We all have finished our first week of afternoon internships today. For all of us, we've been able to expand our understanding China outside the classroom into the workplace. I had the privileged of interning at the Ruyi kindergarten nearby Nanjing University.
Here in China early childhood education has become a very important part of a child's education. There are both private and public schools available here. The difference between private and public is that most private institutions will provide a specialty such as teaching bilingually. Because the government thinks so highly of early education, they will subsidize the cost of tuition if families choses to send their child. The subsidizing can be up to 30%-40% of the tuition. Not only is kindergarten highly valued but so is preschool from ages 3-5 years old.
China's strong emphasis on the importance of early education is clearly seen at the Ruyi Kindergarten. When I spoke to the supervisor of the school, she emphasized several times that this school was a very typical Chinese kindergarten. This took me back by surprised because this school had an abundance of resources. Each of the classrooms was equipped with a projector and screen along with plenty of educational toys and books. To me, this kindergarten seemed well funded. It was hard to believe that this was the average kindergarten school. The amount of resources given to the school shows the value that the Chinese government puts on early education. Not only are the resources provided, the requirements for the schools and teachers are also high. Kindergarten teachers are now required to not only have a college degree but to go through rigorous training and to have a specific skill set to teach preschool and kindergarten.
To my surprise the kindergarten was very similar to American schools in many ways and very different in others. The first thing we did while at the kindergarten as soon as got there was help the kids refresh themselves after their afternoon nap. For the girl students that means getting their hair redone by the teachers. When I asked the teachers why they redid their hair, they explained that they wanted their students to have high standards in all aspects of their life. Having my hair redone by my teachers was something I never experienced in the States. Next, we went out with the kids to have recess. Unlike the typical 30-minute recess I was used to, the kids were out for only ten minutes, which was enough time for them to let out all their energy. The kids were then led back inside for another small lesson before they left for the day.
This week my partner Lily and I had the opportunity lead a small lesson. We taught the kids how to say farm animal names in English. The kids were very enthusiastic about learning English. Not only did we teach them the names of the animals in English but also the sounds they make. In China, the noises that certain animals make are different than in the States. For example, a dog in the English says "Woof! Woof!". In Chinese a dog says "W?ng! W?ng!". The kids were so surprised that Americans make different animal noises and thought they didn't sound right. It was so much fun to watch them attempt to make the different noises.
-- Ashley G.
No comments:
Post a Comment