Taiwan promotes collaborative professional development for early childhood teachers to transform classroom practice

Taiwan’s Ministry of Education is incentivising early childhood educators to participate in collaborative communities aimed at shared lesson planning, classroom observation, and peer discussion, fostering a culture of continuous professional growth and improved learning environments across the country.

Early childhood teachers in Taiwan are being encouraged to work more collaboratively through professional development communities that let them plan lessons together, observe one another and discuss classroom challenges, rather than relying solely on individual experience. The Ministry of Education’s National Education Administration said it has continued subsidising local governments to run the scheme since the 2021 academic year, with 247 communities established nationwide in the 2025 academic year across 21 counties and cities.

The Keelung kindergarten attached to Zhongzheng Elementary School has taken part for four consecutive years, using the group setting to examine teaching from fresh angles. Teachers there discuss how to scaffold children’s learning, a term that refers to the support adults give so children can progress step by step, and how to ask questions that prompt deeper thinking. By watching colleagues teach and reflecting on what works, they have turned individual classroom problems into shared professional discussion.

In Yilan county, the kindergarten attached to Chenggong Elementary School in Luodong township has run a similar community for five years. Alongside lesson planning, staff members have used the sessions to review the learning environment itself, applying a “reduce colour, reduce clutter, reduce disorder” approach to create spaces that are calmer, more attractive and more educationally effective. The aim is to strip back busy decoration and unnecessary visual noise so children can focus on learning.

Wang Hui-chiou, an official at the National Education Administration, said the communities are designed to go beyond one-off training. Rather than simply attending seminars, educators bring day-to-day classroom issues into the group, where a facilitator helps them compare experiences, reflect on practice and adjust their teaching. The ministry says it plans to keep supporting local governments in line with regional needs, with the goal of strengthening peer learning and translating professional growth into children’s daily classroom experience.