H. C. Andersen International Kindergarten College
’Talk with Children not to children’ rephrases the spirit of Danish fairytale author Hans Christian Andersen and is the core philosophy of the H. C. Andersen International Kindergarten College (AIKC). If you want to create an exciting life for children, youth and adults and if youwant to make a difference in the lives of others with deep respect for all cultures, generations, gender and nationalities then you are welcome at the AIKC?
The aim of the AIKC is to create a learning environment where creativity and fundamental respect for the child is in focus. The college intends to become a leading intellectual and learning institution in China with an international profile but at the same time embedded in the local context of Ganzu province, PRC. It is the outcome of a research and knowledge-based collaboration between Danish and Chinese specialists in pedagogics and child-based innovation and social change and is highly inspired by a combination of the ideal that day-care should be considered as places where children can participate on their own terms in the creation of child life and children can play indoors and outdoors games. It is the general objective to provide specialist education for pre-school teachers (pedagogues or kindergarten teachers) which enable them to contribute to, support and create, in co-operation with the parents, a framework which favors the development, well-being, and independence of children. These measures must ensure children have a normal day that at the same time give them security and challenges, and where close links with kindergarten teachers can develop. Social skills, creativity and cultural norms are the basic features of this learning philosophy and they are combined with the readings of fairy tales with children.
Structure
AIKC offers a three-year degree Bachelor program specializing to graduate as kindergarten teacher who exercise and develop professional development, pedagogic and care tasks with and for the benefit of the people who are part of the children’s context. The definition of the kindergarten teacher is based on creating the best possible conditions and opportunities for the people they work with in a societal perspective.
The kindergarten teacher program is organized so that students continue to develop relevant professional competencies targeting the profession. The trained kindergarten teacher is able to exercise, explore and develop work with children at an explicit disciplinary basis. They are both able to master the challenging and important social relationships with children and parents in a diversity of social contexts and can simultaneously analyze, assess, document and develop pedagogical practices, based on professional knowledge about children’s life.
The kindergarten teacher acquire knowledge about social relations, creativity, aesthetic, practical and physical activities. They acquire not only knowledge but also skills and mastery of these activities in the program. The three-year program is divided into modules covering theoretical and practical knowledge including a six-month internship in Danish Kindergartens and Kindergarten colleges.
The modules cover a whole range of topics such as: pedagogical theory and philosophies about childhood; gender, sexuality and diversity; identity, individuality and community; citizenship, knowledge and ethics; didactics and personal formation; relations, communication and collaboration; creative arts (music, painting, dancing, ICT); indoors and outdoors activities, games and children’s playing; telling fairy tales, nature and the environment.
Problem-based Learning
The main instrument of learning at AIKC is Problem-Based Learning (PBL) which is a pedagogical approach and curriculum design methodology often used in higher education. The defining characteristics of PBL: Learning is driven by challenging, open-ended problems with no one “right” answer; Problems/cases are context specific; Students work as self-directed, active investigators and problem-solvers in small collaborative groups (typically of about two to five students); A key problem is identified and a solution is agreed upon and implemented in written project form; Teachers adopt the role as facilitators of learning, guiding the learning process and promoting an environment of inquiry. PBL as a learning as a strategy develops critical thinking and creative skills; improves problem-solving skills; increases motivation; helps students learn to transfer knowledge to new situations.
Welcome at AIKC
We welcome all students from different backgrounds, gender, sex and nationality. AIKC is an international college and teaching will partly be conducted in Chinese and English. There will be special classes for learning both Chinese and English language as well as a whole variety of extra-curricular activities including interesting invited lecturers from all over China and abroad.
Graduates from AIKC will typically get jobs in kindergartens and other pre-school institutions but others may find employment at nurseries; municipal day care; integrated institutions; pre-school classes; social educational facilities and youth pensions; schools;
School leisure arrangements; leisure and youth clubs; practical , educational support at home; residential institutions; institutions and offers for mentally handicapped and disabled; alcohol and drug treatment centers; prostitution rehabilitation centers; reception centers and shelters; blind and deaf institutions; refugee and immigration; elderly care; prisons; children, youth and adult psychiatry.
