If the Chinese cannot come to us, we must come to them
How does Denmark reopen kindergartens, and what should one pay particular attention to? This was the subject of a one-hour online learning session at the Shenzhen Yijie Early Childhood Research Institute's teaching platform in Shenzhen, southern China, which Ann Guo Skov from Nordfyns Folk Highschool in Denmark, was conducting in Chinese.
The town of Bogense as an example
The online course exemplified the reopening from national to local level with interviews and experiences from Bogense, a typical Danish town, located on the northern part of the island Fyn (Funen), right in the middle of Denmark. There were experiences and good advice from Ms. Gitte Høj Nielsen, Head of School and Daycare, from Ms. Mette Hjorth, Head of kindergarten ‘Børnehuset’ (Children’s Forest House), and parent Ms. Linda Bro. From the Chinese side, there was a great interest in finding out which areas is important to pay special attention to, as well as the way we in Denmark communicate to children and parents.
More articles to come
China is reopening kindergartens these weeks as some of the last institutions to reopen. The man behind the many online courses is Director Mr. Li of the Yijie Early Childhood Education Research Institute. He teaches thousands of educators every year, and in the fall of 2019 he spent two weeks at Nordfyns Folk Highschool on North Funen in Denmark. He has previously given public speaks on his experiences in Denmark.
This online course is the first in a series of several. It has already spawned the first articles in China, published by some of the pedagogues and journalists formerly attending courses at Nordfyns Folk Highschool.
Among others, the influential think tank "China Education 30 Forum" has just published an article based on the teaching.
Read article here (note: the article is in Chinese)