In March 2011, I attended the Sino-Japan-US cultural exchange activities held in Hawaii together with my colleagues upon the invitation of Japan International Cultural Exchange Association. The following activities were organized, including an ICFA international youth exchange held in University of Hawaii, a visit to the Japan America Society Hawaii Chapter, and a discussion on the reinforcement of cultural exchange between the two countries, etc. In particular, the visit to the kindergarten of Saint Theresa School left a deep impression on me. Within a few days' stay, we not only enjoyed the unique local culture of Hawaii, but also had a general knowledge to the characteristics and philosophy of early childhood education in Hawaii.

　　I am a frontline teacher in the cause of early childhood education, and I would like to share some of my views on the kindergarten education after my visit to the kindergarten of Saint Theresa School, and I hope my dear fellows would think about it.

　　I. Overview of the kindergarten of Saint Theresa School

　　Saint Theresa School is a private school administered by the church and the students from its kindergarten to high school total over 400. Due to Hawaii’s unique geographical culture, students of Asian and Pacific ethnicity account for 97% of the total, and it is very competitive in baseball，and chorus, etc. The school is evaluated as 4-star school (the best is 5-star) by the local community.

　　Saint Theresa School has a beautiful environment (anyway, every place in Hawaii is beautiful) and enjoys a high reputation, but it is specially set up for children from middle- and low-income families. There are only two preschool classes, or preparatory classes for the primary school in a strict sense, in the school. The average number of students in a class of an American kindergarten is 16, and each class in Saint Theresa School has 19 students, exceeding the local average. However, this number is still much smaller than the average number in China.

　　In Hawaii, the adults spend a relatively short time in working and students in learning. The adults go off duty at 3:00pm and students are out of school at around 3:00pm. The class time for preschool students of Saint Theresa School is 8:30am-3:00pm. As it is a church school, all teachers and students would attend church every morning before holding flag-raising ceremony and beginning classes.

　　II. Cultural exchange activities of Saint Theresa School

　　We watched the teaching activities of the two kindergarten classes and also introduced traditional Chinese culture to the children through games as volunteers.

　　As we remember, many schools in Hawaii have no walls and are integrated with the local neighborhoods or parks, which makes people feel that they are living in schools. Saint Theresa School is one of such schools. We drove our car uphill to the school and there were trees and birds all the way to the school. The school had no door in a traditional sense or doorman (I don’t know if there is doorman in Hawaii) and we directly entered into the campus while the students were attending church. Around 15 minutes later, all students walked out of the church and attended the flag-raising ceremony on the playground. Everybody was doing his or her own stuff and no teachers or students came to welcome us as if we did not exist. Their calmness and easiness actually made us feel uneasy.

　　It is said that America is a free and open country. I had thought so as well before going to Hawaii, but as I saw their flag-raising ceremony, I realized that freedom and rules were existing side by side. When the national anthem was played, all students and teachers promptly faced the flag and stood at attention no matter what they were doing a second ago. An American teacher said to us later:“Our country stresses patriotism education which can be found in every part of the life.”This flag-raising ceremony allowed me to have a better understanding of what the teacher said.

　　Finally a teacher waved to us after the flag-raising ceremony ended and said to us:“Come with me.”That was when we were about to doubt if we had come to the right school.

　　The teacher led us to a row of old houses and said: "We have two classes, and you can choose either one to start with. The students of my class are having their outdoor activities right now, which is very important for them and may take 20 minutes. So you can either wait here for 20 minutes or visit the other one first.”Once again I saw the coexistence of freedom and rules there. We could look around the school freely but the schedule of class times allowed no changes. If a similar visit is paid to a school in China, the teachers and students would all make elaborate preparation. This shows the cultural difference between the two countries clearly.

　　The American teachers organized two team activities with our presence:“Making of Photo Frames”and“Understanding of Clocks”. The classroom environment was casual and relaxed and it would definitely not meet the standards for a demonstration class of team activities in China; however, the students were also bound by classroom rules and therefore they learned systematically in a relaxed and pleasant environment. This was another example of the coexistence of freedom and rules in American education.

　　Then we, as three kindergarten teachers, gave the children a lesson on Chinese culture for which we had made preparation beforehand and taught them Kung Fu exercise and popular games in China as well. The children were anticipating our presence. We taught the simple moves of Kung Fu exercise to the children corresponding to the music. We let them touch the traditional Chinese clothes made of silk. And we played a popular game in China—“hiding the handkerchief”—with them. We only had 30 minutes to interact with them, but their curiosity and reluctance to part with us moved us all.

　　III. Thoughts on the cultural exchange activities

　　The cultural exchange activities were conducted smoothly. We introduced Kung Fu and traditional Chinese games to the children in Saint Theresa School and we interacted with the children and dined with them. The children learned more about China and felt the friendliness of Chinese people. We also gained a lot from the visit to the school.

　　Freedom and Rules

　　The thing that left the deepest impression on me during my stay in Saint Theresa School was the coexistence of freedom and rules. During the flag-raising ceremony, I saw the coexistence of children’s freedom of activity and the patriotism education given to children. When we looked around the school, I felt the coexistence of cultural exchange freedom and the unchangeable schedule of class times. When we saw the team activities in the classroom, I saw the coexistence of children’s freedom of learning activity and rules that they cannot disturb others.

　　Another example was the children’s behavior in class. The classroom rules were not as rigid as in China. The children mostly seemed relaxed and had many body languages in class. Teachers did not require the children to keep sitting upright and facing the teacher. Even when some children climbed onto the desk, the teachers only reminded them to find themselves a comfortable posture rather than shouting at them and asking them to stop.

　　However, there were also rules in this seemingly free environment. When children played on the playground at break, some children were doing Kung Fu moves. When the teacher saw two of them might fight with each other, she would sternly tell them to stop.

　　So it can be seen that the American school has rules, and its cultural values are the basis of judging how much freedom to give and how many rules to impose on. Although the students are children, they also have freedom to fully enjoy the human rights. And American education stresses the development of personality rather than applying the same rigid rules for all students.

　　Spontaneity and Fairness

　　When we were in the demonstration class, we saw the following case: The teacher took out a pile of colored cards, told the children what they would do next with these cards, and then asked the children to choose their favorite colors. The last four children all wanted to have pink cards, but there were only 3 pink cards left. Among the four children one was a boy, so the others tried to persuade him to not to choose pink. However, the teacher said calmly:“Every person has his favorite color and color has nothing to do with gender.”Then she asked the four kids to play the rock-paper-scissors game to decide who should have the pink cards. No matter they won or lost the game, they all accepted the results willingly because it was fair.

　　Everyone has the right to decide whether to choose and which to choose and should not be forced to choose. Everyone has a right to do what he/she likes. Everyone has an opportunity, which represents fairness. It reminds me of a similar case in the international schools of Shanghai. Upon festivals, the international schools will organize a variety of activities including talent show given by teachers and performance given by students. Everyone can participate in the talent show and performance and there will not be comparison and appraisal. As long as the performer is devoted to the show and performance, he/she will be applauded and given flowers. So I realize that spontaneity should be encouraged and fairness should be stressed in education. We should not train all of our students to behave the same way and say the same thing. We should let the children learn to be themselves as children, know the beauty in life, and have their own independent thoughts. This is another inspiration of mine.

　　Service and Teamwork

　　I saw the sense of service and teamwork everywhere in Saint Theresa School. I will give a couple of examples recorded by myself simply: A bug was blown inside from the window and a boy nipped the bug bravely with tissue paper and threw it out of the classroom. The teacher asked all the children in class to join him in a round of applause for the boy’s bravery and service for others.

　　During the outdoor activities, the school assigned the upper-class students to organize preschool students to participate in sports activities and learn some activities requiring teamwork which the preschool students could participate in during the school’s sports meet.

　　During the lunchtime, the upper-class students also provided service for lower-class students, serving lunch for them, which was to develop the children’s teamwork ability, sense of service and sense of collective honor.

　　I believe that the teacher is more of a facilitator of learning than of a deliverer of knowledge and culture. Han Yu (a precursor of Neo-Confucianism as well as an essayist and poet during the Tang Dynasty) said:“The teacher is one who could propagate the doctrine, impart professional knowledge, and resolve doubts.”In his opinion, the propagation of doctrine comes first. I agree with him and I believe the ultimate goal of education is to develop the national spirit. As to education, we should not only see the big picture but also work on the details. The preschool education is especially important. An old Chinese saying goes:“You can foresee the future of a three-year-old child based on his/her personality and behavior.”The school and family, i.e. the teachers and parents of children, should really think about it. Also, the development of teamwork spirit and the sense of service should be integrated into our education. Enterprises and public institutions make increasingly more effort nowadays in the development of the teamwork spirit and sense of service of their employees, so do schools for higher-year students, and enterprises and public institutions even organize outward bound training activities to improve their teams’solidarity and vitality. But after the trip to Hawaii, I realize that the teamwork spirit and sense of service should be inculcated in children from an early age.

　　Jean-Jacques Rousseau said:“Culture is the sum of a society’s living habits”. We have seen the unique role that cultural exchange plays in the blend of young people from different countries, and culture is imperceptibly influencing the social development.

　　We only had a short stay in Hawaii, but when we left Hawaii reluctantly, the American way of teaching small children as well as the fresh sea wind and romantic beach of Hawaii were already imprinted on our mind. Come to have a deep breathing in Hawaii and be free as the romantic sea wind here!

　　Chen Qi

　　The CWI Nursery