Western play theories and practices have had a dominant role in creating China's current discursive condition for preschool play. They are also essential to current knowledge production about play. However, this dominance tends to be transferred into rural preschools, which have recently mushroomed and demanded play activities. The authors reflect…

This article investigates the variety of factors that hinder the implementation of play (as defined by western scholars) in Asian preschools. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of policy borrowing, enactment and glocalisation, we analyse three jurisdictions that illustrate distinctive problematics: India, Mainland China and Hong Kong. The…

School leadership plays a critical role in providing appropriate and sustainable curriculum practices. However, there remain significant knowledge gaps in understanding early childhood curriculum leadership in Chinese contexts. In order to examine early childhood curriculum leadership in such contexts, this study analyses and interprets data from…

The established place of the arts within early childhood education is rarely questioned. Nevertheless, social, cultural and political shifts in values, beliefs and practices impact on approaches to the arts, as early childhood practitioners grapple with increasingly complex views on how children learn and what factors impact on their learning.…

Through the 2002 Early Childhood Education Initiative, Shouguang City in the Shandong province of China expanded its early childhood education program to include children below the age of three. The strategies which were applied to ensure the successful implementation of the program included: (1) creating a three-tiered professional development…

The concept for the piloting of a contemporary early childhood kindergarten in China was visualised by the chief executive officer of TMC Academy, Dr Chin, in July 2002 when he participated in a Singaporean-led mission to Liaoning Province in China. Shenyang Creative Kindergarten is the result of that concept. It opened for children in September…