"The family is the child’s first classroom." General Secretary Xi Jinping, leader of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government, pays great attention to the role of family in education throughout his governance, and in order to implement his thinking, help foster virtue through education, broaden the horizon of the Preschool Education major, and ensure the quality of its resources, from 20 October to 8 November 2021, the Faculty of Education of the Open University of China (OUC), together with its Learning Resources Department, offered a series of public lectures on family education titled “Lectures by Experts and Famous Teachers on Preschool Education”.

 Four top experts on family education - Professors Chen Huichang and Qian Zhiliang of Beijing Normal University, Professor Kang Liying of Capital Normal University, and Professor Li Yan of Shanghai Normal University - were invited to speak.

They analysed current issues in family education, and offered parents guidance in terms of home schooling.

The lecture by Professor Chen Huichang focused on education of character and training in social skills in early childhood. He defined character, and discussed three potentials of children - self-control, active emotions, and stimulation of feelings - along with the importance of being able to “walk in someone else’s shoes” as the basis of moral and social education.

Professor Kang Liying discussed how parents can understand their children, with a focus on the difficulties of "problematic children". She presented multiple perspectives on child development, discussed the challenges of growing in conjunction with one’s child, and argued that excellence is created via education.

In her lecture, "Effective Family Interaction", Professor Li Yan discussed the nature of the family with a focus on its functions, including problem-solving, communications, division of labour, emotional engagement, control of behaviour, and so on. She also explained the principles of establishing effective family interaction and relationships.

In his lecture "Understand Life, Accept Children", Professor Qian Zhiliang discussed why we should learn to understand life, helping students uncover its secrets via concepts such as contingency, purpose, flexibility, continuity, inheritance, and imitation.

The lectures, offered simultaneously on several platforms, attracted 77,176 viewers, and introduced the newest resources and research in the field of preschool education while also providing families guidance on how to navigate the new laws regulating off-campus tutoring, and expanding the influence of the Preschool Education major.

By Wang Haiping, OUC