With empirical evidence and theoretical critique, this book unveils the myths and debates (e.g., child-centeredness versus teacher-directedness) about early childhood curricula, revealing their unique social, cultural, and historical roots. Analyzing globally advocated early childhood curricula and ideologies, such as the developmentally appropriate practice, the child-centered approach, constructivism, and globalized childhood, this book argues that the direct adoption of these contextually bound approaches in local environments may be inappropriate if social and cultural compatibility is lacking. The authors then examine how early childhood curricula may be implemented in a hybrid form. Featuring case studies from American and Chinese contexts, this book offers insights and recommendations for the future development and redeployment of early childhood curriculum studies and practices in a post-truth era. This volume serves as a valuable resource for scholars and students of early childhood education and comparative education, as well as for key education stakeholders.

This volume details the Yew Chung Approach and the Twelve Values that exemplify the approach as a unique contribution to the field of early childhood education. The Yew Chung Education Foundation (YCEF) in Hong Kong is a nonprofit organization and a high-quality early childhood program that promotes a global lens and multilingualism through an emergent curriculum. This book explores the Twelve Values that exemplify the approach, including relationships, the emergent curriculum, inquiry-based pedagogy, and the multilingual and multicultural approach. Grounding these values in daily classroom practice and the broader sociocultural context of Hong Kong, it shows how the Yew Chung Approach effectively supports additional language learning through a progressive emergent curriculum with a high degree of child agency. It also explores the unique history of Hong Kong as an incubator and setting for the Yew Chung Approach and considers the relationships between the colonial history of the city, Hong Kong’s current status as a global city, and the mission of Yew Chung to provide children with a global lens. An important study which exemplifies and investigates a unique program and perspective within the field, this book will benefit scholarly and practitioner audiences within the global early childhood community, as well as appealing to academics, researchers and postgraduates working within early childhood education, comparative education, and bilingual education.

The field of curriculum inquiry has grown rapidly over the last four decades resulting in many new forms of curriculum inquiry to be used as tools to answer unique curriculum-related research questions. There are few texts available that include concise descriptions and elements of curriculum inquiry methodologies and directed at enabling researchers to wisely choose a form of curriculum inquiry most appropriate for their study. Conceptual Analyses of Curriculum Inquiry Methodologies presents chapters that are each devoted to a particular form of inquiry, with a conceptual analysis of the methodology, its purpose(s), its utilization, structure, and organization, all written by scholars with firsthand experience with the form of inquiry. These experts also take the liberty of citing examples of published studies that have utilized the methodology, share the types of relevant data collection instruments and forms of data produced, and also share research questions that can be answered via their form of inquiry. Covering topics such as quantitative methods of inquiry, glocalization, and educational criticism, this is an essential text for curriculum designers, doctoral students, doctoral researchers, university faculty, professors, researchers, and academicians.

This novel volume delves into a specific and crucial aspect of early years pedagogy – the intersection between early childhood education and spirituality, offering tips on nurturing spirituality and a sense of connectedness with nature through outdoor learning. With experience both as a scholar and a teacher, the author delves into the ontological and epistemological issues related to outdoor learning and education while keeping accessibility and sustainability at the centre of the volume. Chapters take a comprehensive approach to the exploration of children's innate spirituality and their connection with nature in the context of early childhood education, fusing elements such as a critique of early years policy with philosophy of education and children’s mental health. Using a robust theoretical foundation incorporating philosophical figures such as Froebel, McMillan, Montessori, Dewey and Freire, as well as the inclusion of practical examples from educational settings designed for real-world scenarios, this book reinvigorates the conversation around the holistic development of children by emphasising the importance of nature and child-centred pedagogies. Ultimately exploring avenues that can foster a sense of well-being and social responsibility in children, the book will be of interest to researchers, educators and teacher trainers in the field of early childhood education, environmental education, philosophy of education and teacher education. Policy makers and school leaders may also benefit from this volume.

This book brings together established and emerging scholars from around the globe to highlight new directions for research on young children as active, engaged citizens of classrooms. Divided into three sections, the volume draws on innovative methods to explore diverse conceptualizations of citizenship, children’s understandings, and effective practice. Rejecting traditional views of children as citizens-in-preparation, the volume explores how young children can and do live as citizens, and how early childhood educational settings serve as civic forums. Chapters discuss the child-as-citizen in relation to issues including gender, class, race, tribal status, and linguistic diversity, and ultimately illustrate how sociocultural processes in early years settings can be harnessed to promote the development of democratic dispositions and skills. This book establishes citizenship enactment in early childhood education as a robust and growing research area with the potential to shape research, policy, and practice worldwide. As such, it will appeal to researchers and academics with an interest in citizenship education, democracy, and early childhood education, as well as postgraduate students of teacher education and those working across international and comparative education more broadly. Chapter 20 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

This book provides an up-to-date account of relevant early childhood policy and practice in five Chinese societies: the People’s Republic of China or Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, and Taiwan. It analyses how traditional Chinese values, Eastern and Western curricular approaches, and socio-political, economic, cultural and demographic changes influence current policies, services and practice. It addresses responses to global concerns about the excluded and disadvantaged, and about quality, and explains lessons from and for Chinese early childhood education. divThis book is the first English-language research-based review of early childhood education and the factors that affect it in different Chinese societies. It is particularly timely given the increased recognition of the importance of early childhood education for human capital development globally, and the international interest in understanding early education in Chinese societies.iv>

This book provides critical insights into the interplay of sociocultural change and educational practices by elucidating the trajectory of Hong Kong’s early childhood music education system. It presents an extensive analysis of postcolonial music education in relation to globalization, westernization, cosmopolitanism, and nationalization. It makes contributions to the theoretical arguments that can be used to interpret the impact of China on the previously Western orientation of education in Hong Kong. This book also explicitly problematizes the theoretical foundations of mandated policies such as play-based learning and moral education in early childhood through music in Hong Kong and across the globe. The analysis of historical context, political influences, and education ideologies in Hong Kong’s early childhood education subsystem provides fertile ground for a thorough understanding of the meaning and implications of globalization in education at multiple levels. Many empirical-based discussions in this book reflect the ideologies, trends, and practices of music education globally. Framed by Bandura’s social cognitive theory, the empirical studies discussed in the book explore the self-efficacy and practices of education leaders and teachers, reflecting the contemporary challenges of music education. Ultimately, it makes a vital contribution by offering a new conceptual model of music teacher education within a globally resonant framework.