Should literacy education be provided in kindergartens?

Whether kindergartens should carry out literacy education is a hot and difficult issue plaguing the industry. Parents are worried that their children will fall behind and not be able to adapt to primary school. Kindergarten teachers are worried that \”primary schoolization\” will reverse the trend and be detrimental to the healthy physical and mental development of children. Article 57 of the second review draft of the \”Preschool Education Law\” (Draft) clearly states: Kindergartens and primary schools should connect and cooperate with each other to jointly help children prepare for and adapt to school. Kindergartens are not allowed to adopt primary education methods and are not allowed to teach primary school courses. Experts in the industry have their own thoughts on the connection between kindergarten and primary school: to prevent the use of primary school education methods and not to teach primary school courses, it is first necessary to clarify what the primary school education method is. If an education method suitable for the physical and mental development of children is adopted, to guide children Is it enough to be literate? Where are the boundaries of this teaching method? How do preschool teachers grasp this? The following is a detailed analysis of this issue by Zhu Jiaxiong, an expert on preschool education in my country. How to treat the rationality and rules of children\’s literacy. Before Chen Heqin\’s son Chen Yiming passed away, Zhu Jiaxiong rushed to visit him. Chen Yiming, who had some difficulty speaking, held Zhu Jiaxiong\’s hand tightly and said a few words that Zhu Jiaxiong would never forget: \”Some scholars My father sees him as the disseminator and implementer of Dewey\’s thoughts in China, but this is wrong. The \”teleology\” of \”living education\” is to be a human being, to be a Chinese, and to be a modern Chinese. This is the core of Chen Heqin\’s thought! \”The concern and thinking about culture are also deeply imprinted in Zhu Jiaxiong\’s research. He used \”fish and water\” to metaphor the relationship between kindergarten education and culture. In the process of communicating with international academic circles and delivering keynote speeches at international conferences, this sense of cultural recognition has been repeatedly enhanced, which also laid the foundation for his thinking in examining early childhood education. \”Educator\”: The emphasis on culture can be said to be a hidden thread running through the two works. Why choose to look at the rationality and rules of children\’s literacy from the perspective of cultural development? Zhu Jiaxiong: After finishing the draft of \”Children\’s Literacy and Early Reading\”, I met Ms. Chen Qing, the granddaughter of Mr. Chen Heqin, at an exchange meeting. She told me that Mr. Chen also advocated that young children should be literate, and the next day, Chen Qing, the granddaughter of Mr. Chen Heqin, also advocated that young children should be literate. The article \”Should Kindergarten Provide Literacy Education\” written by my husband was sent to me. I read it carefully with reverence and found that Mr. Chen\’s views on young children\’s literacy were almost completely consistent with the views in my book. I had to admire his foresight, academic style and integrity from the bottom of my heart. The reason why I pay attention to this issue is because some places use the presence of Chinese characters in kindergarten environments as a criterion for checking and evaluating whether kindergartens are qualified or not, which surprised me. Why has the implementation of the policy reached this point? It is definitely not possible to stop eating because of choking. So in the process of argumentation, I mobilized all aspects of my knowledge reserves to explore the anthropology, linguistics, pedagogy, ecology, etc. behind Chinese characters, to examine the relationship between Chinese characters and culture, and the relationship between Chinese characters and children\’s learning patterns. Calligraphy and painting have the same origin. It is actually not difficult for young children to understand words. It is not an obstacle in the eyes of adults, but they are very willing to do so. From the perspective of the country’s need for talents, top innovative talentsThe cultivation of children also depends on early language education, which is the foundation of creativity and other qualities. Especially for disadvantaged groups who lack educational resources, they must start from early education. The feedback this book has generated is beyond my imagination, and I am also afraid that it will be used as an excuse by some people to carry out literacy education in an inappropriate way. Literacy for young children is a \”double-edged sword\”. If done well, children will benefit from it for life, but if done well, children will be affected or even harmed. Therefore, we should be clear about what is mainstream and what is secondary, and we should not use \”one size fits all\” when implementing policies. Create conditions to allow children to learn to naturally transition from pictures to words. \”Educator\”: For children\’s literacy and early reading, how to play the role of culture so that their learning can have better results? Zhu Jiaxiong: All roads lead to Rome. I can only provide a few thoughts from a common perspective. First, children’s learning is driven by internal factors. Mr. Chen Heqin pointed out that 4-year-old children have a strong desire to be literate. I also clarified in the book that the development and evolution of words have internal and external causes. The internal cause is human genetic genes, which have the internal driving force and mechanism to naturally express and express original graphics; the external cause is the long-term evolution and development process of human beings. Various experiences gained. After children express their own genes, they begin to absorb external things to change their self-expression. From a biological point of view, children have a strong motivation to become literate. Second, the text comes from the painting. Nowadays, many early readings have turned into looking at pictures and talking, which is wrong. Conditions should be created to make children\’s learning naturally transition from pictures to words. Learning words and learning pictures are actually the same thing. Third, do not force children to learn literacy, and do not have clear literacy goals, such as how many words to read and what words they must know. Preschool literacy is informal learning, which is different from primary school literacy in terms of purpose, content, methods and approaches. This is also the understanding of the connotation of \”primary schoolization\”. As long as adults actively provide environmental stimulation, children\’s interest in literacy can be stimulated, and children will be very happy. 4 years old to 6 and a half years old is the sensitive period for children\’s literacy. \”Educator\”: You also emphasize the importance of literacy and early reading from the perspective of bridging childhood. Talking about the poor connection between kindergarten and primary school, some people attribute the \”reason for unsuccessful education\” to the \”jump start\” in the transition stage from kindergarten to primary school. What do you think about this? Zhu Jiaxiong: Many romantic educational thoughts have always had this assumption: children have fun and will be successful in the future; children do not learn anything when they are young, but they can learn everything when they grow up. But that\’s not the case. Someone once asked me, after studying education for so many years, what do I really believe? My only answer is to do the right thing at the right time. What is the right time? Psychology calls this a \”sensitive period.\” The sensitive period for children\’s language sense is 3 years old, the sensitive period for literacy is 4 years old to 6 and a half years old, and the sensitive period for reading is also similar. If you miss the sensitive period, you will not be able to do it again, and many things will become half the result with twice the effort. Therefore, some parents of primary school students invest a lot of energy and money in tutoring their homework, and both parents and children are exhausted physically and mentally. The current learning burden between kindergarten and primary school is too heavy because the teaching content that should have been set up in the early childhood stage has been cancelled. The connection between childhood and childhood is not just a matter of habit;What is more important is learning literacy and ability reserves, such as the ability to quickly extract information from symbol systems. The reason why preschool education is important is that many of the most effective learning critical periods occur at this stage. Many current studies have proven that Piaget\’s theory has shortcomings. Young children can learn more than we imagine. This is the trend of educational development. In particular, as \”aboriginals\” of the Internet age, young children are exposed to information that is completely different from the stimulation in closed environments in the past, and can show their individual advantages earlier. It is necessary to seize the sensitive period and stimulate the potential of young children. \”Educator\”: Nowadays, in the practice of traditional culture entering campuses, some dross content that is not suitable for young children is also entering campuses. What should the inheritance of culture look like in kindergartens? Zhu Jiaxiong: Everything has two sides, especially when there are no standards. Culture is first of all a macro issue and the bloodline of our inheritance. My focus on culture has never stopped since 1995 until today. The international seminars I organized at the time focused on two themes, one is China’s excellent traditional culture, and the other is STEM education. From a cultural perspective, literacy itself is the inheritance of excellent culture, and Chinese civilization is marked by the invention of Chinese characters. The spirit of collectivism is the main value of Chinese culture. The cancellation of collective teaching activities and collective gymnastics in kindergartens is a manifestation of disrespect and failure to understand the connotation of the collective spirit. Just because the emphasis on free play does not mean that children must make their own choices in everything. In terms of etiquette, China puts moral education first, pays attention to rules, and cultivates good character. However, over-emphasis on some formal etiquette and doing it every day is going to extremes. Feelings should be the main thing, and it should be done in moderation and not excessive.