Dear members of the PIEP learning community:
Hey there, Happy New Year! I hope you all had a joyful and fulfilling Spring Festival holiday and are ready to embrace the new semester in the Year of the Dragon with renewed spirits.
Those who have been following PIEP closely may have noticed that the recent themes of the letters from the principal have been related to the "Future." Why do I attach such importance to this topic's impact on the education industry?
Quoting the famous educator, philosopher, and psychologist John Dewey, "Using yesterday's methods to educate today's children will make them lose tomorrow." As the ever-evolving wave of technology approaches, artificial intelligence possesses increasingly powerful learning abilities.
We are facing a transformational era similar to when cars replaced horse-drawn carriages during the Industrial Age. The recent release of the OpenAI company's text-to-video model Sora has already caused quite a stir and is expected to influence the development of multiple industries such as advertising, film, gaming, and education in the future. However, we must be clear that while cars replaced horses, carriage drivers could learn to drive and transition to become drivers; In the information age, those responsible for "realizing imagination" may be replaced, but those responsible for "imagining" become even more important.
In the era of artificial intelligence, nurturing children's curiosity and innovation has become more important than ever. In this age, mere mastery of knowledge and skills is no longer sufficient, as these things may quickly become outdated. Instead, curiosity about the unknown world and an innovative spirit for problem-solving will become crucial abilities for children to face future challenges.
Curiosity is the driving force behind children's exploration of the world. It can stimulate their interest in things, prompt them to ask questions, seek answers, and courageously try new things. In the era of artificial intelligence, the rapid pace of technological development means that children will face various novel challenges and opportunities. Only with a strong sense of curiosity can they continue to learn and adapt to new environments.
The development of artificial intelligence has begun to change traditional work patterns and industry landscapes. The demand for innovation and creativity is also growing, and nurturing children's innovative spirit means teaching them to continuously try new methods, think new thoughts, and bravely face failure and challenges.
When our children ask, "Why is the sky blue?" we shouldn't rush to give them the answer directly. Instead, we can look up information with them, conduct experiments, and explore the answers to questions together. When we play with sand with our children and they want to build a tall sandcastle, we shouldn't rush to help them build it directly. Instead, we can first analyze with them what tools we have on hand that can be used to build a sandcastle and how to use these tools to make the sandcastle taller and more sturdy.
Through inquiry-based learning, practical activities, and teamwork, we can inspire children's creativity and their ability to solve practical problems. This has always been the goal of early childhood education at PIEP. The key abilities we help children develop will be lifelong "hard currency" that enables them to confidently face the challenges of the ever-changing era.
Professor Rosalind W. Picard, President of the International AI Education Society, once divided human intelligence into two categories: "intellectual factors," which artificial intelligence excels at, such as language learning, memory, and computational processing, and "non-intellectual factors," which humans excel at, such as interpersonal communication, self-awareness, emotional control, and much more.
This means that in the world of artificial intelligence, abilities related to interpersonal communication, interaction, emotions, empathy, self-awareness, and other abilities unique to humans will become increasingly valuable. They are also the focus of education today.
PIEP is a warm family where love can be found everywhere. We insist on creating a vibrant campus environment, making every corner of the campus beautiful. We have a group of professional, enthusiastic teachers who treat children as friends, creating countless moments of seeing love, touching love, and having love at PIEP. In the embrace of love, we help children develop healthy personalities and bring positive influences to those around them.
In the past, some children had to move to other cities or countries due to their parents' job transfers. We still often receive messages from parents saying their children miss PIEP very much, miss the campus, teachers, and classmates here, and even students who graduated several years ago often say they want to go back to kindergarten. Children's feelings and states are the best feedback for teachers.
Emotions are the most important support for children's learning. The process of children's growth is like building a house. If creativity, inner drive, creative thinking, and other abilities are indispensable bricks and tiles for building a house, then a healthy personality and a heart full of love will be the solid foundation for supporting the house to rise from level ground. It will lay a solid foundation for children's future learning and life, enabling them to grow and develop confidently and independently in a globalized world.
As children gradually grow, they not only require emotional fulfillment but also human tendencies and sensitive periods drive them to develop various human skills. They can explore their genuine interests in the vast and colorful world from there. Children can invest their creativity and initiative into these interests, reaping the expected results and fostering confidence and courage. This becomes a crucial source of positive human emotions — spiritual richness.
Optimism, confidence, commitment... These are all sources and outcomes of children's happiness, and these factors are closely linked to children's success. Equipped with these invaluable qualities, children can forge ahead in adversity and maintain an optimistic outlook in prosperity, making them more likely to succeed in their respective fields.
As guardians of children's growth, we are responsible for providing them with a safe environment filled with love. However, how they explore the world is their freedom. I hope that the parents at PIEP can become "relaxed" parents, learning to let go and maintain an optimistic mindset. By fostering a tranquil, pleasant, and relaxed family atmosphere, filled with abundant love and acceptance for the children, they can grow up in an environment that allows them to be relaxed, expansive, and free to explore themselves. By delving into the depths of their interests, they can acquire spiritual fulfillment and broaden the width of happiness in life.
Education begins at home, extends to school, extends to society, and achieves itself. In the new semester, I hope that the members of the PIEP learning community can lay a solid foundation for their future:
Every child ignites their inner interests, love, and desire to explore the world, and grows vigorously in love;
Every teacher who works diligently on the job can adhere to lifelong learning and pass on the power of education to more children through self-growth and improvement;
Every parent integrates into the big family of PIEP, becomes an integral whole, becomes a learning parent, follows the footsteps of children with an open and inclusive attitude, and learns and grows together.
Yummy Fan
February 27, 2024
