A teaching team comes to share one educational philosophy when leaders hire for beliefs about children as carefully as for qualifications, spend the first months of every new teacher's employment on deliberate induction rather than leaving them to absorb the culture, and keep the philosophy alive through daily conversation, mentoring and visible leadership behaviour. Documents and slogans help, but culture in a preschool is mostly what adults see each other do with children when no one is watching.
This article looks at the team-building cycle from the leader's side: what to look for when recruiting, how to run interviews that reveal how a candidate actually thinks about young children, how to structure induction, how to bring Vietnamese and international teachers into the same professional culture, and what helps good teachers stay. It does not cover salaries or contracts, which vary by school and change over time.
Hiring for beliefs, not only for credentials
Qualifications matter. In Vietnam, the 2019 Education Law raised the standard qualification for preschool teachers to a college-level teacher education diploma, and the Ministry's professional standards for preschool teachers set out what teachers are expected to know and do. International teachers bring their own qualifications, which leaders need to verify carefully. None of that, however, tells a leader whether a candidate believes young children learn best through play and relationships, or whether she quietly believes they need to be kept busy and corrected.
Those beliefs show up quickly in practice. A teacher who sees children as capable will wait, ask and offer materials. A teacher who sees them as empty will instruct, fill and test. Both can be warm and hard-working, and both can hold the same certificate. For a school whose curriculum rests on experiential learning and whole-child development, the first type of teacher is far easier to grow than the second is to change.
This does not mean hiring only people who already know the vocabulary of Reggio Emilia or Montessori. Many excellent candidates have never read Malaguzzi but have good instincts with children. It means looking for evidence of curiosity, respect for children and openness to learning, and being honest with candidates about what the approach demands of them.
What a good interview process includes
A conversation about a real child. Asking a candidate to describe a child she has taught who puzzled her, and what she did about it, reveals far more than asking about her teaching philosophy. Listen for curiosity about the child rather than complaints about behaviour.
A short observed session with children. Twenty or thirty minutes with a small group, with an experienced teacher present, shows how the candidate speaks, waits, kneels, responds to a child who does not join in and handles materials. Many schools find this the single most useful step.
A response to a photograph or short video. Showing a candidate an image of children absorbed in an activity and asking what she notices and what she might do next tests observation skills and the instinct to extend rather than direct.
A question about families. How a candidate talks about parents, especially parents who want worksheets or early reading drills, reveals whether she can explain an approach without dismissing people.
Honest information about the school. Candidates should leave knowing what a normal day demands, how much co-planning is expected, and that Vietnamese and English will both be heard in the room. Teachers who join with accurate expectations stay longer.
Safer recruitment is part of team building
Every hiring process in a preschool is also a child protection process. Vietnam's Law on Children of 2016 places duties on schools and adults to protect children from abuse, and international good practice in safer recruitment adds a set of habits that leaders should treat as routine rather than as paperwork. These include verifying identity and qualifications from original sources, taking up references directly with previous employers rather than relying on letters the candidate provides, asking about gaps in employment history, and obtaining criminal record checks from the countries where international candidates have lived.
Interviews should include at least one question that makes clear the school takes safeguarding seriously, for example asking how the candidate would respond if a child told her something worrying, or what she understands about appropriate physical contact with young children. A candidate who is uncomfortable discussing these questions is giving useful information.
Safer recruitment also continues after hiring. Probation periods, clear codes of conduct, policies on photographs and personal phones in classrooms, and an open culture in which staff can raise concerns without fear are all part of making sure the team leaders build is one parents can trust. For international staff, immigration and work permit procedures are a separate matter and should be handled by people who specialise in them.
Designing the first ninety days of a new teacher
Induction is where a philosophy either becomes a shared practice or stays a poster on the staffroom wall. A deliberate first three months, planned before the teacher arrives, makes the difference. A workable structure looks like this.
- Before the first day: send a short, readable introduction to the curriculum, the daily rhythm and the language approach, and name the mentor the teacher will work with.
- Week one: observe rather than lead. The new teacher spends time in several classes, including at least one led by a strong practitioner, and keeps simple notes on questions that arise.
- Weeks two to four: co-teach alongside the mentor, taking responsibility for parts of the day while the mentor leads the rest, with a short daily reflection at the end of each day.
- Month two: lead the class with the mentor present for part of each day, begin writing observations and contribute to weekly planning.
- Month three: lead independently, with weekly mentor meetings, a visit to another campus or class, and a review conversation that looks at practice rather than paperwork.
The point of the structure is not to slow good teachers down. It is to make sure that every new adult in the school has seen the approach done well, has had someone to ask, and has been noticed early if something is not working.
Writing the philosophy down so that people can be hired against it
Many schools describe their philosophy in a sentence or two on the website and assume staff will understand the rest. For hiring and induction that is not enough. A leader needs a short, practical description of what the philosophy looks like in adult behaviour: how teachers greet children in the morning, what they do when a child is upset, how they respond to a question they cannot answer, how they talk about children in front of other adults, what they never do. A description of this kind gives interviewers something concrete to look for and gives new teachers something concrete to aim at.
Such a document does not need to be long. Two or three pages of plain statements, each with a brief example, are more useful than a glossy handbook. It should be written in both Vietnamese and English, checked by teachers from both groups so that the meaning survives translation, and reviewed every year. When a candidate reads it before an interview and says honestly that some of it would be new to her, the conversation becomes far more useful than one built on generic questions about teaching style.
The same document becomes the basis for probation reviews and later appraisals, which means teachers are assessed against the approach they were hired into rather than against a manager's personal preferences.
Choosing and supporting mentors
Induction only works if mentors are chosen well. The best classroom teacher is not automatically the best mentor. A good mentor can explain why she does what she does, is comfortable being watched, gives feedback that is specific and kind, and is curious about how the new teacher sees things. Leaders should choose mentors deliberately, ask them rather than assign them, and avoid giving the role to the same two or three people every year until they are exhausted.
Mentors need time and preparation. A short training session on observation and feedback, a simple structure for weekly mentor meetings, and a reduction in other duties during the most intensive weeks make the role sustainable. Leaders should also meet mentors regularly to hear how new teachers are settling in, which is often the first place a hiring mistake or an unhappy teacher becomes visible.
Recognising mentoring as professional work, not a favour, also sends a message to the whole team. When the school treats helping a colleague grow as part of being a good teacher, the philosophy spreads through relationships rather than through instructions, which is how it lasts.
Bringing Vietnamese and international teachers into one culture
In a bilingual preschool, the team usually includes Vietnamese teachers trained in the national system and international teachers trained in several different systems abroad. Each group brings strengths, and each brings assumptions. Vietnamese colleagues often know the national programme, local families and the rhythm of Vietnamese early childhood deeply; international colleagues may bring experience of play-based frameworks such as EYFS or inquiry approaches. Neither group automatically shares the school's particular philosophy.
Leaders who treat one group as the holders of the "real" pedagogy and the other as assistants damage the team quickly. A healthier pattern is shared induction, mixed planning groups, joint observation of children, and a clear statement that both languages and both professional traditions are valued. Practical details matter as well: meeting times that suit both groups, written summaries of key decisions in both languages, and leaders who ask Vietnamese teachers for their views directly rather than waiting for them to volunteer.
The day-to-day craft of co-teaching across languages is covered elsewhere on this site from the teacher's side. For leaders, the task is to build the conditions in which it can work: time, respect, clear roles and the same expectations of everyone.
Keeping the culture alive after the first year
Culture is sustained mostly by what leaders do repeatedly. When leaders spend time in classrooms, kneel to talk with children, ask teachers about their observations and show interest in documentation, teachers understand what matters. When leaders appear only to deal with complaints, check paperwork or show visitors around, teachers learn that the philosophy is for marketing.
Retention is part of culture too. Teachers who leave take tacit knowledge with them, and children lose relationships that matter to them. Leaders cannot control every reason a teacher leaves, but the factors within their reach are significant: manageable workloads, protected time for planning and reflection, fair treatment, opportunities to learn, recognition of good practice and a sense that the teacher's judgement is trusted. International surveys of early childhood staff, such as the OECD's TALIS Starting Strong survey of 2018, have highlighted workload and recognition as recurring concerns for the profession.
Finally, culture needs stories. Teams remember the project where children rebuilt the garden fence, the morning a shy child led circle time, the parent who changed her mind about worksheets. Leaders who collect and retell these stories, without identifying children publicly, give new staff a living picture of what the philosophy looks like.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
What should a preschool leader look for first when hiring teachers?
Evidence of how the candidate thinks about young children: curiosity, respect, patience and openness to learning. Qualifications must be verified, but beliefs about children show up quickly in practice and are much harder to change than gaps in knowledge.
Is an observed session with children really necessary in interviews?
It is one of the most informative steps. A short session with a small group, observed by an experienced teacher, shows how a candidate speaks, waits, responds and uses materials in ways that no written answer or interview question can.
What does safer recruitment involve for a preschool?
Verifying identity and qualifications, taking references directly from previous employers, asking about employment gaps, obtaining criminal record checks including from abroad for international staff, and asking safeguarding questions at interview. It continues after hiring through probation and clear conduct policies.
How long should induction for a new preschool teacher last?
A structured period of around three months works well: observation first, then co-teaching with a mentor, then leading with support, then leading independently with regular review. Shorter induction usually leaves new staff relying on habits from previous schools.
How can leaders help Vietnamese and international teachers work as one team?
Through shared induction, mixed planning groups, joint observation, clear and equal expectations, meeting arrangements that suit everyone and written summaries in both languages. Treating one group as assistants to the other quickly undermines the team.
What keeps good preschool teachers from leaving?
Manageable workloads, protected planning and reflection time, fair treatment, chances to learn, recognition of good practice and trust in their judgement. Leaders who are visibly present in classrooms and interested in teachers' work also strengthen commitment.