While overt social atypicalities remain a key component of the autistic phenotype, recent reframing of autistic social motivation suggests that these atypicalities do not overlap with their actual level of social engagement. Our study aimed to investigate autistic preschoolers' visual attention toward social situations with unequal interactive…

"Research Findings:" Playfulness is an important personality tendency with an important role in the well-being, mental health, and various other aspects of an individual's life. Previous studies have shown that the development of children's playfulness is related to parents' playfulness. However, limited research has been conducted on…

Western play theories and practices have had a dominant role in creating China's current discursive condition for preschool play. They are also essential to current knowledge production about play. However, this dominance tends to be transferred into rural preschools, which have recently mushroomed and demanded play activities. The authors reflect…

Over the past few decades, scholars have paid attention to how PI (parental involvement) impacts children's performance at school. Hence, PI is often reduced to school-centric involvement. Moreover, several studies have shown social class differences in PI, but relatively little attention has been paid to social class differences in culturally…

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of cooperative physical activities on social interactions of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in China. Cooperative physical activities include procedures such as peer selection, peer practice, group task completion, and an interdependent group contingency. The intervention took…

This article investigates the variety of factors that hinder the implementation of play (as defined by western scholars) in Asian preschools. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of policy borrowing, enactment and glocalisation, we analyse three jurisdictions that illustrate distinctive problematics: India, Mainland China and Hong Kong. The…

This study sought an answer to the question whether the digitalization of play is technological mutation or digital evolution. To this end, 14 studies published over the last five years were reviewed and discussed under four themes, namely digital technology and children, parents', and teachers' perceptions of digital technology, screen effects,…

In China, a shift in early math teaching from a teacher-directed approach to a child-centered approach has been recommended. This study explored Chinese teachers' beliefs about early math teaching and learning, math teaching efficacy, and math-related practices in the context of unit block play. Early childhood teachers (N = 391) from Ningbo,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a peer-mediated LEGO® play intervention on improving social skills for children with ASD in an inclusive preschool in China. Three boys with ASD and 13 typically developing children participated in this study. A multiple-probe across participants design was used. The intervention consisted of…

A growing body of literature refers to the potential of parental involvement (PI) as a critical educational remedy and solution for a diversity of issues in ECEC. However, the reflection of mainstream values and assumptions and the lack of attention to cultural differences in this existing body of literature has been criticized. In this article,…

An increasing number of parents in China are enrolling their preschool children in after-school programs provided by private, for-profit early learning centers. This study used a qualitative approach to explore how teachers in these centers understood and implemented play and play-based curricula. Data were collected by examining the curriculum…

Chinese children with an urban household registration ("hukou") normally attend subsidized preschools for three years prior to primary school. This is an experience available to relatively few of China's many millions of migrant children whose families are registered as rural residents but choose to migrate to urban areas. This paper…

In 2001, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued Guidelines for Preschool Education (GPE) (trial version) to call on early childhood practitioners to use a child-centered and play-based approach to teaching and learning. The guidelines also include mathematics within the science domain and described its standards in a way that significantly…

Many grandparents play a significant role as educators and carers of children in the preschool years. Recently, this role has become the focus of much early childhood research as challenges facing grandparent carers and grandparent-headed households increasingly become an economic and social issue. Using survey data from China we explore the role…

Discusses preschool education in the People's Republic of China. Describes the developments that have occurred in the last 15 years, such as the effect of the 1 child policy and what parents now expect preschools to emphasize as a result of this policy. Discusses how the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky form the foundations for the preschool…