Early Childhood Chinese Immersion Forum 2021

ECCIF 2021

Saturday, March 20, 2021
Virtual Forum with Synchronous and Asynchronous Sessions via Zoom (Link to be provided to all registrants)

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 fourth 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 Cow Hollow School Executive Director Darcy Campbell, along with a plenary panel, breakout sessions led by conference participants, roundtable discussions, and networking opportunities.

We are thrilled to gather early childhood educators online to discuss topics and share best practices in Chinese immersion in these critical, formative years for students.

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主讲人 Keynote Speaker - Darcy Campbell

Purpose Not Platform: Inspired Teaching Through Changes and Challenges

The beginning of this school year feels like a lifetime ago! But the difficulty and triumph of this year is not lost on any of us. We have so much to be proud of! We stayed safe and healthy. We learned to teach with dignity and beauty, with restrictions and regulations, together, but physically distanced. We fell in love, once again, with the brilliance of children and with the children themselves. Although our platform, virtual, to reality and back, threatened our inquiry, our methods, our calm reserves, it could never take away our purpose. We are teachers, learners, researchers and essential to the lives of children. Not even a pandemic can take away the integrity of our teaching! I am delighted to join you in an hour of reflection, strategies and celebration as we move through changes and challenges of our time with hope and purpose.

Darcy Campbell is a mother, teacher, leadership coach, educator and early childhood advocate. As a coach, Darcy works with educators, schools, and parents to remove fear and fantasy from their practices and instead raise and teach children with respect and dignity. As the Executive Director of Cow Hollow School since 2002, Darcy has over 30 years of experience working with teachers, families and children in the Bay Area and around the world. To empower teachers with tools and skills to teach from values, Darcy teaches early childhood and elementary education courses at San Francisco State University. She is a strong advocate for children and specializes in reflective, responsive, collaborative teaching and parenting practices.

Plenary Panel:

CELIN Plenary Panel

An Overview of an Emerging Field and a Report on National Survey Results

This session consists of two parts. First, presenters will talk about the importance of early childhood education and how oral language development during this period is critical for laying children’s foundation for literacy development in later years. They will discuss how incorporating Chinese language learning and instruction brings added benefits for early childhood development, and introduce some current initiatives that aim at promoting and expanding the Chinese preschool language and immersion field. The second part of the presentation reports on the results of two national surveys conducted by CELIN researchers: one on Chinese language immersion programs and the other on teachers and staff who teach in these programs. In addition to sharing survey results, presenters will discuss implications of the findings for the field. Together, the presenters will engage in discussion with the audience about the points made in the presentations and seek their suggestions for ways to move the field forward.

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Schedule Overview

Here is a general overview of the day-long forum.

8:30-9:30	Opening, Keynote & Q&A: Darcy Campbell
9:30-10:00	Coffee Talk and Networking
10:00-11:00	Plenary Panel
11:10-11:40	Round table
11:45-12:30 p.m.	Breakout Session