A publication of the Child Development Network, Child Care Division of the M

inistry of Comm

unity Development, Youth and Sports

Issue 02/ Jan 2011

Early childhood is a crucial period when positive interactions with adults can have great impact on a child’s lifelong outcomes. A growing pool of research shows that good quality interactions between a child and his or her teachers are critical for his or her development. Conversely, poor quality interactions between a child and his teachers during the early years of life can significantly impede their development. This means that the quality of our ECCE professionals is of paramount importance.

What are factors associated with teacher quality? Teacher quality refers to the teacher’s demonstrated competence in working with

One of the 50 articles in the Exchange CD Book, Leading People in Early Childhood Settings which was just released is Margie Carter’s article, “The Visionary Director: Going for Bigger Dreams.” In this article, Carter observes:

“Guiding early childhood programs with a vision requires more than management skills. A manager is focused on the people, problems, and tasks at hand, using technical skills to address them. Beyond that, working with a vision requires developing oneself into a leader who inspires others to participate in and expand the vision.

An early childhood director who is a leader, of course, attends to management concerns, but she or he brings these concerns into a group focus through vision building. In describing the dimensions of leadership, Linda Espinosa, someone in our profession who embodies these qualities, says, ‘Leaders are those who provoke or nudge or elevate others into thinking, feeling, or behaving in ways they would not otherwise have demonstrated.’

Growing your leadership goes hand in hand with growing a vision for your program.”

Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

e-Resources

Our Public Libraries have an array of

electronic resources for teaching and leisure needs.

Our offerings include the following databases:

• Digital Media collection – music, videos and eBooks of fiction titles

• eBrary Books – non-fiction books

• TumbleBook Library - stories and language learning books for children

that include activities like puzzles and games.

• Kids InfoBits – information and facts on various topics like Inventions

& Technology, Health, Geography. It includes teaching aids such as a

Dictionary and Teachers Toolbox.

Digital Library membership and access to databases are free. Sign up

today at http://eResources.nlb.gov.sg

Editorial Team: Dr Chan Lin Ho, Dr Khoo Kim Choo (Advisor), Mr Tan Li Sheng, Ms Florrine Ng, Ms Sarah Siew, Ms Siti Nuraidah

:: Tea with MCYS’ ECCE Scholars:: UNESCO’s World Conference on ECCE in Moscow:: Kidz Go Green:: Training Courses:: Upcoming Events :: International Conferences:: Fun With Tots Programme

Inside

The quality of an institution hinges on the quality of its workforce, and this is especially true for the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) sector.

MCYS has introduced a range of Undergraduate and Postgraduate scholarships for ECCE courses since 2009 to enable child care teachers to upgrade their professional qualifications. These scholarships are tenable at NIE, SIM University and Seed Institute-Wheelock College. To date, there are a total of 105 scholarship recipients who hold teaching and leadership positions in various child care centres.

The Child Care Division of MCYS organised a tea session with ECCE scholars at the Asian Civilisations Museum on 11 January 2011. The tea session, hosted by Dr Chan Lin Ho, Deputy Director (Policy & Development), was attended by over 60 degree and master scholars. Other than recognising the professional upgrading efforts of ECCE scholars, the Ministry also updated them on initiatives to uplift the child care sector.

The afternoon’s programme commenced with a fun activity titled “I am Valuable”. The scholars scuttled around the room regrouping themselves according to the number of years of experience in the field of early childhood. The groups then shared their most memorable and valuable experience as an early childhood educator. In her welcome and briefing session, Dr Chan shared about the new and exciting quality initiatives for the child care sector, such as the Early Years Development Framework (EYDF), the Child Development Network (CDN), the Early Childhood Research Fund (ECRF) and the upcoming Child Care Seminar 2011. She also took this opportunity to encourage scholars to work in

Tea with MCYS’ ECCE Scholars

teams to present their action research projects at available professional sharing platforms.

Scholars further shared about their early childhood journey. It was apparent that regardless of their background and experience, scholars were motivated to press on with their studies and continue their career development in this unique sector. Ms Lindawati described her experience as having to put on several “caps” to manage the different roles in her life. Ms Farhana shared about how she drew inspiration on being courageous from Spencer Johnson’s “Who Moved My Cheese?” She accounted her success and motivation to a great mentor, who helped her to make sense of the learning and to take advantage of the daily opportunities available to apply the learning to her teaching. Ms Sua Swee Lee and Ms Karasi expressed their gratitude to the Ministry for giving them the opportunity to upgrade and pursue their dream in a career working with young children.

MCYS is committed to ensuring quality in the provision of early childhood care and education for the child care sector. Acknowledging that teacher quality is one of the key determinants of quality, MCYS will continue to offer scholarships for the Diploma, Degree and Masters in ECCE programme for the sector. The upcoming Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Framework will help outline the core professional knowledge and competency milestones to allow teachers to develop themselves professionally along various tracks of interest.

Marie GohChild Care Officer, MCYS

Adapted from Child Care Exchange, ExchangeEveryDay, “The Visionary Director”Available: [http://www.childcareexchange.com/eed/issue.php?id=2094]

The Early Childhood Care and Education Professional:

Shaping the Future of our Nation

The Visionary Director October 6, 2008

“Learning through play has been a practice in my work with children. Coming together with other early childhood practitioners and educators to share experiences during the course is an eye opener

as I have gained ideas and understand different perspectives of play in practice.”Ms Sua Swee Lee

Bachelor of Early Childhood Education with Management, UniSIM/SEED InstituteHealthy Start Child Development Centre

Fun With Tots programmeFun With Tots is a popular half hour parent-child programme that showcases early literacy skills through interactive stories, action-songs and fun-filled rhymes. The programme introduces the six pre-reading skills that every child must know:• Print Awareness• Print Motivation• Vocabulary• Phonological Awareness• Letter Knowledge• Narrative Skills

This programme is targeted at children aged 1 – 3 years. To provide opportunities for toddlers and parents to socialise, and to increase the impact of the pre-reading skills shared, the programme is held over 6 consecutive weeks. Log on to http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg for schedules of the Fun with Tots Programme held at our public libraries. For enquiries, please call 6332 3255.

Learning is the best of all wealth; it is easy to carry, thieves cannot steal it,

and tyrants cannot seize it; neither fire nor water can destroy it; and far from

decreasing, it increases by giving.Naladiyar

young children. There are three factors positively associated with teacher quality:

1) Professional development of teachers, especially in formal education.

Research shows that teachers who participate in formal education and training tend to have higher quality class-rooms and interactions with children. However, apart from attaining academic qualifications, it is also important for ECCE professionals to pursue continuing professional development.

2) Teacher’s compensation. Some studies show that the teacher’s compensation is a stronger indicator of classroom quality

when compared to other structural indicators. Teachers with higher earnings and adequate benefits are more likely to stay in their positions. Conversely, teachers who are not well paid tend to work in lower quality programmes that provide a poorer educational experience for children.

3) Stability. This includes both programme tenure and turnover. Lower rates of turnover are associated with positive teaching practices. Staff stability is

InTErnaTIonaL ConfErEnCES 14-16 AprInternational Infant and Toddler Conference: Empower Children and Change the WorldOklahoma, USAWebsite: http://www.ccrctulsa.org/?page_id=1149

26-29 Apr10th Early Childhood ConventionChristchurch, New ZealandWebsite: http://www.conference.co.nz/ecc11

3-4 Jun2011 Early Childhood Education Conference – Together we growMelbourne, Australia Website: http://www.togetherwegrow.com.au/index.html

12-15 JunNAEYC’s 20th National Institute for Early Childhood Professional DevelopmentProvidence, Rhode Island, USAWebsite: http://www.naeyc.org/institute/

6-9 Jul63rd OMEP World Conference: Meeting the Learning and Developmental Needs of Our Young Citizens Hong KongWebsite: http://www.omep-sgp.org/events.html

COURSES OFFERED BY TRAINING AGENCIES

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.John Quincy Adams

Advent Links-sAUCwww.alsauc.edu.sg Tel: 6254 9246 Email: info@alsauc.edu.sg • Teaching Phonemic Awareness and

Phonics to young children • Basic Counselling and Guidance in

Schools • Certificate in Mainstreaming

Children with Special Needs • Seminar on Learning: The Project

Approach • WSQ – Health, Hygiene, Nutrition

and Safety for Children aged 0-8 years

• WSQ – Support for Early Intervention Programme aged 0-6 years

• WSQ – Assist in the Development of Children aged 0-8 years

kLC school of educationwww.klc.edu.sgTel: 6858 9600Email: enquiry@klc.edu.sg• Introductory Workshop on The Power

of Nurturing Touch – Infant Massage• Certificate in Creative Teaching of

Phonics

• Certificate in Teaching Creative Drama in the Early Years

LeArning CApitAL COLLegewww.learningcapital.com.sgTel: 6336 8335Email: enquiries@learningcapital.com.sg• Supporting Children with Special

Needs• Assist with Programming and

Learning Needs for Children with Special Needs

• Planning and Evaluating Programmes for Children with Special Needs

• Supporting Special Needs Children

seedwww.seedinstitute.edu.sg Tel: 6332 0668/6334 6005Email: info@seedinstitute.edu.sg• WSQ – Teacher-Child Interaction

and Classroom Management (Starting Apr)

• WSQ – Mentoring Novice Teachers (Starting Apr)

• WSQ – Understanding and Reaching the Whole Child (Starting Apr)

• WSQ – Connecting Preschools, Families and Community: Programmes for promoting partnerships

(Starting Apr)• Transform Your Life through Neuro

Linguistic Programming (NLP) (26 Feb, 5 Mar, 12 Mar)• Harmony, Rhythm and Melody (HRM)...

Make HRM your ASSET today! (16 Apr, 23 Apr)

singApOre Centre fOr Chinese LAngUAge (sCCL) www.sccl.sg Tel: 6467 5667Email: admin@sccl.sg • 从游戏中培养儿童的思维能力(1): 空间概念

Developing Thinking Skills through Play (1): Spatial Concepts (19 Feb)

• 课室管理 Classroom Management (25 Feb)• 解读学前华文课程纲要 Understanding the Kindergarten

Chinese Language Curriculum Framework (26 Feb)

• 爱的语言--快乐学习的根源 The Language of Love: The Roots of

Joy in Learning (11 Mar)

necessary for children and families to build secure, trusting and responsive relationships with staff.

Lastly, it is also important to consider the teachers’ psychological wellbeing. Teachers’ beliefs and self-awareness are related to their teaching and ability to incorporate new educational practices into their teaching. Teachers who suffer from depression tend to be less sensitive and more withdrawn in the classroom, in addition to contributing to a higher turnover rate.

What are we doing to support our eCCe professionals?The government has introduced new measures to recognize and upgrade the early childhood profession:

1) raise the quality of ECCE professionals. Since 1 Jan 2009, teachers are required to have at least five GCE ‘O’ level credits including English Language (EL) and a Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education - Teaching. Incumbent teachers teaching K1 and K2 must obtain a DECCE-T, and an ‘O’ level pass in EL, or pass an EL proficiency test by January 2013. In addition, each kindergarten or child care centre must have at least 75 percent of all its teachers holding a DECCE-T by January 2013.

2) Provide scholarships and bursaries for ECCE professionals. To enable existing teachers and leaders to upgrade their professional qualifications, the government introduced scholarships, teaching awards and bursaries for degree and diploma courses since 2008. The Masters scholarship was also launched by MCYS last year. More information is available at MCYS’ Child Care Link [http://www.childcarelink.gov.sg] or MOE’s Pre-school Education website [http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/preschool/]

3) Introduce accelerated training programme for ECCE professionals. In collaboration with WDA, accelerated teacher training courses were introduced in 2009 to attract qualified mid-career entrants and fresh graduates who are degree or full-time diploma holders to join the sector as

Adapted from The Early Care and Education Teaching Workforce: At the Fulcrum (2006), by Sharon Lynn Kagan, Kate Tarrant, Amy Carson, Kristie Kauerz, National Center for Children and Families for Cornerstones for Kids. Available on the Web at www.cornerstones4kids.org/images/teachers_report_0107.pdf Examples of courses available

• Demonstrate Understanding of Concepts of Information and Communication Technology

• Use Computer and Manage Files • Perform Word Processing Functions

pre-school teachers. More information is available at the same websites listed above.

4) recognise our ECCE professionals. Excellent early childhood professionals and centres are recognised through the Child Care and Kindergarten Awards, which are given out in conjunction with the annual Child Care Seminar and Kindergarten Learning Forum. The Child Care Seminar, Kindergarten Conference and Kindergarten Learning Forum also serve as platforms for professional sharing.

5) Develop frameworks for Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Kindergartens can use MOE’s Professional Development Framework to identify training needs and prioritise areas for the professional development of their staff. A similar CPD framework for child care teachers will be developed to complement the core training requirements for teachers and supervisors to raise staff quality.

6) Link up with other ECCE professionals through the Child Development network. The CDN, launched in October 2010, provides a platform for professional sharing and connects stakeholders in the early childhood community to promote quality early childhood development in Singapore. An Online Portal (http://www.cdn.gov.sg) offers a wealth of resources, including useful child development information and resources. ECCE professionals can also stay connected by sharing their views on the forum page. To be connected to the field of early childhood in the Asia-Pacific region, ECCE professionals can also sign up as members at the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (http://www.arnec.net/).

Social and Emotional Learning: The New PathwayDate and Time: 15 Mar 2011, Tues, 9.00 am to 5.00 pm and 16 Mar 2011, Wed, 9.00 am to 12.30 pm Venue: St andrew’s Junior College

In this two-day seminar presented by St. Andrew’s Centre for Early Childhood Education, participants will find out and discuss about the effectiveness of a social-emotional learning programme, You Can Do It (YCDI), on a variety of educational outcomes. The findings provide additional support for the growing research literature concerning the importance of social and emotional development in our young children. Experts in the field will also share during the plenary sessions.

Contact Ms rina or Christine [Email: saceceadmin@sacece.edu.sg]Website: http://app.cdn.gov.sg/Portals/0/SaCeCe%20flyer%202011.pdf

UpCOMing events...At My First Skool, the yearly Kidz-in-Charge event aims to construct school partnership with families and communities. In 2009, the theme Kidz Go Green was selected, due to the recent global concern over climate change. There was great interest on how to encourage children and their families to be better informed on doing their part for the environment.

Kidz Go Green was held in partnership with the National Parks Board on 12th September 2009 at Pasir Ris Park, Toa

Kidz Go Green A Project on Green Education for Young Children and Families

(september 27 to 29, 2010)

It is our belief and desire to strongly en-courage educators and the community to support “Green Education” by making use of all measures at hand. This is not only about promoting Reducing, Reusing and Recycling, but also extends further to include - Rethinking, Respecting, Repairing and Refusing the use of “Non-Green Products”. In doing so, we will be setting a “Green” example for our children.

Mrs Preman Komala (Principal Education Specialist)Lynn Heng(Group Professional Leadership Officer)NTUC First Campus

Payoh Town Park, Jurong Central Park and Admiralty Park. Prior to the event, the children were introduced to the theme on Green Education and various experiences were provided for children to appreciate and develop sustainable habits of being an environmental steward. On the day of the event, a wide array of educational activities was planned with the aim of creating awareness on the importance of being ecologically-minded. These included a guided nature trail walk, games, storytelling session, and arts activities.

UNESCO’s World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education in Moscow

A russian kindergarten in MoscowThe Conference included a visit to Model Kindergarten No. 2662, which has an enrolment of 270 children. Russian kindergartens are state-run and are open from 7 am to 7 pm on weekdays. Fees are subsidised and means-tested. All kindergartens use a common curriculum which focuses on cognitive development,

speech, social skills, intra-personal development, aesthetic and physical development. Some kindergartens, like No. 2662, have ‘extras’ – such as a speech therapist, a psychologist, swimming instructor, a health personnel, music instructor and PE teacher. Among other activities, the children play chess to stimulate their cognitive development. A significant amount of time is also devoted to gymnastics, swimming, music, dance, art, and drama.

This kindergarten also has a mother-child programme - Baby Stock - for neighbourhood children. It opens from 9am to 12.40pm and offers children aged from 1 to 3 years early exposure to a preschool environment. The mother and child go through several stations which stimulate different aspects of the child’s development while a pedagogue helps the mother understand how her child develops in the process.

Dr Khoo Kim ChooConsultant, MCYS

The World Conference brought together 1000 invited participants. They comprised policy makers, professionals, inter-governmental agencies, NGOs and civil society organizations from 193 UNESCO member states, donors and UN agencies. The Conference aimed to strengthen political commitment to quality early childhood care and education.

Professor Jack Shonkoff, the keynote speaker, spoke on the importance of the early years from a brain research perspective. What he said has implications for policy, early childhood programmes, training and parenting, especially for those which involve children aged 0 to 3 years old.

The theme, “The ECCE Global Challenge”, covered topics such as the global state of the art, scaling up and developing good policies for ECCE, and innovative financing and legal frameworks to ensure inclusion in the ECCE system. Multi-sectoral (including inter-ministerial) integration and coordination is a major issue for promoting holistic quality ECCE, which covers health, education, nutrition and protection. The 0 to 3 years old target group and capacity building for effective service delivery received due attention and coverage. All these topics included sharing of selected countries’ best practices, experience and models.

An indoor swimming pool

Baby Stock: A mother-child programme in the Kindergarten

WSQ ITD courses are also available at the following training institutions: NTUC Learning Hub: www.ntuclearninghub.com Kaplan: www.kaplan.com.sgSSA Consulting: www.ssagroup.com Training Vision: www.trainingvision.com.sg

Training agencies who wish to list their courses can write in to MCYS_CDN@mcys.gov.sg.

At the end of the day, everyone walked away with ideas and tips on little ways to save the Earth.

Further to this, other more sustainable initiatives with a focus on being green were implemented to strengthen the

need to adopt green principles. Some initial developments include the construction of indoor or outdoor garden plots in every centre, training for teachers on appreciating the rich biodiversity of plants and species, and presentation on “Green Education” at the NAEYC conference.

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