PECERA (Hong Kong) Annual Meeting 2008 cum seminar on “How to be a Learning Community in ECE”.

PECERA (Hong Kong) has been playing the role as an international forum facilitating dialogue and exchange among local and international professionals working for the benefit of young children. The Annual Meeting 2008 was held on November 29, 2008 with about 200 participants of educators and parents in Hong Kong and the Asia-Pacific region.

Participants received a warm welcome address by Dr. Betty Chan, President of PECERA (Hong Kong). Dr. Won-young Rhee, President of PECERA (International), who came all the way from Korea to Hong Kong, was also invited onto the stage to give an address. Ms. Maria Lee, Vice-President and Treasurer of PECERA (Hong Kong), delivered an annual report of the work done in 2008 and a projection of the upcoming year.

Dr. Betty Chan presented the paper “How to be a Learning Community in Early Childhood Education”, which was the concerted efforts of a group of members and ECE professionals. It was contributed to the PECERA Annual Conference 2008 in Bangkok and was first presented there. The paper explored the concept of “learning community” by identifying the qualities of a learning organization and a learning individual, sharing a common vision and establishing a sense of belonging in the community. She believed that such a concept should be cultivated in the early childhood education. PECERA (Hong Kong) was privileged to have Dr. Thelma Harms, Research Professor Emerita of Frank Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills, as the guest speaker. She delivered an informative address on “Innovative Responses to the Challenge of Improving Early Childhood Education: Quality Rating and Improvement Systems”. She is known as the lead author of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (Revised edition), the field tested observation instruments designed to measure the quality of early care and education environments. The question-and-answer session with Dr. Thelma Harms was chaired by Prof. Albert Lee, PECERA (Hong Kong) Executive Committee Member and Director of Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The Annual Meeting 2008 was completed in the applause and the overwhelming responses of the participants.