Dr Rebecca Digby delivers keynote speech at Japan’s Seitoku University
On 8 December, Vice Principal and Head of Learning, Teaching and Research Dr Rebecca Digby will deliver a keynote speech at the Seitoku University International Symposium in Chiba, Japan.
Seitoku University’s Matsudo campus will host the International Symposium to mark two milestones: the 60th anniversary of its junior college and the 35th anniversary of the university. The event will bring together early childhood students and local nursery educators to explore how global approaches to early childhood practices can be meaningfully connected with Japanese perspectives.
The theme of the symposium, Learning from Early Childhood Settings Around the World: The Norland Approach to Interacting with Children, will explore the future of early childhood education and how international practices could inform approaches in Japanese settings.
Dr Digby’s keynote speech, ‘Norland’s philosophy and practices in early childhood education: engaging with children’ will consider the importance of observation and understanding of children’s behaviour in early years settings.
Following the keynote, Dr Digby will join a panel discussion titled ‘How to engage with children and develop an observant eye.’ The panel will feature Tamao Kawanami, Principal of the Seitoku University Kindergarten, and Dr Kazue Koshikawa, Dean of the Graduate School of Teacher Education, and will be moderated by Professor Noriko Okumura, Department of Child Studies. The two speakers will respectively discuss the kindergarten’s approach to child observations and examples of this in practice, and key skills in observations that students studying early childhood should acquire.
The panel will address key questions on the mindset and approach practitioners need to develop effective observation skills in early childhood settings. They will explore how these skills vary across global childcare contexts and discuss ways in which international perspectives on early years education can be integrate with Japanese practices and approaches.
The symposium provides a valuable opportunity to showcase Norland’s pioneering ethos to an international audience and to foster collaboration and the exchange of ideas in early childhood education.
Norland recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Seitoku University, paving the way for deeper collaboration between the two institutions through student and faculty exchanges, shared academic resources, joint research initiatives, and a shared commitment to excellence in early childhood education.
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