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15/06/2016

The Closing workshop of the Action research on Child observation was held on Jun 9, 2016 in Da Nang. 

The closing workshop was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Training, representatives of the Departments of Education and Training as well as school leaders and teachers who were directly involved in the action research. The workshop also welcomed Mr. Geert Vansintjan - Deputy Ambassador of Belgium in Vietnam.

From December 2015 to May 2016, VVOB Vietnam and the Departments of Education and Training from Thai Nguyen and Quang Nam provinces conducted an Action research on process-based child observation with the participation of 5 staff from the Departments (provincial level) and Bureaus (district level) of Education and training, 48 school leaders and teachers, 8 lecturers from Teacher Training Institutes and 519 children from 8 different kindergartens.

The first step in the action research has been to train teachers in order to enhance their child observation skills. From there, teachers started observing levels of involvement and well-being with individual children in their class. They identified barriers to children’s participation and learning and selected suitable action points out of 10 action points introduced by VVOB to mitigate for these barriers. This cycle of observation, identification of barriers, and taking actions, was undertaken twice during the period January to May 2016.

At the workshop, VVOB Vietnam together with the schools involved presented the research findings.

The quantitative and qualitative data obtained from the action research demonstrated a significant increase of wellbeing and involvement levels with many preschool children, even within the short time frame of one semester. Positive changes could be traced among all groups of children irrespective of their gender or ethnic background and the type of school they attended (main or satellite school). Levels however varied from group to group.

Moreover, the results from the action research have shown a positive contribution from the action research to teachers’ skills in child observation, reflective teaching, and the development and implementation of action plans to increase children’s well-being and involvement.

Key to this process has been the enthusiastic support from the Departments and Bureaus of Education and Training who supported teachers to become confident and willing to pilot new ideas.

By participating in the research, teachers have improved their knowledge and skills on child observation. Important is that they now have interventions aiming at individual children’s development to ensure that no child is left behind
Madam. Nguyen Thuy Hong - Deputy Director of Department of Teachers and Educational Administrators, MOET

The action research has been a pilot research of VVOB Vietnam. The experience and lessons gained from this pilot are most valuable for the future cooperation of VVOB Vietnam with the Vietnamese Ministry of Education regarding the child observation approach.