This study examined the reliability and validity of the 13-item Classroom Observation Scale as used by teachers and non-clinically trained observers to identify children who more likely than their peers to have autism spectrum disorder in less-resourced preschools. A total of 534 children (ages 2;10 to 4;5, Mean = 3;8) from nine Chinese-language…

Research Findings: This study examined whether physical coercion and psychological control by mothers and fathers can influence preschoolers' use of physical and relational aggression, and whether the relations are moderated by children's effortful control in a Hong Kong Chinese sample. Data were collected from a sample of 168 children (88 girls;…

The practice of documentation has been a "hard to reach place" for many preschool teachers despite the fact that it has largely been encouraged and used as a tool in early childhood settings to assess young children's learning. Recent policy changes in Hong Kong have also called for the continuous documentation and authentic assessment…

In Hong Kong, children with high-functioning ASD typically enroll in mainstream preschools under the implementation of inclusive education. Inclusive environments offer increased opportunities for children with ASD to acquire social interactions with typically developing peers, making it beneficial for them to receive inclusive education in their…

This response to COVID-19 introduces a Hong Kong drama education project that aims to support teachers' and children's return to school after the easing of COVID-19 pandemic. A pilot workshop has been conducted to explore and evaluate the approach of the project and to identify the needs of the teachers under the pandemic. Preliminary observations…

This multiple case study investigates the involvement of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) in Hong Kong early childcare. Three middle-class families were chosen; one parent, one FDH, one teacher, and one preschool child within each family were interviewed. A grounded theory analysis approach was adopted to examine the interviews. Analyses revealed…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the Penn Interactive Peer Play (PIPPS-HK) and the Preschool Play Behavior Scale (PPBS-HK) to establish concurrent validity of both scales. A total of 1,622 children age 3 to 6 and 152 teachers in 10 kindergartens (about 160 students and 15 teachers randomly selected from each…

This study investigates teachers' beliefs about early visual arts education and implementation in kindergartens through an exploratory study involving 33 teachers in one whole- and one half-day kindergarten. Six classrooms were observed with their teachers participating in subsequent semistructured interviews. Although surveyed teachers reported…

This study investigated the extent to which preschool teachers and children (ages 4-6) used literal and inferential language within the context of whole-group instruction in four kindergarten classrooms in Hong Kong. A total of 20 sessions of videotaped classroom observations of linguistic interactions between teachers and children were…

Research Findings: This study examined the contribution of teacher-student conflict at kindergarten to the child's school adjustment in primary school using a Hong Kong sample. It investigated self-regulation as a mediator and parents' positive relations with others as a moderator in that transition. At Time 1 (T1), kindergarten teachers reported…

The dominance of Asian communities in international league tables such as those produced by The Program for International Student Assessment, which monitors competence in literacy and numeracy, has resulted in a policy discourse from the English government of failing schools, deficit curricular and ineffective teachers. This in turn has led to a…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether a child-centred play training model, filial play therapy, enhances child-teacher relationship and thereby reduces children's internalising problems (such as anxiety/depression and withdrawal) and externalising problems (such as aggressive and destructive behaviour). Sixty teachers (n = 60) and 60…

Numerous research has shown that quality of interactions between early childhood teachers and children contribute significantly to children's holistic development. Most literature on this topic comes from developed/Western countries and little is known about the kind of interactions occurring within the Soka kindergarten model. This article, based…

The article describes a comparative case study on children's agentive orientations in two Hong Kong preschools, one is play-based and the other is academically focused. Agentive orientations were measured using Reunamo's interview tool, which focuses on children's uses of accommodative and agentive orientations in everyday situations. The findings…

The aim of this study was to validate a questionnaire on mastery motivation (task and effort) for use with Chinese preschool children in Hong Kong. A parent version and a teacher version were developed and evaluated. Participants included 457 children (230 boys and 227 girls) aged four and five years old, their preschool teachers and their…