During a virtual workshop organized by Khalifa International Award for Early Learning field:
“Khalifa International Award for Early Learning”: The family and school have a vital role in building the child’s cognitive content
Amal Al-Afeefi: Our mission is to achieve a qualitative shift in the education system and early childhood care
Stephen Barnett: Comprehensive care for early childhood in the social, mental, intellectual and creative aspects
Abu Dhabi: Friday, September 13, 2024
According to several professionals in the field of early childhood education, the process of teaching children to be conscious of what they read should start at a young age. This early exposure helps to shape their optimistic views of education as a continuous journey through life. The experts underscored during the workshop that early childhood education is a high-quality investment in producing a leadership generation that can adapt to changing times and look forward to what the future holds. The workshop also highlighted the significant role of families and schools in establishing these values in young children and expanding on them throughout their curriculum, empowering them with the responsibility of shaping the future generation.
The ‘Language and Reading in Early Childhood’ Excellence Workshop, hosted by the General Secretariat of the Khalifa Award for Education, was a transformative event held remotely and graced by a multitude of early education experts and specialists. Amal Al-Afeefi, Secretary-General of the Khalifa Award for Education, accentuated the potential of this workshop to revolutionize the field. The workshop’s mission is to illuminate the pivotal role of reading and language in shaping cognitive content in early childhood, a critical stage in a child’s life. In alignment with this, the Khalifa International Award for Early Learning aims to bolster the tradition of excellence and elevate the field of education through targeted research and policy initiatives that promise a paradigm shift in the way children are educated and nurtured.Al-Afeefi highlighted that the workshop served as a platform to expand awareness of the two categories proposed in this field: the research and studies category, and the programs, curricula, methodologies, and teaching methods category, inspiring hope for a brighter future in early childhood education.
For his part, Professor Stephen Barnett, Founding Director of the National Institute for Early Childhood Education Research at Rutgers University in the United States of America and Chairman of the Awarding Committee addressed the Khalifa International Award for Early Learning’s role in encouraging distinguished teachers, research centers and institutions to pay attention to early childhood in various social, mental, intellectual and creative aspects, which enhances the child’s ability to keep pace with the future.
Numerous Khalifa International Award for Early Learning winners attended the workshop, intending to share their knowledge and experiences with the academic community. Dr. Laura Justice of Ohio State University highlighted the need to enhance children’s early environmental abilities from a young age by using research-based techniques and the most effective means of raising children’s awareness. Dr. Catherine McBride of Purdue University emphasized the need to help parents learn to read at a young age. University College London’s Dr. Gillian West recently commented on the need to create and execute scientific programs that enhance cognition and character development in young children and the significance of language enrichment in the early years of life.