Zhang Jin Yu's Reflection

At the end of the Project, I have gain deeper insight and awareness of the Early Childhood Issues regarding to Bilingualism.

Awareness of Early Childhood Issues

Throughout the Capstone Project, I have found out that Manpower and Collaboration are the issues faced in the Early Childhood sector. Manpower due to the lack of local Chinese teacher and collaboration as there is a lack of parental partnership.

These issues were found after conducting interviews and surveys with early childhood educators working in a particular center. In order to gain different insights and perspective about the topic of bilingualism, I conducted interview with the center principal. Before the interview I thought the lack of educators and resources would be the issue for the Early Childhood sector. However, during the process of it, I realised that there were no such concern in her center. Instead, it were the lack of local Chinese teacher and parent partnership. I need to change the focus of the questions asked to match with the needs of her center and this requires me to think of new questions on the spot. After the interview, I need to analyse the responses and find out the needs of the center. It was a difficult process as I need to get rid of all the assumptions I had. Throughout the interview I have learnt that there are many perspectives to an issue. Never assume any information as it will narrow our thinking. Also, I have learnt to be flexible and accommodate to changes quickly as I need to be fast and think of new questions that are relevant to her responses.

Next, based on the comments provided by the center principal, it provides us with a deeper understanding towards the issues as she told us about the visibility and sustainability of the recommendations we proposed. Through the comments provided by the principal, I have learnt that I need to consider many factors such as the cost, sustainability and creativity in order for the recommendations to work.

Personal Growth

Throughout this project, I have enhanced my Communication, Organisation and Problem solving skills.

At the start of the project, I have to discuss with various group to see which topic I like the most. We had to share our views on the issues and listen to other’s opinion. After the first lesson, I had decided to work on the topic of bilingualism as it interest me the most. Later on, I had to discuss my ideas with my group mates throughout this project. For example when we need to come up with interview and survey questions, sorting the responses to find the needs and coming up with possible recommendations. Through these discussions, I have learnt that by having an open mind and include, respect and take note of other’s opinions and views are important as their suggestions towards the topic might be better. Also, I have learnt to give in at times when other’s ideas seem more appropriate. By doing so it could eliminate possible arguments. Furthermore, I have practiced good listening skills by listening attentively to the principal during the interview and my peers during group discussions.

After the interview, I need to sort the responses in order to analyze the need of the center. I sorted the responses based on keywords into various tables. This enhances my organization skills as it is important for me to sort the responses out to find the main needs. Also, I need to organize my work schedule as I need to set aside time for my other assignments too. Most importantly I think my group did a great group by organizing and locating different job to everyone. This boosted our efficiency as everyone know what they are expected to do and we managed to finish our task ahead of time

I was able to enhance my problem solving skills as I got to think of various questions for both interviews and surveys. I need to think of questions on the spot that would allow me to find out the needs of the center. Also, I need to analyze and find the needs, group them and come up with a main need. For recommendations, I had to be creative and practical at the same time. I am required to think of recommendations that helps to resolve the needs. Throughout the process, I learnt to question myself various time to see if the recommendations are practical, visible and sustainable. When I am doing that, I tried to stand at the principal’s point of view. Not only that, I had to think of resources to make for the workshop. This allows me to think out of the box for fun activities that I could do during the workshop to entertain the parents.

This project requires a lot of effort and hard work. But it was definitely an enjoyable and memorable process as I got to work with a group of great peers and teacher that guided me through every process of this project. Thank you.