Abstract
Vietnam is promoting active teaching and learning as a key strategy to enhance children’s learning in preschools. This change depends largely on building the capacities of teachers to implement child-centered education in practice and handover the initiative for learning to children. Vietnamese teachers need to be better equipped with pedagogical skills to enhance children’s wellbeing and involvement and to create optimal conditions for learning in classrooms. In 2016, as part of a professional development program for teachers to support the quality of their classroom practice through critical reflection, a collaborative pilot study was carried out to test the relevance and effectiveness of process-oriented child monitoring within the Vietnamese educational context. A process-oriented child-monitoring system was introduced to teachers in eight Vietnamese preschools that enrolled children aged from 3 to 5 years and which included primarily ethnic minority children. Teachers were taught observation skills to monitor children’s involvement and wellbeing during classroom activities. Through professional development activities, including coaching, mentoring, and peer learning in school-based and inter-school teacher communities, teachers were encouraged to adjust their practices to the learning needs of the children in their classrooms, including children at risk for low engagement and involvement. This pilot study provides a strong case for the process-oriented child-monitoring system to be implemented at a larger scale in Vietnamese preschools.
Résumé
Le Vietnam promeut l’enseignement et l’apprentissage actifs comme stratégie clé pour améliorer l’apprentissage des enfants en maternelle. Ce changement dépend dans une large mesure d’un renforcement des capacités des enseignants à mettre en pratique une éducation centrée sur l’enfant et à donner aux enfants l’initiative de l’apprentissage. Les enseignants vietnamiens doivent acquérir de meilleures compétences pédagogiques afin d’accroître le bien-être et l’implication des enfants et de créer des conditions optimales pour l’apprentissage en classe. En 2016, comme composante d’un programme de développement professionnel des enseignants visant à soutenir la qualité de leur pratique en classe par la réflexion critique, une étude pilote collaborative fut menée pour vérifier la pertinence et l’efficacité d’un suivi des jeunes enfants axé sur le processus, dans le contexte vietnamien de l’éducation. Un système de suivi des enfants axé sur le processus fut présenté aux enseignants de huit maternelles vietnamiennes accueillant des enfants de 3 à 5 ans, dont essentiellement des enfants de minorités ethniques. Les enseignants reçurent une formation visant leurs habiletés d’observation pour superviser l’implication et le bien-être des enfants pendant les activités de la classe. Au moyen d’activités de développement professionnel, dont l’encadrement professionnel, le mentorat et l’apprentissage par les pairs dans les communautés scolaires et inter scolaires, les enseignants furent encouragés à adapter leur pratique aux besoins d’apprentissage des enfants de leurs classes, y compris les enfants présentant des risques de bas niveau d’engagement et d’implication. Cette étude pilote offre un puissant argumentaire à la mise en place du système de suivi des enfants axé sur le processus à plus grande échelle dans les maternelles vietnamiennes.
Resumen
Vietnam está fomentando la enseñanza y el aprendizaje activos como clave estratégica para mejorar el aprendizaje en niños de edad pre-escolar. Este cambio depende, en gran medida, de la posibilidad de mejorar la capacidad de los maestros para llevar a la práctica una educación centrada en el niño, pasándole al mismo la iniciativa de aprender. Los maestros vietnamitas necesitan estar mejor equipados en cuanto a técnicas pedagógicas para mejorar el bienestar y la participación del niño, creando en el aula las condiciones óptimas para el aprendizaje. En el 2016, y como parte de un programa de desarrollo profesional para maestros que apoya la calidad de su trabajo en el aula a través de un proceso de reflexión crítica, se llevó a cabo un estudio piloto colaborativo para evaluar la pertinencia y efectividad del monitoreo del niño dentro del contexto educativo de Vietnam. Se enseñó a los maestros de ocho centros pre-escolares vietnamitas, con niños de 3 a 5 años de edad, que incluían niños de minorías étnicas, un sistema de monitoreo del niño orientado al proceso. Los maestros aprendieron técnicas de observación para monitorear la participación y el bienestar de los niños durante las actividades del aula. En las actividades de desarrollo profesional para maestros, que incluyeron entrenamiento, tutoría y aprendizaje de pares dentro de cada escuela y entre escuelas, se alentó a que los maestros adaptaran las prácticas pedagógicas a las necesidades de aprendizaje de los niños a su cargo, incluyendo a los niños que se pensaba podían demostrar poco interés y una participación pobre. Este estudio piloto sirve como argumento de peso en apoyo de la implementación a mayor escala de un sistema de monitoreo de niños que esté orientado al proceso en centros pre-escolares de Vietnam.
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Lenaerts, F., Braeye, S., Nguyen, T.L.H. et al. Supporting Teachers in Vietnam to Monitor Preschool Children’s Wellbeing and Involvement in Preschool Classrooms. IJEC 49, 245–262 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-017-0188-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-017-0188-2