Abstract:
The research investigated the experiences of Chinese immigrant children in home-kindergarten routines in Aotearoa New Zealand with the purpose of providing early childhood practitioners with educational implications. Based on the emergent and sociocultural perspectives on early learning development, this study was theoretically framed by third-generation activity theory (Engeström, 2001; 2014), which explains the complex relationships between interconnected activity systems and expansive learning. A multiple case study design was used with focal children, aged between four- to five-year-old, from four Chinese immigrant families and two English kindergartens in Auckland. Four types of data (i.e., interviews, narrative tasks, observations and children's artefacts) were accessed from the four children, their parents, siblings, teachers, and peers over four months. Data analysis was completed in three waves (i.e., individual case story, activity theory, and cross-case analysis). Findings revealed that each of the children contacted literacy via their unique engagement in routines (e.g., spontaneous conversation, role play, and singing) in and across the two settings. The children were active drivers of learning when their prior home-kindergarten experiences, serving as the cultural tools, generated contradictions and mediated participants' discourses as the activities unfolded. The children constructed learner, linguistic and cultural identities by varying their roles in the activities. This thesis contributes to the body of activity theory research via the investigation of Chinese children's bridging learning opportunities across different cultural contexts. It also provides early childhood educators with insights of establishing seamless connections between children's literacy experiences and learning across different cultural contexts.
