On Sept. 9th, Celia Wade-Brown, Mayor of Wellington, the capital city ofNewZealand, led a delegation that included Nancy Bell, Chief Executive of Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand (ECNZ), and other personnel from both theWellingtonmunicipal government and ECNZ to visit XMU Kindergarten. They were warmly received by Ye Shiman, vice-President of XMU, Chan Fang, deputy head of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, Wu Aixian, deputy head of the Department for Assets and Logistics Affairs, and Chen Weixin, Headmaster of the kindergarten. Both sides had pleasant discussions on topics, such as early childhood educational ideas and practices and training of internationalized early childhood teachers.
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Vice-President Ye Shiman firstly expressed a hearty welcome to the guests from afar. He said that the relationship betweenXiamenandWellingtonwas long-standing, so was the friendly cooperation between XMU and Victoria University of Wellington. Our exchange today would no doubt provide more opportunities for students who are seeking international educational resources. After that, headmaster Chen Weixin briefed the guests on the kindergarten’s current development, history, educational philosophy and features of the courses.
Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said that the closeness of the educational ideas between the XMU Kindergarten and those inNew Zealandwas beyond their expectations. ECNZ Chief Executive Nancy Bell also expressed her appreciation of the educational philosophy of “advocating naturalness and respecting children” and the way courses are carried out for it pays full attention to the infants’ interest points. Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and Nancy Bell sincerely invited teachers of XMU Kindergarten to visit and train at ECNZ. The invitation was gladly accepted and vice-President also added that the future development of the XMU Kindergarten would definitely follow a path of internationalization.
After the meeting, the delegation also visited the Infants’ Activity Room, the swimming pool and the newly landscaped slope in the kindergarten and had met with the preschoolers.
Wellington is the capital city ofNewZealandand the political and economic center of the country. Located in the middle ofNew Zealandand built up on low hills, the capital borders on theWellingtonHarborand facesCook Strait.Xiamenbegan friendly exchange withWellingtonin 1986 and they officially became sister cities on June 23rd, 1987. Over the past 28 years, the two cities have carried out effective and fruitful exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, education, culture, arts, health care, sports, gardens and so on. Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand is a specialized college for the training of early childhood teachers. It is qualified to confer early childhood education diplomas accredited by the New Zealand Teacher’s Council.
