Source: Tengchong City Project Manager ：Yang Chunbo

From 15 December to 17 December 2023, the launching ceremony of Tengchong Rural Preschools Core Teachers' Empowerment Project and "Rural Primary School Principals' Advocacy for Pre-school Education" was held in Tengchong Education and Sports Bureau. Tengchong Bureau of Education and Sports, Wuhe, Puchuan, Tuantian and other townships' central schools leaders, some primary schools and kindergarten leaders, as well as HPP POF core teachers, a total of 26 people attended.

On the foundation of the 6 years old ‘Preschools of the Future’ (POF) project implemented in Tengchong, Yunnan Province, in December 2022 the project staff found during a visit that most of the village preschool teachers are temporary teachers, with weak professional knowledge and skills, and limited opportunities for capacity enhancement, etc. In February 2023, the project team did a baseline survey in three townships of Tengchong City in order to find out the specific needs of the village preschool teachers. From the results of the survey, we found that learning through play teaching and the development of corner games are the most urgent needs in the current situation of rural preschool education, which has been mentioned repeatedly in the survey report. 

In September 2023, with the support of the Beijing Office of the Macao Tong Chai Charity Association and the Kunming Good Deed Public Welfare Community Development Service Center (KGD) HPP started the implementation of the Tengchong Rural Preschool Teachers Empowerment Project in Yunnan Province. The project aims to improve the educational capacity of 30 rural preschools teachers through training the core preschool teachers in the townships to support the working methods of preschool teachers in the village, and to improve the capacity of the preschool teachers in the area of corner play activities as an entry point to solve the lack of educational capacity of preschool teachers in the rural areas and the lack of training opportunities, as well as the problem of the poor quality of the pre-school education in the rural areas.

In order to better discuss the development trend of pre-school education, educational concepts, teaching methods and child growth and development, and with the opportunity of the launching meeting of the Core Teacher Empowerment Project, the project invited central school leaders, primary school principals and kindergarten principals to participate in the "Advocacy of pre-school education for rural primary school principals" activity. Through the sharing of cases and experiences of outstanding teachers and the mobilization of school leaders to participate in games for teacher training, the project mobilized exchanges and discussions, thereby raising the awareness and understanding of center and primary school principals for preschool education and improving their ability to guide and support village-level preschool teachers.

At the same time, a three-day core teacher empowerment training for rural preschool teachers was also carried out. The training started from understanding the development trend of preschool education, grasping the value and types of games in preschool, understanding the connotation and value of educational corner activities, establishing a correct view of games, updating the concept of parenting, grasping the different classifications of educational corners, being able to reasonably set up the corners, and learning the methods and key points of creating corner environments, etc. The training was conducted in a theoretical and practical way, helping the teachers to deeply analyze the theoretical points and then letting them practice with their own hands. The training method of theory and practice was adopted to help teachers analyze theoretical knowledge in depth and then let them do it themselves to consolidate the theoretical knowledge they had acquired. In response to the problems and difficulties encountered by teachers in theory and practice, the trainers also provided timely feedback and guidance to teachers to help them improve their operational level. In addition, the core teachers also exchanged ideas and experiences with each other, sharing their own experience in environment creation and zone play to better promote each other's growth and development.

Through the training, the participating teachers have made significant progress in their understanding of preschool activity corner and their ability to use them. It is believed that after this training, all the key teachers have gained certain gains and will apply what they have learnt to the management of kindergarten classes to create a better learning environment for children.

Ensuring that young children in rural areas have access to high-quality pre-school education services is inseparable from the support of early childhood teachers, center schools and local education departments. The project activities provide a platform for sharing and exchanging ideas, solving the problems faced by rural early childhood teachers from a practical point of view, helping each other and promoting the development of rural early childhood education.

Project Introduction:

Tengchong Rural Preschools’ Core Teacher Empowerment Project in Yunnan is supported by the Beijing Office of the Macao Tong Chai Charity Association and Kunming Good Deed Public Welfare Community Development Service Center, and is a joint collaboration between HPP and the local Bureau of Sports and Education. The project is designed to enhance the educational competence of 30 rural preschool teachers through the training of township core teachers to support the work methodology of preschool teachers in village gardens, and to enhance the competence of play activities in educational corners, with the aim to address the lack of educational capacity and training opportunities for early childhood teachers in rural areas and the poor quality of preschool education in rural areas.

This article represents the views of the author and is not related to the position of the funder.