New Zealand - China Early Childhood Education Symposium 2021
Welcome to the event site for the New Zealand - China Early Childhood Education (ECE) Symposium 2021
Friday 24 September 1-8pm NZT
Virtual platform: Zoom
Sponsor: Education New Zealand, New Zealand Embassy in China; China Centre for International People to People Exchange
Organiser: Qingdao Municipal Education Bureau, China National Society of Early Childhood Education
Co-organiser: Qingdao Preschool Education College, Shanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education under Shanghai Normal University
2021 Symposium Theme: Future-focused High Quality Development of Early Childhood Education Teachers
Thank you to all the presenters and attendees who made the 2021 ECE Symposium a success. The Event has now concluded. Scroll to see the agenda and session topics. This English-language event page is for the New Zealand-based audience and provides the bios of the New Zealand presenters. China-based attendees can access event information through CCIPE.
Email us at china@enz.govt.nz
Agenda
Friday 24 September 2021
1-8pm NZT
Programme
13:00-13:30 Opening Ceremony
Official Remarks
Remarks by LIU Pengzhao, Director General, Qingdao Municipal Education Bureau
Welcome Remarks by XU Yongji, Deputy Director General, Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges, China Ministry of Education
Remarks by Lisa Futschek, General Manager International, Education New Zealand
Remarks by HOU Limin, Chairman China National Society of Early Childhood Education
Remarks by DU Kewei, Director General, China Center for International People-to-People Exchange
13:30-14:10 Policy Overview
Policy Overview with a Focus on Cultivating High Quality ECE Teachers
CHEN Wu, Director, Division of Teachers Development, Department of Teachers Education, China Ministry of Education
Nancy Bell – Director Early Learning, Early Learning and Student Achievement, New Zealand Ministry of Education, and
Dr Ann Pairman, Principal Advisor, New Zealand Ministry of Education
14:10-14:20 Coffee Break
14:20-15:00 Keynote
Support for ECE Teachers during the Stress of Covid-19 Pandemic
LIU Wen, Professor, School of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University
Andrew Gibbons, Professor, School of Education, Auckland University of Technology and
Mary-Liz Broadley, Senior Lecturer (ECE) Open Polytechnic and
Dr Rebecca Hopkins, Lecturer, Practicum Lead (ECE), School of Education, Auckland University of Technology
Rainie Yu, Learning Communities Service Leader, Auckland University of Technology
15:00-15:40 Keynote
Pathway to becoming an ECE Teacher and beyond (formal education and professional development)
Marek Tesar, Associate Professor and the Associate Dean International, and Academic Head designate at the Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland, and
Dr. Kiri Gould, Lecturer, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland
XU Zemin, Senior Teacher; Director, ECE Teaching and Research Section, Teaching and Research Section of Shanghai Municipal Party Committee
15:40-17:00 Lunch Break (China side)
17:00-18:00 Thematic Session 1
Topic: Teacher-Children Interaction and Curriculum Improvement in NZ and China
HU Biying, Associate Professor, Macau University
Jayne White, Professor, School of Teacher Education, University of Canterbury and
Dandan Cao, PhD Candidate, University of Waikato
LIU Jingbo, Professor, Nanjing Normal University
Dr. Rosemary Richards, Principal Academic Staff Member, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology
SHAO Yu, Centre Manager, Qingdao West Coast New District No. 1 Kindergarten
Hongwei Di, Lecturer, and the International Business Development Lead (Asia), Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand
XU Peng, PhD Candidate in Education, Victoria University of Wellington
18:00-19:00 Thematic Session 2
Topic: Professional Development and Growth for ECE Teachers supporting students from diverse backgrounds
Fiona He, Director, Tuitui EduCare
ZHENG Ming, Professor, Northwest Normal University
Keri Cheetham, Co-ordinating Director, Institute of Education, Massey University
MIN Lanbin, Professor, Xinjiang Normal University
Jennifer Jin Ma, Founder/CEO, Little Oasis Group
TANG Yanjuan, Director, Division of Ethnic Minority Education, Department of Education, Guangxi Zhuang Region
19:00-19:20 Closing Ceremony
Miranda Herbert, Counsellor (Education) New Zealand Embassy China
YANG Xiaochun, Deputy Director General, China Center for International People-to-People Exchange, Ministry of Education of China
Policy Overview with a Focus on Cultivating High Quality ECE Teachers
New Zealand Ministry of Education
Nancy Bell
Associate Deputy Secretary Resourcing & Early Learning Delivery (Acting), Sector Enablement and Support
Nancy was involved in initial teacher education and was the Chief Executive Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand for 12 years prior to joining the Ministry of Education as Director of Early Learning in 2016. She was responsible for the update of Te Whāriki and is responsible for the development of the Early Learning Strategic Plan at the Ministry of Education New Zealand.
Dr Ann Pairman
Principal Advisor, Early Learning Student Achievement
Ann was an ECE teacher and professional leader for many years before joining New Zealand’s Ministry of Education as Principal Advisor (Early Learning) in 2018. She contributes to the development of curriculum resources at the Ministry and was involved in the development of the Early Learning Strategic Plan.
Keynote: Support for ECE Teachers during Stress of COVID-19 Pandemic
Presented by Andrew Gibbons, Mary-Liz Broadley, Dr Rebecca Hopkins and Rainie Yu
Andrew Gibbons
Auckland University of Technology
Andrew Gibbons is an early childhood teacher, teacher educator and professor at the School of Education. He has worked in journalism, in the social services in England and in early childhood education in Auckland. Andrew works on the Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Arts, Master of Education, and Doctor of Philosophy programmes at the School of Education. Andrew has published widely on topics including the early childhood teaching profession, Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education policy, approaches to early childhood curriculum, early childhood teacher well-being and working conditions, dance and risky play in early childhood education, and the role of digital technology in education.
Mary-Liz Broadley
Open Polytechnic
I am the mother of Flynn Te Koha Dunleavy Broadley (7 years old) adopted from Beijing, China. Within my role as Mother, Kindergarten Teacher, Senior Lecturer (ECE) I advocate for quality Early Childhood Education for all infants and under 5’s in Early Childhood Education Services. My professional roles and responsibilities include the following: Past President for the Northern Auckland Kindergarten Association, Open Polytechnic Branch President of Tertiary Education Union (TEU), ECE University and Polytechnic Advisory Boards, Co-Convenor for Tamaki Makaurau Network Associate (ECE), Co-organiser for Annual Teacher’s Symposium’s, Researcher focussing on Building Kaupapa Māori into Education, and Past NZARE (NZ Education Research Association) Council Member, NZQA Monitor for Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) (Applied eLearning), Vice-Chair for Holy Cross School Board, and newly appointed committee member for Te Pŭkenga Interim Staff Committee and Te Poari Akaranga Academic Board.
Dr Rebecca Hopkins
Auckland University of Technology
Rebecca Hopkins (she/her) has been a participant in early childhood education as a child, a parent, teacher, and a researcher. She has been involved in early childhood education for almost 20 years in different capacities. She draws on these experiences in her current work with early childhood student-teachers at the Auckland University of Technology where she is a lecturer and Practicum Lead. Rebecca’s teaching centres around an ethic of engagement and creativity, which she sees as being negotiated in the relational spaces between people, and people and their environments.
Rebecca is currently focused on research exploring early childhood student-teachers' experiences of well-being and hauora. She is in also interested in the theory-practice nexus, and the ethics (and possibilities) of image production and consumption. Her Honours and Doctoral research explored and critiqued images of children and idealised childhoods and the normalised use of photographs in early childhood education. In the past she been involved in research projects related to newly qualified early childhood teachers, urban childhoods, and Feminism in early childhood education. She is beginning to think about the interrelationship of wellbeing and hauora, ecological models, and deep ecology.
Rainie Yu
Auckland University of Technology
Rainie runs a peer-to-peer academic support programme at Auckland University of Technology. In this role, Rainie works closely with all University Faculties and Student Services. Her research focuses on mentoring and includes research of student empowerment and their journey of becoming throughout higher education. Her Master’s thesis applies an autoethnographic method to the holistic study of peer mentoring programmes and the experience of being a peer mentor. Rainie’s research contributes to complex understandings of the tertiary students’ formation of identity.
Keynote: Pathway to becoming an ECE Teacher and beyond
Presented by Marek Tesar and Dr Kiri Gould
Professor Marek Tesar
University of Auckland
Marek Tesar is an Associate Professor and the Associate Dean International, and Academic Head designate at the Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland. His expertise is in early childhood education in both New Zealand as well as in cross-country contexts. His work focuses on educational policy, philosophy, pedagogy, methodology and curriculum, and draws on his background as a qualified teacher as well as his extensive knowledge of international education systems.
He has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications. His scholarly work has received numerous prestigious national and international awards and accolades. He edits 4 educational book series with renowned publishers, and is Editor of 6 academic journals including Editor-in-Chief of Policy Futures in Education (SAGE). As of 2020, he is President of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia (PESA), and currently chairs the Steering Committee of the Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education society (RECE).
Dr Kiri Gould
University of Auckland
Kiri Gould has over 20 years of experience teaching early childhood education in a tertiary environment. She has recently completed doctoral research examining teacher identities in early childhood education and care. Her previous roles have included lecturing and programme leadership roles, course and programme development and design, and research. She has current research interests in identities, teacher identities, education policy, and teacher wellbeing and work conditions.
Thematic Session: Teacher-Children Interaction and Curriculum Improvement in New Zealand and China
Presented by Jayne White, Dandan Cao, Dr Rosemary Richards, & Hongwei Di
Jayne White
University of Canterbury
Professor White’s scholarship brings dialogic philosophy, pedagogy and methodology together to explore new ways of seeing and talking about our youngest learners and their becomings in education. Professor White invokes a series of provocations and possibilities concerning the work of the eye (and the co-constituted 'I') through visual technologies at her disposal, and in contemplation of educational thought and practice. Professor White seeks to retain the mystery of infant-sees while supporting teachers to linger lovingly with those they seek to understand.
Professor White views this as a dialogic agenda for all who work with young lives, and seek to collapse binaries that otherwise limit the potential for infants, toddlers and young children to be taken very seriously, on their own terms, in educational spaces for learning. For this reason Professor White works closely with language beyond words, play beyond romantic ideals and technologies for unimaginable futures. In doing so Professor White advances visual pedagogies as an important portal for critical engagement with what we see.
Dandan Cao
University of Waikato
Dandan Cao is a PhD candidate at the University of Waikato. Her research is on exploring Competing voices on Chinese children’s touch screen learning experiences in a New Zealand early childhood education setting, using a dialogic perspective.
She employs a video approach to record children's everyday use of touch screen devices in the centre, also invites Chinese immigrant parents to film their children's touch screen use at home. Competing voices from Chinese parents, New Zealand ECE teachers and children are examined. Dandan’s broader interest lies in Chinese children's learning experiences in the New Zealand context and the application of technology in the field of education.
Dr Rosemary Richards
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology
Rosemary Richards (PhD), is a principal academic staff member in postgraduate studies at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology (New Zealand). She has extensive experience in initial and continuing teacher education. Participatory methodologies have underpinned her research projects including children’s drawing self-efficacy, young children’s perspectives on their art experiences, international students’ experiences and adult education. She has researched and published with a significant focus on early childhood art.
Ms Hongwei Di
Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand
Ms Hongwei Di is a Lecturer and the International Business Development Lead (Asia) at Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand. Hongwei has a background in early childhood education and cross-country educational development particularly between New Zealand and China. A specific research area in ECE curriculum development under different cultural context is Hongwei’s interest. Hongwei was a primary school teach in China and an ECE teacher in New Zealand.
She has also been working in international education development field for nearly 15 years in tertiary institutions in New Zealand. In 2019-2021, she was part of an international Professional Development team at Institute of Professional Learning, the University of Waikato to work with Chinese Kindergarten teachers to unpack New Zealand ECE and Te Whāriki and to develop a play-based teaching and learning within their own context. Currently, Hongwei is working as a lecturer at Te Tito Maioha to continue her research and educational development in ECE with China.
Thematic Session: Professional Development and Growth for ECE Teachers supporting students from diverse backgrounds
Presented by Fiona He, Keri Cheetham & Jennifer Jin Ma
Fiona He
TuiTui Educare
Fiona He has been working happily with children in Auckland ECE sector for more than 18 years. In the past 15 years, she has been managing different ECE centres as Centre Manager or Area Manager for different organisations. Currently she is managing TuiTui Educare at South Auckland.
Fiona believes children learn best by exploring at their own pace, motivated by their own interests. Their independence, curiosity, initiative and creativity should be encouraged at all times.
Ultimately, children must be allowed to be children.
Keri Cheetham
Tatao Angitu Massey University
Keri Cheetham has over 25 years’ experience in the education sector, across a range of roles including early childhood education teaching and facilitating teachers’ professional learning.
Tātai Angitu specialises in responsive provision of PLD to support kaiako and leaders through blended - online and face-to-face delivery options. In the current role as Kaihautū Matua, Cheetham leads a team of 15 PLD facilitators delivering sector-wide professional learning both domestically and internationally. Her work involves partnering with a range of education services, leaders, and kaiako, to support positive outcomes for tamariki.
Cheetham’s areas of expertise include strategic oversight and unit leadership, contract and operational management, relationship building and risk management.
Cheetham has education sector knowledge relating to curriculum implementation, change and PLD. She also has extensive expertise in early childhood curriculum design and implementation, policy development, leadership, meaningful and connected learning to ensure successful transition, quality assurance in early years education and future thinking for education.
Jennifer Jin Ma
Little Oasis Education Group
Jennifer Jin Ma is Founder/CEO of Little Oasis Education Group, an award-winning early childhood education brand created to redefine family time & the ECE service in China. With a background in law & high-level marketing, she brings an interdisciplinary, innovative approach to the field of education. She is mother to 3 boys, recognised as a 'World Class New Zealander' by Kea, '40 Under 40' by the University of Auckland, and China's Most Influential Parent by Parent World.
Official Remarks
Education New Zealand
Lisa Futschek
Education New Zealand
Lisa joined ENZ in 2013 after an 18-year diplomatic career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade which included five years as the Deputy Head of Mission at the New Zealand Embassy in Berlin, and three years as First Secretary and Consul at the New Zealand Embassy in Santiago.
As General Manager International, Lisa leads a global team of 30, based across 17 locations around the world, focussed on profiling New Zealand as an education partner and ensuring international education contributes to New Zealand’s diplomatic and international relations goals.
Lisa has been instrumental in expanding ENZ’s offshore network in Asia and establishing a permanent presence in North America. She brings a strong internationalisation lens to ENZ’s work, emphasizing the critical role of relationships and partnership for mutual benefit.
A graduate of Otago and Auckland universities, Lisa and her husband Regan are based in Wellington with their two teenagers, a son in tertiary studies and a daughter in year 11 at high school.
Miranda Herbert
Education New Zealand
Miranda took up her appointment as Director – Greater China in June 2019. She is based in the New Zealand Embassy Beijing concurrently as Education Counsellor. Miranda is responsible for leading ENZ’s team based in China in their education diplomacy, maintaining public relations, and business development efforts. Miranda came to ENZ with over 15 years' international education experience both in New Zealand and China. As an acknowledged expert on China and a Chinese speaker, her new role will allow her to extend her capabilities, providing leadership at a national level. This is Miranda’s first role for ENZ, having previously spent 11 and a half years at the University of Auckland, most recently as Deputy Director (International Marketing and Business Development). She has also worked in the private education sector and spent over four years living and working in China from 1999-2003.
