AECES overseas learning trip to Austria; Injecting fresh light to our local practices

        In June 2016, eight local preschool advocates from the Association of Early Childhood Educators (Singapore) who represents various preschools and educational institutions came together to travel across the globe to visit kindergartens in Austria. In this cross-cultural learning trip, there are distinct differences between the two cultures and two early childhood landscapes, yet there are similarities in both countries preschool education. In this trip, our preschool advocates have gained valuable insights and are inspired to improve the lives of family and young children in Singapore. Bearing in mind that different early childhood systems have its advantages and disadvantages; a certain system works in a culture but it could have detrimental effects to another culture. Thus, it is important for learners to be exposed to see, learn and do during overseas learning opportunities and to shortlist possible, culturally sensitive practices to implement and review in our own local context.

Most importantly, we see that children’s love for learning is passionate and contagious. We witness that learning can take place across culture, children are naturally curious and attracted to knowledge; they love to learn so let’s not ruin their drive. Thus, books and music are effective learning tool to overcome the language barriers.

The bottom line: how can we improve? 

Though, it is not (yet) possible for us to have our preschool in rainforest or to banish formal learning in preschool. We can change our pedagogy to be child-initiative, where we can build a culture that allows them to be who they want to be and award them the autonomy of their own learning and play. We need to slow down to listen to them because they have so much to share. We need to move them out of padded mats, indoor gyms, to risky, nature treks because they have so much to learn out there. We need to continue to shift parents’ and lawmakers’ mindset from formal learning and kiasu-ism to play, play and more play.  Bit by bit, we can make a change for the betterment and future of the lives of families in Singapore.

Austria Overseas Learning Trip (to be edited)

I went to Austria with a group of early childhood educators and leaders in June and the trip was eye-opener. I got to see the early childhood landscape in another country and have definitely brought invaluable knowledge. The trip started off with myself having a major homesick. The lack of wifi and time differences with Singapore really gave me a stress attack. Bravely, I sucked it up. I braved the 16 hours’ flight from Singapore to Finland, to Austria. I managed to buy a postcard and stamps and mailed it back home. 

We arrived at Vienna airport to meet up with the rest of the team and we were chauffeured to our house at Pfaffstatten. Our house looks amazing, the garden, rooms, architecture, neighborhoods is the epitome of serenity and suburban. Trust me, it is a suburban and it is a break from the hustle and bustle of a city. We went to grab lunch and sightseeing around Vienna for the rest of the day. I learnt a lot about the Austria culture and advice from my fellow team mates.                                          

                                    

We went to No Landeskindergarten at Pfaffstatten, Austria. The people and culture is contagious. In Austria, kindergartens are play-based and for children between two and a half years to six years, between 8am to 1pm. They practice mixed-aged learning, so you see children of a diverse age and capabilities within the same group. Kindergarten is free and parents are only paying a small fee for food and materials each month. 

Principals and managers of schools are not responsible for enrollment rate, profits or targeted growth, their job is to ensure the best quality in the education and care provided. Preschool teacher training is five years of course work, examinations and apprenticeship. Soon-to-be teachers are required to learn piano, guitar and other basic instruments. Such training provides trainees teachers to learn and understand the process of picking up music, movement, literacy. With that, they better understand the process and are able to facilitate the children when they learn. In terms of curriculum outcomes, the state has desired learning outcomes for kindergartners (just like our early childhood system) and different kindergartens uses different methodology and pedagogues to achieve these goals.  

                                      

We had our morning runs by saying hi to them all in their large campus, then we prepared for our activities. We had music and movement, story, making of firecrackers with red packets and erasers game. We taught the little angmoh how to play with our flag erasers! Remember our childhood erasers with country flags and you aim to flip your own erasers on top of your opponents! 

                                                 

Through this planned activity, I learnt that learning can take place across culture, children are naturally curious and attracted to knowledge; they love to learn so let’s not ruin their drive. I also learnt that books and music are like magical learning tool, despite the language barriers, they were so attentive and have strong desire to know more. It also reinforced my teaching pedagogy at Cove where materials are used to facilitate children’s provocations. We provided red packets for them to create crafts, unfortunately they do not have the cultural and contextually knowledge, hence we provided some directions. But, I strongly believe with time and familiarity, these children are capable to create masterful, creative artwork. 

 

While we were at Pffaffstaten, we had the opportunity to participate in the Kindergartner's (6 years old) transition to Primary School. We walked to Volkshule and along the way we saw painted flowers concrete on the roads! These colorful, concrete markers are built by the community to help young children to identify the road to the primary schools and to remind drivers to slow down. How nice! In primary school, children bring food from home and they can eat it during their breaks. Their schedule is such that they have fifteen minutes of focused work, five minutes of break and the cycle repeats. Each classroom has a soft corner, music, movement areas and library corner. Also, I like how they practice continuity of care in primary school, their class teachers accompanies them from first grade to the fourth grade! 

 Later in the week, we went to another preschool in a nearby city - No Landeskindergarten Doblhoffpark (Barden). Bearing in mind that preschools education is free and resources, teachers and land are state funded, I assumed that we will be seeing similar pedagogies and environment setup. However, as compared to Pfaffstatten, the city of Barden has a casino, spa, farmers’ markets and amenities, the demographics of the families are probably middle- to high- incomes and parent seems to work longer hours. 

We learnt from the centre's manageress that this Kindergarten in Barden opens from 7am to 6pm to cater to the families’ needs. Similiar to Singapore’s preschool, kindergarten is subjected to the parents’ needs. While we were sharing our practices, I could empathized with the struggles the manageress of the kindergarten faced; parent’s expectation and demands. A state law has ensured that as long as more than three families requires additional kindergarten hours, the school must be open. With a longer working hours required in a thirty-hour work week country, manageress takes great pain to work out teachers’ schedule and timings to cater to the family’s needs legally. In Barden, families have greater expectations and enjoys looking at the product of the children’s play. Hence, documentation and progress reports are done frequently and digitally. Akin to our own culture, different centres/groups has different families’ dynamics with varies socio-economic status, expectation, commitments, thus different challenges, cultures and joys at work.

                                 

 

The kindergarten has an aesthetically pleasing decorations, developmentally appropriate and open-ended learning environment set up with plenty of nature and sensorial materials for the children. What amazed me was the children goes for walks almost every day, and they walked for an hour long under the hot Sun. They play outdoor between 10.30am-11.30am when the Sun is the hottest. Imagine how our Singaporean families would react to this! Most importantly, a big Congratulations to No Landeskindergarten Doblhoffpark to be awarded the great honor of thirty years of successfully inclusion practices. Yay!

This trip is a great eye-opener, but what's more important is to know what I can bring back and implement in the local context. As I continue to regain my thoughts on this learning trip, and reflecting on my groundwork with the toddlers, I will be brainstorming on what and how I can improve my strategies and skills. So stay tuned for latest updates!