Transnational Chinese teaching in children education has seen great success: the
Department of Child Care, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology,
has had outstanding achievements in its volunteer teaching in Indonesia over the past eight years.
The Department of Child Care, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, won financial support from the Academic Dreamweaver Project of the Ministry of Education this year. 9 Students, led by Prof. Shin-Yi Wei and His-Sheng Chen, went to Jakarta, Indonesia, and implemented their internship children's Chinese language teaching exchange in three overseas Chinese schools—Sekolah Pelangi Kasih School School, Badan Tzilong School, and Maitreyawira School (where Indonesian, English and Mandarin are spoken). Prof. Me-Yi Shen and Prof. Yi-Tian Zheng have had academia-industrial cooperation with Jinan Publishing House there, helping it produce children’s rhythm teaching materials in the native language of Taiwan. Ever since 2010, Prof. Mei-Fang Zhuo has been leading students to South Sumatra of ndonesia, doing their voluntary teaching work for Tzilong Elementary School. The voluntary work has lasted for eight years, with more than 15 teams dispatched, which is known as one of the earliest and the most aggressive expansion of Taiwanese overseas Chinese teaching.
【Director Shu-Yan Chang of the Indonesian delegation (fourth from right), Chairman Yi-Shin Lin of Indonesian southeastern alumni association (third from left), and the team of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology.】
【The team of the Department of Child Care, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, and teachers of Sekolah Pelangi Kasih School in Indonesia.】
As an experienced student in the internship, Bei-Jin Zhao said that she learned a lot in Indonesia during her internship there, not only great teaching experience but also the relationship she had with people in Indonesia. She hoped that in the future she could go back the beautiful place again. This year there were 9 students going to the schools in Indonesia for their internship; among them Shiao-Wen Chen actually comes from Malaysia, but she was still willing to participate at her own expense. These 9 students worked for their internship for a month, responsible for a curriculum that integrated together rhythm, picture storytelling, games, artistic creation, and Chinese teaching for children. In addition to attaching importance to English proficiency and teaching ability training, the department also required students to strengthen their basic Indonesian language. As for speaking Malaysian, Shiao-Wen served as a language teacher, assisting the training and helping other students to learn and work in the local language and from a cultural perspective.
【The team of the Department of Child Care, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, and teachers of Sekolah Pelangi Kasih School in Indonesia.】
【The team of the Department of Child Care, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, and teachers of Maitreyawira School in Indonesia.】
It is so touching that students who went there for their internship last year, having known that the younger students were to go to Indonesia, enthusiastically came to school to offer their valuable internship experience, telling the younger students of the culture and customs of Indonesia and the precautions they should do beforehand. They also offered their pocket money, purchasing teaching aids and asked the younger students to bring them to the Indonesian schools. According to Prof. Shin-Yi Wei and His-Sheng Chen, the principals and teachers of the local schools have always shown their hospitality toward our students serving for their internships there. After school, they would lead the students to understand the local customs. They are also very concerned about the development of those students after their return to Taiwan, asking about whether they were admitted to the official small teachers or became teachers in Singapore with a high-paying job compatible to their outstanding performances. During the internship period, Shu-Yan Chen, Head of the delegation in Indonesia and the Indonesian southeastern alumni association would come to visit the schools in person; she cared very much about the students and their internships and often came to cheer for them. The overseas interns not only accumulated their professional knowledge, broadened the horizon of their international perspective, but also established good friendship with local teachers and students.
【The team of the Department of Child Care, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, and teachers of Badan Tzilong Elementary School in Indonesia.】