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 general public often views early childhood education as either simply “babysitting” or as preparation for later learning. Of course, both viewpoints are simplistic. Deep understanding of child development, best educational practices based on development, emergent curriculum, cultural competence and applications of family systems are necessary for high-quality early education. Highly effective early childhood education is rare in that it requires collaboration and transitions among a variety of systems for children from birth through eight years of age. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education presents in three comprehensive volumes advanced research, accurate practical applications of research, historical foundations and key facts from the field of contemporary early childhood education. Through approximately 425 entries, this work includes all areas of child development – physical, cognitive, language, social, emotional, aesthetic – as well as comprehensive review of best educational practices with young children, effective preparation for early childhood professionals and policy making practices, and addresses such questions as: · How is the field of early childhood education defined? · What are the roots of this field of study? · How is the history of early childhood education similar to yet different from the study of public education? · What are the major influences on understandings of best practices in early childhood education?

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 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.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is also known as SARS-CoV-2, has had a great impact in early childhood education programs. Since the effect of this epidemic was new, and little research had been conducted, this volume is devoted to understanding mutual and contemporary themes in the impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in early childhood education. Early childhood education (ECE) centers encountered unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 crisis. Comprehensive reviews of the literature, descriptions of programs or situations, and research studies provided accounts of current situations in early childhood education including programs and individuals who were working with young children whose ages ranged from birth to eight years of age. The chapters in this special volume discuss how early childhood education faced unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 crisis and demonstrate the breadth and theoretical effectiveness of this domain. This volume provides a brief introduction that acknowledges the valuable contributions of these chapters to the impact of this pandemic in early childhood education and offers a valuable tool to practitioners and researchers who are conducting studies on the impact of COVID-19. At the beginning of the year 2020, after a December 2019 outburst in China, the World Health Organization acknowledged SARS-CoV-2 as a different kind of coronavirus. It immediately multiplied around the world, mostly through person-to-person contact. Infections ranged from mild to deadly. COVID-19 can cause a respiratory tract infection such as ones sinuses, nose, and throat or lower respiratory tract such as ones windpipe and lungs (World Health Organization, 2020a). On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) affirmed that COVID-19 had become a public health emergency causing an international problem. By March 12, 2020, everybody was aware of this pandemic. It also created an understanding about this first-time consciousness in research about this disease, which generated an immense publication production. It also became the basis for this special volume.

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>