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 Raising standards of professional practice of early childhood practitioners 

From 15 to 19 June 2010, more than 800 early childhood practitioners and students from the Diploma in Early Childhood Education (ECH) and Diploma in Child Psychology and Early Education (CPEE) learnt how to raise teaching skills and programme quality at the Early Childhood Conference 2010: Voices for Children Conference organised by the Ngee Ann Polytecnhnic’s School of Humanities (HMS) and the Association of Early Childhood Education (Singapore) (AECES).

The highlight of the conference was the launch of the Code of Ethics Handbook by the Guest of Honour, Mr Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Home Affairs. Developed by AECES, the handbook comprises core values and guidelines on the obligations and responsibilities of early childhood educators.   
  

  The handbook is beneficial not only to current educators, but also aspiring educators, such as the ECH and CPEE students. It includes scenarios to highlight dilemmas and suggested guidance strategies for teachers.

The 5-day conference comprised a keynote address by Dr Marilou Hyson, an international expert on early childhood education, concurrent mini-seminars, workshops, center visits and career talks.  In her keynote address, Dr Hyson shared on the importance of standards and research-based expectations in the early childhood education field as it directly affects the curriculum and children’s interest, needs and development.

ECH and CPEE students who attended and volunteered at the conference enthusiastically, saw it as a great learning opportunity.


Joy Chua, a Year 1 CPEE student felt that this experience was “an eye-opener for new students who are interested in branching into this field’.

For Dawn Peh, a Year 2 CPEE student, she found that attending a career talk by the Preparatory Place which focused on the importance of planning activities based on children’s interest rather than adult’s interest most useful and inspiring.  “The director showed how ideals can actually be executed in reality in the classroom. "

Indeed, through these career talks, students are motivated and encouraged to be creative and meticulous in designing curriculum that benefits children most.

With the successful conclusion of the seminar, all participating practitioners and students have learnt valuable lessons, beliefs and ideals. The learning would play a pivotal role in shaping the formation of ideas and actions taken by existing and future educators. For the ECH and CPEE students, the conference has enabled them to gain better insights into the early childhood field and develop greater interest and deeper understanding of their education.

As shared by Year 1 ECH student, Jessica Tan, “The conference has inspired me on the important role of an early educator and its great impact on a child.”

  


 
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