Chinese teachers’ views and experiences of children’s social development in early childhood educational settings in China: Influences for teacher practice

Abstract

This thesis is a small scale qualitative research that explores Chinese early childhood teachers' views and experiences of children's social development. The study is located within the District of XiCheng in the city of Beijing, China. The teaching and learning is based within an early childhood education (ECE) context. Children's social development is an important aspect where teachers' values and beliefs concerning what is important for children in ECE can have a significant impact on children's social and academic development. The education and guidance from both teachers and parents/families are influential to the development of young children's social development and competencies within a Chinese context. To some extent, Chinese early childhood teachers‟ understandings of children's social development is based on their own values and beliefs regarding culture, traditions, religion, Chinese education regulations and personal experiences. Such factors have the potential to influence teachers' praxis and strategies to foster children's social development in kindergarten settings in China. This study is interested in how this warrants the kinds of thinking and practices that are deemed important to teachers, children and their families. The conceptual framework underpinning this research draws on a qualitative approach and incorporates an interpretivist paradigm. The study acquires the methods of focus group discussions and individual interviews to elicit the views, experiences and understandings of the research participants. In total, 11 early childhood teachers shared and discussed how they have encouraged the social development of young children. A thematic analysis is provided and includes the summary of responses of teachers within a kindergarten context. Discussions that follow draws attention to research, literature, child development theories and ideas regarding social development and competencies in early childhood discourses. The research findings reveal that for Chinese kindergarten teachers in this study, tend to focus on the social development of young children emphasising two aspects: (1) interpersonal communication and, (2) social adaptation. Teachers believed that children's interpersonal skills are important to promote self-awareness and build self-esteem, self-confidence and develop the ability of self-control. This also included their emotional development, where the responsibility for self and others were encouraged nurturing empathy. At the same time, learning how to communicate with others was considered to be an important foundational aspect for future social and academic success. The social development of young children was viewed as being a necessary process for children to understand and integrate successfully into the wider society. Families values and beliefs about what children should learn and why, are important considerations. Learning to follow the rules and understanding the cultural history of the country and nation was also believed to be an important part to fostering children's social development. It is worth noting, that teachers awareness of how parents can be involved in strategies that foster children's social development, were also recognised as being problematic. Effective communication between teachers and parents/families were believed to be critical to reducing the differences in understandings about what counts as being educational for children. This research contributes to existing literature concerning social development and social competencies of young children. It provides a platform for teachers in China to continue in professional dialogue about strategies that will support the social skills of young children within the context of early childhood education. Such work has the potential to influence teacher training programmes, strengthen the relationships between teachers and parents/families regarding expectations of children, and influence government and centre policies.