Although it is in Southeast Asia, it turns out Malaysia is the wild wild west of early childhood education. And Forest City is the new frontier. This is the story of the children and families in this frontier community. It is a story about how we make meaning of a new world, and come to understand the laws of nature in a place that until recently was the middle of the ocean.
I was brought here to accompany my wife Kimber to serve with her on the faculty of the American boarding school that serves as an anchor and selling point for the emerging community. Kimber is the director of the weCreate program, which means she helps teachers and students use design thinking to develop solutions to real life challenges being faced by our school community. She is a technology integration specialist and a force of nature who understands the needs of different types of learners. She can figure out how to make anything you can think of. She knows things I didn't know were there to know, and how to do them. She has a deep understanding of children's development and learning that crosses disciplines, and informs her practice as an educator and mentor for others. So that's why they hired her.
Before they brought us on board, the senior leadership team wanted to know if I was up for living in what they described as an isolated, post-apocalyptic seeming construction zone. It was still their first year, and a lot of the staff they hired were not prepared to live on the wild frontier. I said I was game. I had work teaching online and didn't need a job, but when they asked me about my experience and philosophy of early childhood education I told them the truth. They liked what I had to say so much that they offered me a position as principal of their early childhood program serving children in Kindergarten ages 3,4, and 5. Having been so clear about the heart and soul of what is important to me in serving young children and their families, I figured if they wanted to offer the guy who said those things a position I had to accept. I was and am that guy.
This is the first international school launched by a boarding school institution from the Midwest with a 160 year old tradition. This is their first venture into the world of early childhood education. The founders of the school were inspired by the philosophy and approach taken by teachers at the preschools in Reggio Emilia, and they are actively supporting collaboration between early childhood educators and a full time atelierista, as well as other full time teachers focused on music, movement, and dance. With many stakeholders, the school is the passion project of one of the wealthiest women in China on an island created with contributions from the Sultan of Johor. There is a lot riding on this venture for everyone. As of now, during its' first phase of construction, the foundations are still being established.
Except for the children of staff members, very few of our students' home language is English, and most of our students are not from Malaysia. The families here are mostly Mandarin Chinese speakers from mainland China, drawn here by the promise of a better life for their family. Our first day of school was last week. I made the radical decision to invite our families to spend the first day of school with their children and teachers in the classroom, and it was a great success. I spent the day learning what I could about the children, their families, and where they come from. Mostly I was learning to wrap my heart and mind around their names, and using my tongue in different ways to say them. I feel so fortunate to have spent so many years learning about language development from the perspective of infants and toddlers, and to be guided by an understanding of the role of culture and the family as the foundation of healthy social emotional development and all future learning. I am here with new families at the beginning of the lives of the first inhabitants of a new land. Our team of early childhood educators and specialists has developed a vision for curriculum and instruction in response to an essential question I posed in the days before school started.
The story has yet to be written. There is an opportunity to develop laws to establish a culture of kindness and respect, preserving This is the opportunity of a lifetime for an educator with my values and background. It could just as well be called Dream City.
I was brought here to accompany my wife Kimber to serve with her on the faculty of the American boarding school that serves as an anchor and selling point for the emerging community. Kimber is the director of the weCreate program, which means she helps teachers and students use design thinking to develop solutions to real life challenges being faced by our school community. She is a technology integration specialist and a force of nature who understands the needs of different types of learners. She can figure out how to make anything you can think of. She knows things I didn't know were there to know, and how to do them. She has a deep understanding of children's development and learning that crosses disciplines, and informs her practice as an educator and mentor for others. So that's why they hired her.
Before they brought us on board, the senior leadership team wanted to know if I was up for living in what they described as an isolated, post-apocalyptic seeming construction zone. It was still their first year, and a lot of the staff they hired were not prepared to live on the wild frontier. I said I was game. I had work teaching online and didn't need a job, but when they asked me about my experience and philosophy of early childhood education I told them the truth. They liked what I had to say so much that they offered me a position as principal of their early childhood program serving children in Kindergarten ages 3,4, and 5. Having been so clear about the heart and soul of what is important to me in serving young children and their families, I figured if they wanted to offer the guy who said those things a position I had to accept. I was and am that guy.
This is the first international school launched by a boarding school institution from the Midwest with a 160 year old tradition. This is their first venture into the world of early childhood education. The founders of the school were inspired by the philosophy and approach taken by teachers at the preschools in Reggio Emilia, and they are actively supporting collaboration between early childhood educators and a full time atelierista, as well as other full time teachers focused on music, movement, and dance. With many stakeholders, the school is the passion project of one of the wealthiest women in China on an island created with contributions from the Sultan of Johor. There is a lot riding on this venture for everyone. As of now, during its' first phase of construction, the foundations are still being established.
Except for the children of staff members, very few of our students' home language is English, and most of our students are not from Malaysia. The families here are mostly Mandarin Chinese speakers from mainland China, drawn here by the promise of a better life for their family. Our first day of school was last week. I made the radical decision to invite our families to spend the first day of school with their children and teachers in the classroom, and it was a great success. I spent the day learning what I could about the children, their families, and where they come from. Mostly I was learning to wrap my heart and mind around their names, and using my tongue in different ways to say them. I feel so fortunate to have spent so many years learning about language development from the perspective of infants and toddlers, and to be guided by an understanding of the role of culture and the family as the foundation of healthy social emotional development and all future learning. I am here with new families at the beginning of the lives of the first inhabitants of a new land. Our team of early childhood educators and specialists has developed a vision for curriculum and instruction in response to an essential question I posed in the days before school started.
The story has yet to be written. There is an opportunity to develop laws to establish a culture of kindness and respect, preserving This is the opportunity of a lifetime for an educator with my values and background. It could just as well be called Dream City.
Comments
Post a Comment