Research shows that young children's understanding of death varies considerably by culture. The purpose of this study was to examine the concepts of death held by Chinese kindergarten children in Hong Kong. Eighty-three 4- to 5-year-olds were interviewed about their understanding of six death sub-concepts: inevitability, universality,…

Children's conceptions or interpretations of the relationship between play and learning have not been studied much in the early childhood education studies. To better understand play and learning in the Chinese context, this paper will discuss the outcome of a study which sought to investigate children's understanding and interpretation of the…

Parental disciplining of their misbehaving children continues to draw much research attention. Baumrind's typology of parenting styles has been frequently used to classify Chinese parenting as more authoritarian. Although influential, research tends predominantly to focus on abstract characterization. Yet, parenting is a practice informed by…

It has been debated whether the progressive emergence of theory of mind (ToM) in autistic children is compatible with a "delayed" or "different" development model, and whether and how the sequential consolidation of ToM concepts is subject to cross-cultural variations in autistic and typically developing (TD) children. To study…

Studies on parental views and experiences of the integrated programme implemented in mainstream early childhood settings for children with disabilities are dominated by the perspectives of mothers and teaching personnel. Additionally, most of these studies are largely from Western countries. This hermeneutic phenomenological study attempts to…

Parental response, physical coercion and warmth and their relationships with childhood aggression were assessed with 277 children (142 boys; M age = 56.5 months, SD = 10.93 months) in Hong Kong. Results indicated that both fathers and mothers reported significantly more intervention strategies in response to hypothetical vignettes of physical…

Research Findings: This study investigated the relationships of preservice teachers' year of study in the teacher education program, creativity, zest, and self-efficacy in managing children's behaviors to self-efficacy in creating child-centered learning environments. Data were collected from 275 Hong Kong preservice teachers via self-reported…

The teaching of values has seen renewed interest, as educators, policymakers and parents seek ways of increasing peaceful coexistence for children in a conflict-driven world. Education systems are again reviewing values as part of their core mission. Confucian values form the core of most Asian cultures, penetrating different levels of social…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among parental goals, parental beliefs and parenting styles. Questionnaires were completed during interviews with 189 Hong Kong-Chinese mothers of children aged six to eight years. Results indicated that these mothers embraced Chinese parental beliefs (guan) and Chinese parental goals of…

Educators in China are facing challenges as a tug-of-war between local culture and global influences in Chinese early childhood music educations plays out. By exploring the situations of Hong Kong and Nanjing, the authors demonstrate a wide gap between policy and practice. The top-down policy from government officials is based on global views of…