News Release:
International expert leads UNE Institute
| Date 16/1/04 No 009/04 This weekend more than 30 teachers and teacher educators are experiencing for themselves, at the University of New England, the excitement of working on a self-motivated project. Coming to UNE from Singapore, Tasmania, the ACT and Queensland, as well as from Victoria and NSW, they are participating in Australia's first Summer Institute in Early Childhood Education. The Summer Institute begins this evening [Friday 16 January] and continues through till Monday 19 January. The guest presenter, Dr Sylvia Chard from the University of Alberta in Canada, is co-author (with Dr Lilian Katz) of the influential book Engaging Children's Minds: the Project Approach, and the Institute has adopted the same title. "The Institute will give the participants a clearer idea of the work of Lilian Katz and myself," Dr Chard said. "We've worked together since 1969 and have seen a lot of changes in early childhood education and the research that supports it. Throughout that time we've published our views on teaching methods that have come and gone, with a special focus on the project approach to teaching and learning." Dr Chard said this was her first visit to eastern Australia, and she was looking forward to strengthening her relationship with teachers and teacher educators in this part of the world and learning more about their interests. "Maybe some collaborative ventures will develop," she continued.
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Dr Margaret Brooks, the organiser of the Summer Institute, came to UNE last year from the University of Alberta, where she and Dr Chard were, respectively, Associate Director and Director of the Child Study Centre. Dr Brooks, a member of the Early Childhood Education team within UNE's Faculty of Education, Health and Professional Studies, is hoping this first Institute will inaugurate a series of biennial Summer Institutes in Early Childhood Education at UNE. "Project work, the subject of our first Institute, develops a very integrated approach to learning," Dr Brooks said. "It invites children to take an active part in their own studies, and to employ the entire range of learning modes: from drawing and painting to essay-writing and mathematics." She said some of the projects to be undertaken by participants during the Institute would be inspired by the natural beauty of the Armidale campus, including its trees and wildlife. Media contact: Dr Margaret Brooks, School of Professional Development and Leadership, UNE, Armidale (02) 6773 2654 or 0401 806 512, or Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE, Armidale (02) 6773 3049. A photograph showing Dr Sylvia Chard (left), with Dr Margaret Brooks (centre) and Cynthia àBeckett (both members of UNE's Early Childhood Education team) is available for download. |
