Singapore University of Social Sciences

Developmentally Appropriate Early Childhood Practices in Taiwan

Developmentally Appropriate Early Childhood Practices in Taiwan (OEL328)

Synopsis

The main objectives of OEL328 and OEL329 are to provide students with the conceptual tools and learning experiences to develop a deeper understanding of developmentally appropriate early childhood pedagogies (DAP) in Taiwan and Japan. This is achieved through a combination of experiential learning, e-learning, observations and reflective conversations with professionals, and participation in an overseas trip to Hong Kong, China. Students will have the opportunities to cultivate a broader and deeper understanding of the trends and issues in early childhood education through engagement as participant observers in early childhood settings in selected host countries. This is achieved through a combination of the following activities: 1. Engagement in selected readings during which students review, consolidate and apply the knowledge acquired from previous ECE courses plus selected assigned readings for the trip to broaden and deepen their understanding about teaching and learning for young children. 2. Experiential learning that strengthens the development of the theory and practice link for early childhood content through observations and interactions with children and teachers in ECE settings in the host country, guided by the experiential learning framework that points students to attend to the relationships between DAP and cultural vs. universal conceptions of childhood development. 3. Participation in communities of learning (COL) that involves shared reflections on experiential learning activities during which students apply the “hermeneutic circle” within the context of early childhood education practices in the host country, and hence practice relating their evolving views about the teaching and learning process, and their images of the teacher and children, to the circumstances that are shaping early childhood practices in the host country. By working with local practitioners on education-related projects, students will get to apply what they have learnt not only through comparing how historical, economic, and socio-cultural factors shape educational development and early childhood education practices in the host country and in Singapore, but also through reflecting on the relationships between developmentally appropriate practices and cultural vs. universal conceptions of childhood development.

Level: 3
Credit Units: 5
Presentation Pattern: Every July

Topics

  • Experiential learning
  • The hermeneutic circle
  • Key factors shaping Taiwan and Japan’s early childhood education landscape– geographical, historical, political, economic, social and cultural forces
  • The principles of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)
  • Theoretical orientations governing teaching and learning in ECE
  • Learning outcomes for young children
  • Current issues and trends in ECE
  • Selected issues relevant to early childhood education in the host country, e.g. social, cultural, or pedagogical
  • Universal versus culturally differentiated views of child development
  • ECE pedagogies in the host countries
  • Comparison of ECE pedagogies in the host countries and in Singapore
  • Essential skills required for the trip – safety and group awareness, communication skills, cultural sensitivity, and physical fitness

Learning Outcome

  • Identify the socio-cultural circumstances shaping the ECE practices in the host country
  • Examine how the issues and challenges faced by preschool teachers in host country are similar and/or different from those faced by preschool teachers in Singapore.
  • Apply knowledge of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) in ECE to make sense of the nature of children’s experiences in the preschools in the host country.
  • Assess their own image of the child and of the teacher based on this overseas experience.
  • Compose an updated draft of their beliefs about the teaching and learning process.
  • Appraise the universality of the development of critical thinking dispositions.
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