Front Matter the 1st ICECED 2018

Abstract

The Aceh Family Empowerment and Welfare (PKK Aceh) is working closely with Syiah Kuala University in empowering and in developing the welfare of women in Aceh by expanding its programs beyond its regular ones, focusing on developing awareness among its members on theories and foundations of education for the purposes of laying down characters as guided by the Presidential Decree No. 87, 2017, issued on September 6, 2017. The Deputy Rector of Syiah Kuala University for International Affairs and his special staff is assigned by the Rector of Syiah Kuala University to work closely with us in developing education-related programs. Among the programs that we have been working together this year are: (1) Innovative Pedagogies for Teaching Students with Special Needs followed by providing services to the parents and pupils with special needs, 2) Strategies for Teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) for teachers of primary and junior high schools of Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar, and (3) this conference on the Roles of Parents in Shaping Children’s Characters.

The participants for this conference are mostly the members of PKK Aceh, followed by the teachers and lecturers of state and private universities in Aceh, the educators and all stakeholders of education in this province, and international participants from countries in South-East Asian nations. The main purposes of conducting this conference are to expand the horizons of the members of PKK Aceh beyond its regular programs and develop links with other teacher training institutions in Indonesia and abroad. There is also a special program designed for members of PKK Aceh from all districts in Aceh on how to develop guidance and counseling strategies for children using the Prodigy approach, provided by a specialist in Prodigy from the Sultan Idris Education University, Perak, Malaysia on the second day (full day) of the conference. PKK Aceh extends its thanks and appreciations to Syiah Kuala University.

PKK Aceh would also like to thank to its member who has been working closely with Syiah Kuala University, to the special staff of Syiah Kuala University, to the alumni of the Sultan Idris Education University, and others who have been working hard to make this conference a successful forum for our members in expanding their links with national and international education institutions. We would  also like  to  express  our appreciations  to Prof. Dr.  Haji Adanan  bin  Haji  Basar  Rais,  the  Rector  of  the  Kolej-Universiti  Perguruan  Ugama  Seri Begawan (KUPU-SB), Brunei Darussalam; to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shukree Langputeh, the Deputy Rector of International Relations of Fatoni University in Pattani, Thailand; to Encik Aziz Mohd Yatim, the Fellow Researcher at the Center for Guidance and Counseling of the Sultan Idris Education  University,  Malaysia;  Mr.  Petro  Alexy,  to  our  national  motivator  for  early childhood education of Indonesia, and to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Qismullah Yusuf as one of the academicians from Syiah Kuala University who have made themselves available to give keynote speeches at this conference.