Kindergartens in China: a report into private and state provision in Beijing

Abstract

Key words: Early Years; kindergartens; Chinese; education; play Where did the research take place?The visits to Beijing were in July 2008 and September 2010. A number of day visits were made to a private kindergarten and a state kindergarten. The private kindergarten was recommended as an example of good Early Years provision within Beijing. A company own thirty kindergartens throughout the city and these are used by wealthy Chinese families. The company also provides education from early years up to and including university level. What are international perspectives on Early Years education?International approaches to early years education emphasise both the importance of child-centred education and providing children with a balance of different types of activities. The Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE) project in England identified several key characteristics of excellent pre-school settings. Key findings from this seminal research suggest that in excellent settings practitioners provide children with balanced adult-initiated and childinitiated activities and are able to extend child-initiated interactions (Sylva et al, 2004). The importance of practitioners demonstrating warmth to children and being responsive to children's individual needs was a key feature of high quality pre-school provision (Sylva et al, 2004 Sylva et al, 2004: 06) In England a dominant discourse of child-centred, play-based learning has influenced both policy and practice over the last ten years. In addition a discourse of designing the learning experience around children's interests and needs has also permeated pre-school settings. Within this context, children are viewed as unique individuals, each with their own needs. Assessment forms the starting point for planning the learning experiences of each child so that learning builds on what children already know and can do. Additionally, the voices of both children and parents are seen as crucial and consequently education is represented as a partnership between key stakeholders. These key principles are embedded within the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage framework in England (DFES, 2007) which influences, shapes and ultimately defines practice for all children from birth to the age of five. This framework emphasises the importance of:• play and exploration;• active learning; • practitioner understanding of child development;• the unique child;• the role of assessment in enabling practitioners to build on what learners already know and can do; • inclusive practice;• mutual respect between practitioners and practitioners and children and establishing effective relationships; • rich and varied indoor and outdoor learning environments;• viewing children as competent learners. (DFES, 2007) Other countries have also adopted a child-centred approach to Early Years education. In Italy the Reggio Emilia approach emphasises a pedagogy of listening (Rinaldi, 2006) and the role of the adult in co-constructing learning with children. This model of education em...

Looking beyond the local

“…In this activity, the strong emphasis on the collective sense of group identity was clearly in evidence. Morley and Glazzard (2013) conducting observations in Beijing kindergartens comment more generally on a tendency towards a whole class, didactic approach to learning, with only limited evidence of play and exploration in a context which facilitated active learning. They conclude that there was a need for professional development opportunities focusing on "extending children's development through play-based learning" (p. 43).…”