Children’s literature in China: Revisiting ideologies of childhood and agency

Tesař, Marek; Tong, Zhen; Gibbons, Andrew; Arndt, Sonja; Sansom, Adrienne

doi:10.1177/1463949119888494

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The discourse analysis of the Guideline and the interviews with Chinese teachers indicate that a Confucian discourse is drawn upon to prioritise order, responsibilities, and collectivism, and thus remains a subtle underpinning but pervasive discourse of children's citizenship in the Chinese context. The findings in this research, in line with previous studies(Tesar et al, 2019;Li & Chen, 2017), have shown a syncretism of Confucianism and socialism, which prioritises moral values and collectivism, and positions young children as socially responsible citizens for a harmonious society. Further, this research has found that Taoist discourse prioritises children's individuality and diversity.…”

supporting

confidence: 92%

Discourses of children's citizenship in early childhood settings: A cross-national perspective in the global context

Xu¹

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This study responds to recent calls for greater attention to young children in citizenship studies and to the shifting conceptions of young children’s citizenship. As a cross-national analysis, it contributes to a regional and global focus on, and conversations about, young children’s citizenship and pedagogical affordances in early childhood settings. It further explores the movement of global discourses of young children’s citizenship through national curriculum policies in China and Aotearoa New Zealand, and into early childhood settings where young children learn and exercise their citizenship. The research design has adopted a poststructural orientation and employed qualitative, comparative and ethnography-informed approaches. Michel Foucault’s notion of discourse, power and subject have been used as the main theoretical devices to attend to the multiple truths of children’s citizenship and power relations in early childhood settings. In addition, this research has been informed by Kuan-Hsing Chen’s (2010) Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization, drawing attention to the cultural and historical specificity of each local context and different interpretations and practices of young children’s citizenship in China and Aotearoa New Zealand. A Foucauldian-inspired reflexive thematic analysis has been employed to interrogate (i) key curriculum documents and (ii) interviews with kindergarten teachers in both nations, the latter inspired by video-cued ethnography (Tobin et al., 1989; Tobin et al., 2009). The research findings suggest that children’s citizenship is discursively constructed in early childhood curricula as belonging and connectedness, rights and responsibilities, and development and preparation. Teacher participants in both nations pointed out that citizenship is of significant value for young children, and that kindergartens are key sites for children to enact their citizenship. Four significant ideas emerged from the research findings. First, by illuminating the cultural-historical contingency and contextual specificity of discourses in China and Aotearoa New Zealand, this study argues for a context-specific understanding of children’s citizenship that recognises the syncretism of social, cultural and historical features in different contexts. Second, children’s status and practices as citizens are problematic in both contexts, as multiple techniques of power produce child citizens as ‘docile bodies’. Third, this study offers an alternative position – negotiated citizenship – which recognises the dynamic power relations in early childhood settings, how children exercise power as citizens, and how they take up and extend the possibilities available to them. Last, this study reveals the necessity and meaningfulness of cross-cultural reflexivity in relation to early childhood education and young children’s citizenship.

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confidence: 92%

Discourses of children's citizenship in early childhood settings: A cross-national perspective in the global context

Xu¹

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“…Studies (Dembo, 1981; Hwang, 2012; Hábl, 2017; Li, 1999; Liu, 1999; Papalia et al, 1999; Shih, 2016; Shih and Wu, 2007; Tesar et al, 2019) show that the teaching concepts for the moral education of young children are the following:…”

Section: Teaching Concepts For the Moral Education Of Young Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A humane preschool teacher must use various methods to educate and guide young children during moral teaching while respecting their moral subjectivity and refraining from compelling them to comply. Moral education must avoid indoctrination (Hábl, 2017; Tesar et al, 2019). Hwang’s study noted that good interactions enhance the effectiveness of moral education (Hwang, 2012).…”

Section: Teaching Concepts For the Moral Education Of Young Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral education in Taiwanese preschools: Importance, concepts and methods

Shih

2021

Policy Futures in Education

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Early childhood is a period of rapid development and growth, and regardless of physical, psychological, and social abilities, young children at this stage have great plasticity and strong imitation ability. Childhood is a critical period for individual learning; so preschool teachers must provide young children with appropriate moral education at this time. This paper is to discuss the importance of moral education for young children in Taiwan, analyze the relevant literature, and review the teaching concepts and methods of moral education. Moral education of young children is important because the ultimate goal of early childhood education is to shape the character of young children; so its content must focus on moral education, which cultivates moral values in young children. Moral education also develops an understanding of empathy and social responsibility for young children. This paper argues that preschool teachers must (1) respect young children’s moral subjectivity; (2) understand that early childhood is a critical period in which moral behavior is shaped, and (3) organize young children’s moral teaching from the concrete to the abstract. In terms of the optimal teaching methods, this paper proposes that preschool teachers use: (1) moral storytelling, (2) instructional media, (3) picture books, (4) discussion of moral issues, (5) peer learning, (6) moral narratives, (7) modeling moral behavior, (8) incorporate young children’s life experience, and (9) invite young children’s parents to participate in moral education. This study contributes to the literature on early childhood moral education and provides an insight into the praxis of moral education for young children in Taiwan.

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Children acquire and inherit cultural values and rules by interacting with the surroundings they live in (Fleer, 2017). The surroundings include both physical and psychological contexts, such as children's play and literature, which mirror the cultural image of childhood (Frønes, 2009;Tesar et al, 2019). It is also important to pay equal attention to both "education" and "care" in early childhood, something that traditionally varies across diverse curricula and cultures (Ailwood, 2022).

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confidence: 99%