Jesus College News 2022
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Advancing Research in Early Childhood<br />
Education and Care<br />
Lydia L.S. Chan, (2005, DPhil) Yew Chung <strong>College</strong> of Early Childhood Education<br />
A new Junior Research Fellowship focused on early childhood education and care<br />
(ECEC) has been established by Oxford University’s Department of Education in<br />
collaboration with <strong>Jesus</strong> <strong>College</strong>. Made possible by a generous gift from alumna<br />
Dr Lydia L.S. Chan (2005, DPhil), the Sylva-Chan Junior Research Fellowship<br />
ensures continued momentum for research in this important field.<br />
Dr Lydia L.S. Chan.<br />
Lydia L.S. Chan came up to <strong>Jesus</strong><br />
in 2005 to read for a DPhil in<br />
the Department of Education,<br />
supervised by Professor Kathy<br />
Sylva, Emeritus Fellow and<br />
Professor of Educational Psychology,<br />
Department of Education. Now<br />
Deputy Chief Executive Officer<br />
of the non-profit Yew Chung<br />
Education Foundation (YCEF)<br />
and Member of the Board of<br />
Governors and Chairlady of the<br />
Council of the Yew Chung <strong>College</strong><br />
of Early Childhood Education<br />
(YCCECE) in Hong Kong, Lydia’s<br />
interest in progressive education<br />
was piqued initially by her paternal<br />
grandmother, Madam Chan-Tsang<br />
Chor Hang. Madam Chan-Tsang<br />
founded the first Yew<br />
Chung School in Hong<br />
Kong in 1932, later passing<br />
the baton to her eldest<br />
daughter (Lydia’s aunt),<br />
Dr Betty Chan Po-king,<br />
in the 1970s.<br />
The YCEF philanthropically<br />
operates a wide<br />
spectrum of education<br />
provision from “Babies<br />
to Bachelor Degrees”,<br />
spanning Early Childhood,<br />
Primary, Secondary, and<br />
Tertiary education. The<br />
Yew Chung International<br />
Schools and Kindergartens<br />
are well-known for their<br />
pioneering bilingual<br />
(Chinese and English) and<br />
co‐cultural (Eastern and<br />
Western) programmes, catering<br />
for children as young as six months<br />
old. The YCCECE, which is the<br />
first and only Higher Education<br />
Institution specialising in the Early<br />
Years in Hong Kong, also made<br />
history as the first private nonprofit<br />
organisation to train teachers<br />
and child care practitioners. Apart<br />
from its pre-service and in-service<br />
programmes, YCCECE is active in<br />
research and community projects,<br />
most notably through its flagship<br />
Pamela Peck Discovery Space – an<br />
innovative learning-through-play<br />
centre designed for children from<br />
birth to age eight.<br />
Lydia has maintained strong ties<br />
with Oxford and <strong>Jesus</strong> <strong>College</strong>,<br />
emphasising that her years as a<br />
DPhil student and post-doc taught<br />
her everything she knows about<br />
research, as well as giving her a<br />
deep appreciation for the art and<br />
science of education. But it is the<br />
important skills of leadership and<br />
mentoring which she attributes<br />
directly to observing Kathy Sylva,<br />
the Convenor of the then Families,<br />
Early Learning & Literacy (FELL)<br />
Research Group at Oxford, that<br />
had the greatest impact on Lydia.<br />
According to Lydia, it was Kathy’s<br />
ability to spot and quietly nurture<br />
young talent that set her apart<br />
from others in the field. It is fitting<br />
therefore that the establishment of<br />
the new Sylva-Chan Junior Research<br />
Fellowship acknowledges the<br />
important contribution that Kathy<br />
Sylva has made in informing policy<br />
and practice in the UK and beyond,<br />
Professor Kathy Sylva, Emeritus Fellow<br />
and Professor of Educational Psychology,<br />
Department of Education.<br />
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