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Ten years have flown by! What began as a group of parents organizing the "We Need Choices" conference has evolved into diverse educational programs and publications. With support from various foundations, we've created opportunities for children and worked with parents and teachers to address their needs, helping them find joy and meaning in life again.
We have been told many a time, that upon seeing our name "EDiversity 教育大同", people will relate us with SEN (students with special education needs), or homeschooling (because ourl founders are homeschooling mothers). However, "教育大同" simply represents a wish:
That every child can have the kind of education that suits them and meet their needs, and all kinds of education can happen alongside each other and, together, contribute to a better world.
Imagine how enjoyable learning would become, and how happy and fulfilled the children would feel when they are free and are supported to pursue their interests and passion, and have the time and space to explore deeply! Imagine how the world would be when children grow up into adults feeling empowered, respected and empathised, instead of being force-fed, suppressed and drained with stress and anxiety… .
Our mission says: Respect Diversity. Transform Learning. It’s because for us, all children are different and have unique learning needs! And education does not only happen at school, it literally happens everywhere: a lot at home and nowadays on the internet and social media, some among relatives and friends and in the community... even the words and deeds of some passersby on the street may also create a lasting impression in a child's mind, affecting his behavior. It really takes a village to raise a child!
Our vision is quite naive, and we also do our job having a bit of this quality in our approach: Our biggest project, LBD (The Jockey Club “Learning by Doing” Academy), attempts to change the learning culture of local mainstream elementary schools, in which teachers are encouraged and empowered to teach according to children's needs, focusing on cultivating values, empathy, and life skills, shifting the focus to a child-oriented approach than the over-emphasis on grades and examinations.
We also promote Helping Mode Parenting, as introduced by the book Parenting for a Peaceful World, in a hope to help parents understand how their own childhood experiences affect their present parenting style. Through reflection and making adjustments on their own, they can become ‘empathy farmers’ and support their children, with their best possible empathy, and help them grow up healthily in their true selves according to their characteristics and needs.
When we were founded, we were only a few parents who naively wanted our education system to return to its original intention. We know that “home” and “school” cannot be separated, and must work together, starting from the needs of children. Therefore, we have always been working on teachers training and parents education. Thanks for the support of parents and schools in the past years, we started from a fully voluntary organization, to later one which has received funding from different foundations, including the Jockey Club Charities Trust, The D. H. Chen Foundation, The Swire Charitable Trust, The Leung Hon Hung Scholarship Fund, and the British Council.
Today, we are more than seven years old, much like a child reaching a new stage in her life. We are growing up, through constant attempts and stumbles, and now, we are an organization that needs to "evolve" to have different financial sources and be self-financing. It is also a big learning by doing for us.
I am very grateful to a group of new friends who have joined and actively assisted in the gradual "evolution" of EDiversity, especially Casey, a young friend who has assisted us in updating our website and is recovering from cancer. Her incomparable courage and perseverance, as well as the warm support of her family to her and us, is itself an educational story!
Childhood is the foundation of the future. We hope that more parents and people who have the same beliefs and desires as us and who care for the future of society, will use the resources and the platform of EDiversity, to jointly create a more human-oriented learning and growth space for children at home and at school.
Hence our vision: Happy and Fulfilling Education for ALL!
EDiversity Co-founder and CEO Cam Cheung