【编者按】枫叶小熊全球副总裁，加拿大教育家，Gerald MacLeod 对此文的评语：“It is a very personal as well as professional article.  It shows that she understands what she is doing and that she is a dedicated person.”

 

       A Comparison and Integration of ECE between China and Western Countries

 

INTRODUCTION

Last October, 2009, I was honoured to be invited to speak at the Forum on ECE for the rise of Central China at Songshan Hotel in Zhenghzou.  The topic of my speech was ‘A Comparison and Integration of ECE between China and Western Countries’.  I’d only been in China for a few months, and at the time, nearly everything seemed different to me.  Snack time was different, nap time was different, play time was different…I had lots of things to compare!  I remember how confused my Chinese co-workers were at first by the amount of free play time in the class.  Allowing the children to explore on their own and play individually did not seem like ‘teaching’ to my colleagues who had experience in traditional Chinese schools.  I spent a lot of time at first assuring parents and co-workers that I was in fact working (really!).

In the 16 months since the school has opened, there have been many changes as we all adapted to each other.  One of the most exciting ways that the school has grown is in its resources.  A major difference in Eastern and Western ECE is the emphasis on age-appropriate toys and easily manageable environments in the West.  Lego, playdough, and toys from the Little Tikes catalogue, are all standard issue in Canadian pre-schools.  Having classrooms stocked with these kind of toys makes the time the children spend in free play extremely valuable.  These kinds of toys promote creativity, math skills, problem solving, and small motor skills development, among other things.  Excellent quality toys that are durable and safe for children make learning fun.  I’m constantly amazed at the ingenuity of the students when they’re playing.  The variety and scope and their imaginations is very impressive!

Having the right toys and resources is extremely important for the child-centered learning we practice at Maple Bear.  The class environment is seen as one of the major components of the learning experience for the children.  Of course, part of setting up the environment of a class is making sure that the children have the tools they need to work out their own conflicts.  Playing may seem like easy fun, but learning how to share and negotiating games with other children is hard work!

One of the best Western ECE practices that I’ve had the chance to use in the Nursery class is called Positive Behaviour Support (PBS).  PBS is based on values and empirical research.  It was developed in the 1980’s in the United States.  It is based on research that shows what works, and a value system that respects children’s stages of development and needs.  (http://www.challengingbehavior.org/explore/pbs/pbs.htm)

PBS is a very clear, useful tool for early childhood educators.  Often in parent meetings, parents express a concern that their child is especially disobedient or ‘naughty’.  A teacher who is using PBS in their class looks on all challenging behaviour as an unskilled way of communicating, instead of a fixed character trait.  It puts the responsibility on the teacher to clearly model and explain to the students the emotional and social skills that they need to master in order to do well in class.  Look at how long the following list is:

Social and Emotional Skills to Teach

• Following rules, routines, and directions

• Identifying feelings in oneself and others

• Controlling anger and impulses

• Problem solving

• Suggesting play themes and activities to peers

• Sharing toys and other materials

• Taking turns

• Helping adults and peers • Giving compliments

• Understanding how and when to apologize

• Expressing empathy with others’ feelings

• Recognizing that anger can interfere with problem solving

• Learning how to recognize anger in oneself and others

• Learning how to calm down

• Understanding appropriate ways to express anger

 

LANGUAGE

Language is one of the key components to teaching young children how to manage their own feelings and negotiate successfully with others.  Many children first need to be given the language they can use with their peers.  If they want a toy that someone else is playing with, the children need to be given choices on what they can say.  They can say, ‘Can I have that toy now?’ or ‘Can I trade you that toy for a different toy?’  If their friend chooses to not share immediately, the child needs to know they can say, ‘Can I have that toy when you’re done?’ (to which their friend will have to agree, ‘Of course!’, because we share our toys at school)  Watching the students negotiate with each other, using these kind of skills, is one of my most rewarding experiences as a teacher.

Learning how to identify feelings and express them skillfully is a huge accomplishment for children.  It’s quite common in my class for students to day, ‘Lisa, I’m angry!’ when they’re told that it’s time to go inside or clean up the toys-the fact that they can express themselves in English and identify how they feel is great. 

RULES

In China, rules are very respected, and expecting children to follow rules is standard practice.  In Western practice, it’s believed that setting up classes and play areas to limit the amount of rules frees up the students and teachers to focus more on learning.  The teacher is less a police officer, and more a facilitator.  When the environment of a class is set up specifically for children to enjoy and explore, less time is spent imposing rules on the children.  Rules are important, and learning to follow rules is a skill that children need to master, but exploring and learning in a class that requires fewer rules frees up time for the work of learning.

CONCLUSION

It has been extremely rewarding for me to have seen how the school has grown to incorporate the strengths from both Western and Chinese styles of teaching.  Although when I first came to China, I was a little overwhelmed between the differences in our approach to ECE, the basic philosophy of caring for and respecting the children is the main goal across cultures.

I look forward to coming to school every day.  I feel very privileged to be able to spend time with my children.

 

 

【编者按】枫叶小熊全球副总裁，加拿大教育家，Gerald MacLeod 对此文的评语：“这是一篇具有教师个人风格且是非常专业的文章。这篇文章表明她深刻理解自己所从事的工作，是一个对教育有所追求的人。”

 

《中西方幼儿教育的比较与融合》续篇

简介

  2009年的十月份，我非常荣幸地被邀请在儿童早期教育论坛上发言，此次论坛主题是讨论中国中部崛起，会议地点选在郑州的嵩山饭店。我发言的主题是《中西方幼儿教育的比较与融合》。我到中国也仅仅是几个月的时间，在这里几乎所有的事情对我来说都是不一样的。加餐时间不同、午睡时间不同、游戏时间不同……我要进行比较的事情还真是很多。还记得刚开始的时候，我的中国同事看到我在课堂上给孩子大量自由玩耍的时间，对此，他们都感到很困惑。对于在传统中国学校有过教学经验的中国同事来说，在课堂上让孩子自我探索和独自玩耍看起来不像是“教学”。刚开始的时候，我花费了大量时间让父母和我的同事确信我实际上就是在工作（真的）！ 

  开园以来的这16个月里，在我们彼此磨合的过程中，很多事情也在发生着变化。其中最令人兴奋的一件事情就是教学资源的增加。东西方儿童早期教育有一个很大的不同，西方非常注重年龄适合的玩具和易于管理的环境。乐高积木、橡皮泥和小泰克玩具公司目录上的玩具，这些都是加拿大学前教育的标准玩具。如果教室里有以上玩具的话，孩子们自由活动的时间就会极有价值。这些玩具能够激发孩子的创造力，培养数学技能，提高解决问题的能力，以及促进精细动作的发展。除此之外，高品质的玩具不仅耐用而且安全地给孩子们创造乐趣。我一直在为孩子们玩玩具时表现出来的创造性而吃惊不已。其中涉及的种类、范围以及想象力都是让人印象深刻的！

  拥有合适的玩具和资源，对于我们在枫叶小熊推行的以儿童为中心的的认知方式是极其重要的。课堂环境被看做是儿童学习经历中一个主要的组成部分。当然了，要创建课堂环境的一部分就是，我们要确信孩子能有自己解决矛盾所需要的工具。玩，看起来是轻松有趣的，但是学着与其他小朋友分享和合作可不是一件容易的事情哦！

我有机会在小班实践西方儿童早期教育，其中一个最好的方法就是积极行为支持法（简称为PBS）。PBS源自于价值观和实验调查。他发展于上世纪八十年的美国。实验调查表明了什么样的作品和价值观体系更能符合孩子不同年龄阶段的发展和需要。(http://www.challengingbehavior.org/explore/pbs/pbs.htm)

  对于早期儿童教育者，PBS是一个非常清晰和有用的工具。在家长会上，家长经常关注他们孩子的不顺从和调皮。一个老师经常在她的课上用PBS，她只是把一切挑战性的行为看成缺乏技巧的沟通行为，而不是看成固定的个性特征。这就需要老师有责任去做一个清晰的示范，并且给学生们解释他们需要掌握情绪和社会技能，这样他们就可以在班上做得很好了。看看下面的这个目录有多长吧：

需要讲解的社会和情绪技能

•遵守规则，常规和指示

• 识别自身和他人的感觉

• 控制愤怒和冲动

• 解决问题

• 给同龄人建议玩的主题和活动

•分享玩具和其它东西

•遵守轮流秩序

• 帮助成人和同龄人

• 给予他人祝贺

•知道怎么样和什么时候道歉

• 对于他人的感受具有同理心

• 明白愤怒会干扰问题的解决

• 学习如何认识自己和他人的愤怒

• 学习如何冷静

• 知道用适合的方式去表达愤怒

语言

  语言是教孩子情绪自我管理和与其他孩子成功合作商讨的最重要方式之一。许多孩子首先需要被给予的是他们与同龄人沟通的语言。如果他们想要玩玩具，但是其他孩子正在玩他们想要的这个玩具，这些孩子需要选择要使用的语言。他们可以说：“我可以现在玩这个玩具吗？”或者“我可以用另外一个玩具给你交换吗？”如果他们的朋友不想立即与他们分享玩具，孩子需要知道他们可以说：“等你玩完这个玩具的时候，你把玩具给我好吗？”  (他们这样说的话，他们的朋友将会同意：“当然可以”，因为我们在学校是一起分享玩具的)。看着孩子们使用这些技能进行沟通合作，是我做老师最有意义的经验。

对于孩子来说，学习如何辨别感受并且恰当地表达出来是一个巨大的成就。在我的课堂上孩子们说：“Lisa，我生气了！”是一件再平常不过的事情。当他们被告知到了回教室的时间了或者到了收玩具的时间了，他们可以用英语表达自己的想法，并且识别出他们的感受是一件很棒的事情。

规则

  规则在中国是很受推崇的，并且期望孩子遵守规则是标准的做法。在西方的教学实践中，我们都认为应该建立课堂和活动区域从而限制规则的数量，这样孩子和老师就能把更多的关注放到认知和学习上。老师不是警察而应该是一个推动者。课堂建立的明确目的应该是让孩子们乐在其中，并且乐于探索，我们要把最少的时间放在给孩子建立规则上。当然了，规则是重要的，孩子们也需要学习遵守规则的技能，但是在课堂上的探索和学习需要更少的规则和更多的操作学习时间。

总结

  我非常欣慰地看到学校在东西方教学融合方面已经取得的优势。虽然刚刚来到中国时，我对于我们在儿童早期教育的不同方式有些不知所措，但是关心儿童和尊重儿童的基本理念是我们跨越文化共同追求的目标。我每天都满怀期望地来到学校上班。我觉得和孩子们在一起是一种上天的恩赐。

                   

                                                                  翻译  Carol 

                                                                  校对  Alice   Cathy  Judy

                                                                  编辑   Eva