What do children say about tidy-up time? A comparative study of American and Taiwanese children’s perceptions of tidy-up time

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the similarities and differences in American and Taiwanese children’s perspectives of tidy-up time. The participants consisted of 25 American kindergarteners in the southeastern US, and 25 Taiwanese kindergarteners from central Taiwan. Children were asked to respond to five questions regarding tidy-up time. Qualitative analysis of the data yielded four themes: transitions, clean and safe environments, work, and cooperation. All participants associated tidy-up time with transitions. They considered tidy-up as the notion of maintaining clean environments, but only Taiwanese children perceived it to be keeping the classroom safe. Also, all participants viewed such time as work, and as time to cooperate with each other. More Taiwanese children’s responses indicated how they and their teachers cooperate during cleaning as compared to their American counterparts.