Executive Board

Sachiko Kitano is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Care and Education in the Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University. Her thesis on Professionalization of Early Childhood Education: the Works of Early American Kindergarten Professional Organizations” received Ph. D in education from Hiroshima University. She is interested in the professionalism in early childhood education and her most recent research interests are in the areas of the function of professional organizations, preparation and in-service training, action research in ECE, and policy. She is the chairperson of PCERA Japan and a member of the executive board of Japan Society of Research on ECCE, Japanese Society for the Education of Young Children, and Japan Association of Research on Child Care Social Work.
Her recent papers in English are The Benefits of Children’s Outdoor Free Play Activities: Examining Physical Activity in Japan (2017); Building Children’s Sense of Trustworthiness towards Empathy and Social Morality (2014); Promoting Action Research in Early Childhood Education (2011); Promoting Professionalism of Early Childhood Care and Education in Japan (2011); and Current Issues in Assessment in Early Childhood Care and Education in Japan (2011)

Prof. Soyoun Bae was re-elected as the President of PECERA at its Annual Conference in July 2021. Her term will be from 2021 to 2024. She previously served as the President, Treasurer and the Secretary of PECERA between 2003 and 2021. Prof. Bae graduated from the Ewha Women’s University in South Korea, majoring in early childhood education. She earned M.Ed. in early childhood education from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; and Ph.D. in education with a concentration on early childhood education from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA. While studying at the University of Illinois, she was a research assistant of Dr. Bernard Spodek and a recipient of the William Chandler Bagley Fellowship in 1988. Prof. Bae has taught early childhood teacher candidates since 1989 in Korea (Kyungwon University) and in the USA (Rowan University and William Paterson University in New Jersey). While working at Rowan University as a Tenured Associate Professor, in addition to serving on many committees, she served as a coordinator of the Early Childhood Education Program for 6 years, and was a recipient of Wall of Fame, which was awarded by graduates of Rowan University, in every year from 2007 to 2013. She also served as a coordinator of the Early Childhood (p-3) Alternate Route Program at the William Paterson University and wrote two sections of the New Jersey Early Childhood Education Preschool Classroom Teaching Guidelines in 2017. From 2018 to 2020, she worked as Dean of Studies at the Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education (YCCECE), HKSAR, China, and retired from teaching in August of 2020. She now is working as a Director at the Virtual Works:Early Learning and Development, in Korea. Prof. Bae has served as an editorial board member of several journals of early childhood education in Korea and manuscript reviewer of Early Childhood Research Quarterly since 2008. Her research interests are curriculum of early childhood teacher education, math education for young children, early literacy, and young children’s brain development and education.

Dr. Jeehyun Lee was the former editor of the APJRECE from 2010 to 2016 and now is working as a co-editor. She previously served as an associate editor of the APJRECE from the year of 2006 when the PECERA had launched its journal, APJRECE, until the year of 2010. Dr. Jeehyun Lee is currently working as a Professor in the Dept. of Education, College of Education, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea, where she has been teaching for more than 20 years since 1997 in both undergraduate and graduate level. She graduated from Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, Korea. She received M.A. in early childhood education from Ewha Women’s University and her doctorate (Ed.D) with concentration of early childhood education from Boston University, USA. She was a recipient of Fulbright Graduate Study Award in 1989. Her academic interests are young children’s language & literacy, mathematics, curriculum & instruction, and early childhood teacher education. She has worked to improve quality of early childhood education in Korea serving as a member of many committees in Korea such as Child Care Policy Committee, Evaluation Committee of Kindergarten Specialized Program, Comprehensive Kindergarten Consulting Committee, etc. She also has served as an editorial board member of many journals of early childhood education in Korea.

Dr Lydia L.S. Chan* is the Deputy CEO of the non-profit Yew Chung Education Foundation (YCEF), and Member of the Board of Governors and Chairperson of the Council of YCEF’s degree-awarding arm, the Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education (YCCECE). Apart from being an elected member of the PECERA International Council and Executive Board, she also serves as Vice President and Executive Council member of the PECERA Hong Kong Chapter. She was previously appointed Advisor (Professional) to the
Center for Childhood Research and Innovation at The Education University of Hong Kong, and remains a Hong Kong Representative on the China National Society of Early Childhood Education. She contributes to several academic journals, including the Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education (APJRECE) as an Associate Editor. In her early career, Dr Chan was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford’s Department of Education, where she had obtained her DPhil and MSc degrees, and also studied at the Saïd Business School on the Organizational Environment, Research Management, and the Practice of Social Science. She read Land Economy at the University of Cambridge as an undergraduate Cambridge Overseas Trust Honorary Scholar, and has a Graduate Diploma in Law.

Coming Soon

Shirley is a senior lecturer in child development in the Department of Educational Studies at Macquarie University. She has a PhD in developmental psychology. Her PhD research was in young children’s outdoor play and learning and she continues to conduct research in this area. She is a chief investigator in a multidisciplinary team known as the Sydney Playground Project. They have investigated a range of physical and social outcomes for young children following our outdoor play intervention. Future research directions include an examination of outdoor play and executive functions. Her other research interests include: (i) children with disabilities, particularly low vision and blindness, and (ii) early bilingualism.

Prof. Dr. Sofia Hartati is a Professor of Early Childhood Education at Universitas Negeri Jakarta (State University of Jakarta) and the Chairperson of the Indonesia Early Childhood Education Association
(APG-PAUD Indonesia). She also serves as an assessor for the National Accreditation Agency for Higher Education in Indonesia and is an Executive Board member of PECERA (Pacific Early Childhood Education
Research Association) representing Indonesia. Her research focuses on social studies for early childhood and social development for children aged 0 to 8 years, as well as teacher professional development and
curriculum in early childhood education. She has authored books and published various articles on early childhood education in Indonesia context.