Hangzhou Polytechnic praises Unitec’s approach to teaching

The two visiting ECE teachers from Hangzhou Polytechnic in China, Kun Song and Wei He, attending classes in Unitec’s ECE teaching programme.

A partnership with Hangzhou Polytechnic in China was enriched when two Chinese Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers experienced our teaching, curriculum and pedagogy during a three month visit to New Zealand.

The partnership, developed in 2014, includes us sharing materials with Hangzhou Polytechnic and allows their ECE teachers to visit Unitec to observe our classes, benefitting both parties through shared knowledge and understanding of culture.

The two delegates, Kun Song and Wei He, attended classes in our Early Childhood Education (ECE) Bachelor programme and visited the Unitec Early Learning Centre, so they could observe the implementation of teaching practices. Both aspects of the experience gave them a valuable insight into our curriculum and pedagogy, which they found to be quite different to the Chinese approach to Early Childhood Education.

Unitec’s approach to teaching

Wei enjoyed the approach to teaching here and was impressed by the teachers’ respect for students.

“Instead of giving too many answers, teachers here will encourage students to think and express themselves more. Teachers often send feedback forms or use the Moodle platform to collect students’ thoughts about the class; such respect is not only conducive to the establishment of a good teacher-student relationship, but also conducive to teachers improving their teaching.”

“A Māori song or a piece of text is read before each class. The content is mostly about love and respect, cherishment and tolerance, cooperation and sharing. I believe that such a strong sense of ritual can exert an indelible influence on students’ hearts,” said Wei.

It was Kun’s first time observing an ECE programme outside of China, and she experienced huge differences between courses in the two countries.

“The courses at Unitec pay more attention to muliticulture, and to understanding and guiding the children. In China, there is a focus on children learning art skills including drawing, singing, and playing piano. Because of this, our ECE teaching students spend more time practicing their art skills than learning pedagogy or educational theories.”

“More time is spent at Unitec on research and academic writing too. I am in charge of the educational research methods course at Hangzhou and I find that the allocated one semester is really not enough for students to learn how to do research and to write an academic article,” Kun said.

Kun also appreciated the student-centred approach to teaching at Unitec.

“Teachers talk with students about the learning topic and support them to solve the problems together – the learning style includes group learning, discussing and sharing information and experiences between teachers and students. The learning atmosphere is free, warm, comfortable, equal,” she said.

Wei and Sun visiting the Unitec Early Learning Centre.

Children are empowered through play-based learning

Both teachers also saw a unique approach to teaching at the Unitec Early Learning Centre, noting that children are empowered to learn and grow through meaningful play-based learning opportunities in open and natural spaces.

Sun found that the play-based curriculum and lower student-teacher ratios were a contrast to the organised group activities that dominated the Chinese curriculum.

“For example, in China a child only has 40- 50 minutes each day to play with sand because of too many collective activities and too many kids in one kindergarten,” she said.

Wei reflected that in New Zealand we see opportunities for all kinds of daily activities to contribute to learning and development. Learning exists in many play activities, and teachers are there to support these opportunities.

“Teachers are observant, supportive and helpful. At the same time, New Zealand’s multiculturalism means it’s important that children live with friends from different countries and races from childhood. Love and respect became the key words in kindergartens or centres.” Wei said.

Strong bonds were formed with both the ECE teachers in our programme and the teachers at the Unitec Early Learning Centre.

A solid foundation for collaboration

Liang Luo, Unitec’s Chinese Partnerships Manager, said the visit enhanced the friendship between the two institutions, especially between the academic staff.

“The visit has laid a solid foundation to enhance our relationship with Hangzhou Polytechnic. It provided the Hangzhou teachers with a better understanding of Unitec’s teaching philosophy and pedagogy and will be helpful for future collaboration, including provision of an offshore teaching service.”

Liang also saw that our staff benefitted from the visit.

“Unitec staff had the opportunity to better understand the current status and development of ECE education in China, which will be helpful for the internationalisation of Unitec’s pedagogy and our understanding of the education background of international students.”

Wei’s final comments sum up what was a fruitful, positive visit.

“All the people I met helped me to better understand the people here and the cultural diversity of New Zealand, so as to better understand its education. From every New Zealander I met, I felt kindness and warmth. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Katie Bruffy, every teacher of ECE team and every staff member of Unitec who helped me. This experience in New Zealand is really unforgettable! Kia ora!”