Early Childhood Chinese Immersion Forum 2019 in San Francisco

For those near San Francisco, this is a helpful workshop for administrators and teachers.

Saturday, March 30, 2019
888 Turk Street, San Francisco 94102

Early childhood is an especially critical time for language learning, giving even more urgency for Chinese immersion educators to access one another and the collective wisdom of practictioners in this exciting, developing field. In partnership with a fantastic group of peer schools (see Planning Committee listing), CAIS is hosting the second annual Early Childhood Chinese Immersion Forum (ECCIF) for educators in Chinese immersion preschool and kindergarten programs to network and learn from one another. The forum includes a keynote presentation by renowned language educator Shuhan Wang, breakout sessions led by conference participants, roundtable discussions, and networking opportunities. We are thrilled to gather early childhood educators to discuss topics and share best practices in Chinese immersion in these critical, formative years for students.

主讲人 Keynote Speaker:

      Shuhan Wang, Ph.D. 王周淑涵博士

PLAYful Learning, Purposeful Guidance

In recent years, Chinese immersion preschools have been multiplying throughout the United States, especially in northern California and metropolitan areas such as New York City and Washington, D.C.Many of these Chinese immersion programs have been fairly successful in adopting play-based, project-based, or inquiry-based methodologies, borrowing from Montessori, Reggio Emilio, Waldorf, International Baccalaureate’s PYP programming, and others. However, a big question that remains is how to position Chinese language in the curriculum and instruction, despite the obvious fact that Chinese language should be front and center in a Chinese immersion preschool. For example, to what extent should the Chinese language become one of the content areas to be taught directly, and to what extent should it be embedded and integrated within a comprehensive and engaging general instruction? Drawing on studies in early childhood development, bilingual and biliteracy development, and dual language/immersion education, Dr. Wang unpacks how children learn through PLAYfulness (P: Peers and Relationships; L: Languages and Literacies; A: Actions and Activities; and Y: Yes, I Can!), and how educators can accompany the children with purposeful and intentional guidance every step of the way.

Shuhan C. Wang, Ph.D. Shuhan C. Wang, Ph.D. (王周淑涵博士) is the President of ELEConsulting International, LLC and Project Director of the Chinese Early Language and Immersion Network (CELIN) at the Asia Society. Dr. Wang has held a variety of prominent positions in language education, including Deputy Director of the National Foreign Language Center (NFLC) at the University of Maryland and Co-Principal Investigator of the STARTALK Project. She was the Executive Director for Chinese Language Initiatives at the Asia Society and Education Associate for World Languages and International Education for the State of Delaware. Since 2012, she has been serving as an advisor to the Ministry of Education in Singapore on the Mother Tongue and Chinese Primary Curriculum Projects. Dr. Wang has published numerous journal articles, book chapters, and Chinese language textbooks for K-12 students. She is a widely sought-after speaker at conferences and workshops nationally and internationally. She received her PhD in Educational Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania.

For more information, please click here.