The manner in which educators use commands, a form of language that serves to guide and regulate behaviour, constitutes an essential component of children's learning experiences in relation to language and social interactions. This study investigated nine Chinese and nine Japanese educators' use of commanding language in educator-child free play…

Research Findings: With individuals' increased access to information and communication technologies (ICT) in many places around the world, the definition of the digital divide has become more complicated than referring to differences in accessing technologies. As early childhood education (ECE) may impact children's life-long learning and…

"Research Findings:" This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the Puhui early education services (PEES) policy in China from the triangulated perspectives of stakeholders using a developed and validated scale. First, applying a stratified cluster sampling method, the Puhui Early Education Services Policy Effectiveness Scale (PE)…

Job satisfaction among teachers is important for their motivation to effect changes. However, in China, job satisfaction in early childhood education is a pressing issue, which leads to high attrition rates among preschool teachers. Thus, this study examined the role of school culture regarding job satisfaction and teaching autonomy among teachers…

Pedagogical documentation has been regarded as an important practice in early childhood education (ECE) settings because it provides an opportunity to observe children's learning and help teachers plan for learning experiences. This article focuses on teachers' use of information and communication technology (ICT) in pedagogical documentation in…

In this paper, "Teaching Expertise in Three Countries" project is used as an example to show the significance and contribution of international comparative research and to think about the possible implications for policy in early childhood education. The project studied the development of expertise in preschool teaching in Japan, China,…

Learning stories have been adopted as a form of assessment in early childhood education worldwide to assess children's learning processes, learning dispositions, and well-being. However, a paucity of research has been done which examines the applicability of learning stories in China. This case study investigated how learning stories are used by…

The purpose of this study is to utilize the concept of China's recent policy, Supply-side Structural Reform (SSSR) in education, in order to explore participants' identities in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in rural areas of China. The concept of the SSSR was integrated with Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory (BEST) as a…

Recognising children as active and competent citizens holds promise for early childhood research and pedagogies worldwide. Researchers in China have not previously explored young children's citizenship in detail. The project that is the focus of this article sought to address this research gap. Moss' critical approach and Chen's "Asia as…

This paper addresses the roles of job position in relation to early childhood leadership (ECL) and school type as a potential moderator of this relationship in China. A sample of 918 research participants, including 149 principals/vice-principals, 108 middle leaders and 661 teachers, was investigated. A three-factor model of ECL including staff…

At the global level, prominent narratives about improving the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) promote the recruitment of men into the profession. However, comparing across different policy and practice settings demonstrates contrasting expressions and experiences of how men contribute to ECEC. This article presents findings…

The notion of learning dispositions has extended conceptions of learning in early childhood education to incorporate dimensions such as habits of mind and patterns of behaviour. This paper conceptualizes learning dispositions through a Chinese lens, and with conceptualizing this notion, explores associated pedagogical practices. The data are drawn…

This national survey study aimed to explore the teachers' perceived impact of COVID-19 on the development of preschoolers in urban China. 22,466 preschool teachers were randomly sampled from 11 provinces of urban China and surveyed online. First, descriptive statistics found that the teachers perceived the highest improvement in preschoolers'…

This article describes the development of a teacher leadership scale (TLS) that can be utilized in early childhood education in China. A mixed methods research design was developed to meet the research aim, and both qualitative and quantitative data on the perceptions of teacher leadership from both middle leaders (i.e. vice-principal, key stage…

The purpose of this paper is to offer a theoretical discussion on teacher leadership in early childhood education (ECE) in Chinese contexts. Since 2010, the Chinese government has initiated a comprehensive education reform in ECE, with strategies for developing teacher leadership and promoting education quality. However, at the school level there…