Wendy straight away set the tone by reminding us that huge responsibility comes with teaching in ECCE: ‘How many jobs can you go to each day and have the chance to make a difference in a child’s life? Who we are and how we are around children is at the heart of teaching. Relationships are critical, children need to feel deeply respected and deeply loved’.

The use of story, connects children and families, it tunes teachers into the moment and it allows all children to share their experiences and their understanding of the world around them. Learning stories catch the complexity of children’s learning, it also makes every voice credible. It is about children recognising and valuing who they are by teachers that know them and care deeply for them.

We would like to thank the following guest speakers who generously gave their time to share their own learning stories and experiences. Each speaker brought us on a different journey, showing how they weave stories into the fabric of their settings. 
Nickola Cullen from Beverton Preschool and Roots and Wings Centre Donabate
Maxine Ryan and Aine Harrington from Clare Family Resource Centre Ennis
Anne Macken and her team from Happy Days Ballyporeen
Alicia Cormican from Darndale Integrated Childcare Service

You too can submit stories that show significant learning moments or events that happen through play in your service. Go to Learning Stories section on our website.

In the afternoon, Dr. Play, Carmel Brennan delivered an emotionally charged and passionate presentation, her last one as part of Early Childhood Ireland before her retirement next month. A call to ‘re-wild’ the child and remove the structure. Encouraging deep reflection, she referred to Jim Greenman’s quote “childhood is when human beings should fall in love with the world.” “Are we giving the children in our care the opportunity to fall in love with the world?” she asked.

Early Childhood Ireland: A farewell to Irene Gunning CEO

Left to right: Carmel Brennan, Marion Brennan, Margaret Carr, Wendy Lee, Teresa Heeney

 and in the front Irene Gunning

Personal News from Irene Gunning

Dear Member

I am writing to let you know that I am retiring as CEO of Early Childhood Ireland, effective from February 28^th 2014 and to thank you for all your support and friendship.  Retiring is bitter sweet for me as I’ve been working in the organisation since 1996. I became a member in 1972 when I ran my own playgroup at home in Ballinteer, Dublin with six wonderful 3 year old children and I went on to work in a community playgroup and full day care, spanning 25 years. During this time I was also a tutor and I remained an active volunteer. All told I had a very good run and I enjoyed it all.

However, I know that Early Childhood Ireland is in safe hands as I hand over the role of CEO with confidence and warmth, to my colleague and our current Chief Operations Officer Teresa Heeney.

The one constant in this sector is change.  The real Ambassadors for Change are our members, early childhood care and education professionals up and down the country, supporting over 100,000 children and their families, and getting our youngest citizens and future leaders off to the best possible start.  I don’t know any other sector in Irish life that is more flexible, more courageous, more creative, and more dedicated than the people like you who make extraordinary things happen in preschools and day-care centres every day. 

I salute you...

Yours sincerely
Irene Gunning 

A farewell message to Irene Gunning, CEO Early Childhood Ireland

Visit to China

When Dave told me he had a conference to go to in Beijing, I was very excited! I immediately said that he surely could not go without me... so we planned a holiday in China. 

During the first week we were in Beijing, Dave attended his Conference and I had a lovely time working with teachers and parents in Beijing. I also had opportunities to visit early childhood settings. 

Some of you will know Jane Zhou. I met Jane in 1998 when Dell Graham, Robin Houlker and I set off on a trip to catch up with friends in different parts of the world this included two friends working in Beijing. Cath Marr and Colleen Stedman were both were teaching in Beijing at an International School. 

It was such a pleasure to work with Jane while I was in Beijing. She has recently completed her PhD at Victoria University and has now returned home and is involved in developing an early childhood centre where she will be the key Pedagogical Leader. During my stay Jane was a fabulous translator and guide and made my trip to China something extra special!!

I will share a little of my time in China via some photographs. These first two are favourites...

Look closely and check out the use of technology

I was gobsmacked at the level of technology used over the two days

I did explain to the teachers, that if I was working with 200 teachers in NZ, I might experience one or two using cameras - but I had never seen such a high level of recording devices in one setting!

WANG Yu Yan and SUN Lu. Some of you may have met Yu Yan at the last convention. SUN Lu was extremely enthusiastic. By the end of the second day she had set up a social networking site for the teachers to share their ideas on Learning Stories.

Teachers were so enthusiastic about the NZ work.

Here I am at the State Kindergarten. They have 600 children attending and this is WANG Bo, she is the Principal of the Kindergarten.

One of the children, deeply engaged in his modelling!

The main building of the kindergarten

The modelling continues

Outside with some of the children. We are joined by the Curriculum Leader, some of the teachers and also WANG Yu Yuan.

Another classroom visited.

Jane's new centre the Lagogo Early Learning Centre in Beijing

Jane talking to some of the children during lunch at Lagogo Early Learning Centre

A visit to the Winsor Kindergarten in Beijing. Here I am with the Curriculum Leader Wendy Weng

Now an opportunity to share with parents the importance of learning dispositions

A few photos from Oporto, Portugal

Check out that sun!

The Railway Station was extraordinary, the internal tiling magnificent.

Here I am with Klara, exploring the city!

Here we are by the river, check out the new hats!!!

We are now on the boat, exploring the river.

Such a beautiful place!

Portugal, our first stop!

-->

Six members of the ELP team set off  to spend four weeks sharing the work of Learning Stories in Germany. This is part of ongoing work we have been doing in Germany over several years. The work began in the early 2000’s when Margaret Carr and I visited Germany on the invitation of the Youth Institute. The Head of the Institute had read Margaret’s book on Assessment and was very interested in the work around dispositions. Learning Stories are now found all over Germany and in many different forms. Many reciprocal visits have subsequently taken place in Germany and New Zealand. This is the second major trip to Germany. Seven of the ELP team went to Germany 2 years ago for a month long trip around Germany sharing our work.

Our first stop was Oporto in Portugal. 

ELP team from left to right: Jo Colbert, Kathryn Delany, Alison Brierley, Lorraine Sands, Robyn Lawrence & Wendy Lee

The European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) Annual conference was being held here and we all were successful in having our papers accepted and so we presented two Symposia. These were:

Symposium 1

Strengthening the community of learners using action research as the key pathway to pedagogical change.

All three papers submitted for the EECERA Conference stemmed from action research. They describe the experience of building strong learning communities in three very different contexts:

1.     An Early Childhood Setting, with a teacher-led service.

2.     A Playcentre Setting, with a parent-led service.

3.     A group of Early Childhood centres working within and beyond their own settings.

All of the settings discussed here were committed to strengthening their community of learners and building a stronger, professional learning community. The three papers were:

Awi mai awhi atu. Helping me, helping you.

Fostering social competence in a mixed-age early childhood centre.

This paper was presented by Alison Brierley

Mātauranga: building knowledge, wisdom and understanding in a leaderful community

This paper was presented by Jo Colbert

He iwi whānui o ngā kaiako ākonga

A Community of Teacher Learners; Aspects of effective professional development.

This paper was presented by Kathryn Delany

Symposium 2

Building a Research Culture of teachers working with Infants and Toddlers in Early Childhood Settings in NZ

As Project Facilitators working within the Educational Leadership Project (ELP) in Aotearoa New Zealand we put together three perspectives that each consider some of the ways in which we are working with infants and toddler communities to both strengthen and enhance a research culture to strengthen early childhood learning. The three papers were:

·      Growing Leaders from Infancy

·      Enhancing and Strengthening Courage and Bravery Through the Support of a Trusted Companion in a Leaderful Community

·      Constructing Identities as Professional Lifelong Learners

This work illustrates the transformational  power of professional learning and it consolidates the support of everyone in the wider community to become life long learners in the 21 century.

The notion of both teachers and children as researchers is being embedded in the fabric of early childhood education in New Zealand and these three papers presented exemplars in which both children and teachers are the co-constructors of their own learning. Teachers’ voices highlighted aspects of shifts in practice based on researching pedagogy, transforming competence, and exploring leadership. The three papers were:

Growing leaders from infancy

This paper was presented by Lorraine Sands

Enhancing and Strengthening Courage and Bravery Through the Support of a Trusted Companion in a Leaderful Community

This paper was presented by Robyn Lawrence

Constructing Teacher Identities as Lifelong Learners and Researchers

This paper was presented by Wendy Lee

Margaret Carr was the first keynote speaker of the conference!

Margaret was introduced by Margy Whalley

The main conference lecture theatre

Me enjoying morning tea, time to catch up with people!

Conference Dinner held in a spectacular location high on hills overlooking the river.

 I think I will add a few photos from Oporto in a couple of days. Cheers, Wendy

What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success

It is sadly not just the Americans that are ignoring what is happening in Finland, despite their outstanding outcomes for children!!!

Dec 29 2011, 3:00 PM

 The Scandinavian country is an education superpower because it values equality more than excellence.
Everyone agrees the United States needs to improve its education system dramatically, but how? One of the hottest trends in education reform lately is looking at the stunning success of the West's reigning education superpower, Finland. Trouble is, when it comes to the lessons that Finnish schools have to offer, most of the discussion seems to be missing the point.

The small Nordic country of Finland used to be known -- if it was known for anything at all -- as the home of Nokia, the mobile phone giant. But lately Finland has been attracting attention on global surveys of quality of life -- Newsweek ranked it number one last year -- and Finland's national education system has been receiving particular praise, because in recent years Finnish students have been turning in some of the highest test scores in the world.

Finland's schools owe their newfound fame primarily to one study: the PISA survey, conducted every three years by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The survey compares 15-year-olds in different countries in reading, math, and science. Finland has ranked at or near the top in all three competencies on every survey since 2000, neck and neck with superachievers such as South Korea and Singapore. In the most recent survey in 2009 Finland slipped slightly, with students in Shanghai, China, taking the best scores, but the Finns are still near the very top.

Throughout the same period, the PISA performance of the United States has been middling, at best.
Compared with the stereotype of the East Asian model -- long hours of exhaustive cramming and rote memorization -- Finland's success is especially intriguing because Finnish schools assign less homework and engage children in more creative play. All this has led to a continuous stream of foreign delegations making the pilgrimage to Finland to visit schools and talk with the nation's education experts, and constant coverage in the worldwide media marveling at the Finnish miracle.
So there was considerable interest in a recent visit to the U.S. by one of the leading Finnish authorities on education reform, Pasi Sahlberg, director of the Finnish Ministry of Education's Center for International Mobility and author of the new book Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? Earlier this month, Sahlberg stopped by the Dwight School in New York City to speak with educators and students, and his visit received national media attention and generated much discussion.

And yet it wasn't clear that Sahlberg's message was actually getting through. As Sahlberg put it to me later, there are certain things nobody in America really wants to talk about.

Go to this link to get the full article 
What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success - The Atlantic

Kate's preschool perfection

Congratulations Kate! Time to have a celebration, no doubt you will be onto it. Cheers Wendy

 Kate's preschool perfection

• From: The Advertiser in Adelaide
• August 09, 2011

ENSURING preschoolers get the best start to their educational life is at the core of Halifax St Preschool director Kate Ryan's role.

Ms Ryan said working with parents to make sure they were offered the best in preschooling had been important in their success.

"My favourite part of this job is the people and the chance to work with babies right through to school-age children," she said. "My work is mainly with adults so I get to support my staff and help them to develop as educators. Also the interaction with the families."

Although Ms Ryan studied a Bachelor of Teaching at UniSA's Magill Campus and holds a Certificate in Early Childhood Education, she is continuing her teaching studies at university.

"It's great because I'm able to use the new information I'm learning, and it's a really good experience and learning about leadership and how I can lead my staff," she said. Ms Ryan is also state president of Early Childhood Australia.

Her hard work and dedication has scored her a place as a regional finalist in the The Advertiser-State Government 2011 Public Teaching Awards in the category of Inspirational School/Preschool Leader of the Year category.

She was nominated by parents on the managing committee for her efforts in involving parents in their child's education.

While she said the nomination was unexpected, she saw it as a great "pat on the back" for the profession of preschool teaching.

"I was a bit surprised," she said. "For this particular award, to be acknowledged is great."

Guess where I am?

You can find me on FaceBook if you want to make a guess!!!

Facebook:     WendyLeeNZ@facebook.com

 

This has to be counted as one of my favourite moments!!!

Swimming with the Whale Sharks

Chasing the whale shark with a camera.

Here comes the whale shark

In Australia we are lucky enough to see some of the most incredible oceanic landscapes on earth. WA's southern Coral Coast is the pinnacle of these boasting a huge range of amazing creatures including whales, dolphins, whale sharks and manta rays.  We saw so many humpback whales I lost count. There were also many turtles hurtling past the boat at an amazing rate. Whale sharks are one of the most majestic creatures in the vast Indian Ocean off the WA coast. It was fabulous to experience the thrill of swimming with these magical creatures. We also snorkelled on the Ningaloo Reef, seeing many beautiful coloured corals as well as hundreds of brightly coloured tropical fish. The highlight was without doubt experiencing the utter magic of a whale shark encounter. Dave took some amazing photos!!

Off we go on our adventure, out into the open sea!

 

Amazing coral.

Me pursuing the whale sharks.

Another close-up!

They are magnificent creatures.

A few skiing photos for Annika & Niki!

More to share from Norway!

It is hard to describe the joy of being in such a beautiful environment. The children were so at ease in the environment, whether they were walking or skiing. No poles allowed, for children or adults as this is the method used to ensure that children develop strong balance - and they did.... 

Initially feeling a little tentative without those ski poles!

Oh this is fun, memories of my cross country adventures in Scotland come to mind!

Oh this is sooooo very beautiful, just to be here is enough.

 

The children explore and experiment, trying out all the possibilities, here turning the ski into a snow board - and off they go!

It is now home time, everyone responsible for their own gear. Each child trusted and valued in this place, taking responsibility for their own gear. Each one resourceful and resilient in their own right. A powerful place to learn.