Weipeng Yang - Böcker

Although Chinese societies have generally become striking as the classic over-achievers in international measures of academic performance, there has been no specialised publication exploring early childhood curriculum in Chinese contexts. Through this book, readers will learn more about how the Chinese context and culture collide with educators’ beliefs about the right activities for children and educators in early childhood settings. This book will be the first one of its kind to focus on early childhood curriculum in Chinese societies – from social context and culture to reforms and practices, and finally to the lessons that researchers, policymakers and practitioners could learn, as well as future directions. Is play valued? Are young children schooled earlier in Chinese societies? How do Chinese children learn in kindergartens? What is valued by Chinese educators when they implement early childhood curricula? How do Chinese teachers deliver early childhood curricula for their young children? Why were Chinese early childhood curricula implemented in these ways? Answers to these questions and more will be provided in this pioneering book.

This book provides a fresh perspective on recent debates around integrating STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education in early childhood.The book offers inspiration and practical advice for educators and researchers. It suggests concrete ways to engage young children in STEAM learning activities and promote their development. With contributions from international experts, the book discusses how to develop age-appropriate STEAM learning activities for young children. Divided into four parts, the book covers a wide range of topics, including the perceptions and practices of STEAM education among early childhood teachers in different countries, the use of new pedagogies and technologies to promote equitable and accessible STEAM education, the role of teacher education and policy in reducing inequality in STEAM education, and how early STEAM education can promote social change and achieve sustainable development goals. The book highlights the importance of STEAM education in providing young children with the necessary skills to create a more sustainable and equitable world. Overall, this book provides an important contribution to help critique and improve how early childhood educators view and practice STEAM education across cultures. It proposes ideas for achieving sustainable development goals through high-quality early STEAM education.The book appeals to early childhood educators and researchers, as it draws on cross-cultural viewpoints to critically examine how teachers understand and implement STEAM education across different cultures along with exploring how cultural values and goals shape early STEAM education.

This book provides a fresh perspective on recent debates around integrating STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education in early childhood.The book offers inspiration and practical advice for educators and researchers. It suggests concrete ways to engage young children in STEAM learning activities and promote their development. With contributions from international experts, the book discusses how to develop age-appropriate STEAM learning activities for young children. Divided into four parts, the book covers a wide range of topics, including the perceptions and practices of STEAM education among early childhood teachers in different countries, the use of new pedagogies and technologies to promote equitable and accessible STEAM education, the role of teacher education and policy in reducing inequality in STEAM education, and how early STEAM education can promote social change and achieve sustainable development goals. The book highlights the importance of STEAM education in providing young children with the necessary skills to create a more sustainable and equitable world. Overall, this book provides an important contribution to help critique and improve how early childhood educators view and practice STEAM education across cultures. It proposes ideas for achieving sustainable development goals through high-quality early STEAM education.The book appeals to early childhood educators and researchers, as it draws on cross-cultural viewpoints to critically examine how teachers understand and implement STEAM education across different cultures along with exploring how cultural values and goals shape early STEAM education.

This book informs best practice for enhancing young children’s STEM learning experiences in formal settings such as preschool environments and less formal settings such as home environments. It is the first collection of multidisciplinary and multinational studies on early STEM programs worldwide and presents diverse, authentic, and current STEM-relevant scenarios that address two fundamental problems: where are we in early STEM education? and where shall we go?The book explores factors that influence young learners’ abilities to make informed choices in authentic, problem-based, STEM-relevant scenarios and how those abilities have been identified, documented, and enhanced. Chapters address topics related to curriculum and pedagogy, teacher education and professional development, family environment, and inclusive education from a variety of international settings including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore, and the United States. Each chapter is based around a research project and describes relevant background information from the research literature, details of how the study was designed, findings from the study, and discussion as to what the findings mean for practical implementation.Developing Culturally and Developmentally Appropriate Early STEM Learning Experiences will be a key resource for researchers and practitioners of early childhood education and care, STEM education, educational psychology, educational research, and educational technology. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Early Education and Development.

This book informs best practice for enhancing young children’s STEM learning experiences in formal settings such as preschool environments and less formal settings such as home environments. It is the first collection of multidisciplinary and multinational studies on early STEM programs worldwide and presents diverse, authentic, and current STEM-relevant scenarios that address two fundamental problems: where are we in early STEM education? and where shall we go?The book explores factors that influence young learners’ abilities to make informed choices in authentic, problem-based, STEM-relevant scenarios and how those abilities have been identified, documented, and enhanced. Chapters address topics related to curriculum and pedagogy, teacher education and professional development, family environment, and inclusive education from a variety of international settings including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore, and the United States. Each chapter is based around a research project and describes relevant background information from the research literature, details of how the study was designed, findings from the study, and discussion as to what the findings mean for practical implementation.Developing Culturally and Developmentally Appropriate Early STEM Learning Experiences will be a key resource for researchers and practitioners of early childhood education and care, STEM education, educational psychology, educational research, and educational technology. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Early Education and Development.

This book examines innovative recent developments in curricula and pedagogical discourses around early childhood professionals’ digital competence development via professional development avenues. By expanding the notion of digital technologies integration, teaching perspectives, and educators’ practices in early childhood education, the authors not only conceptualise a professional development model, but also apply the model to bring together research across cultural contexts.Presenting findings from four cases, it offers research-informed tangible examples of teacher-centric professional development – one that inspires early childhood professionals, teacher educators, and pre-service teachers to use a variety of multimodal technologies within their repertoire of play-based practices (e.g., STEM-focused play for and with young children, teaching computational thinking).Case studies in this book are evidence of how practitioners can come together to build communities of practice to support their digital competence development as critical pedagogues and integrate a variety of evolving technology-based play (e.g., AI platforms), while engaging in paradigmatic debates. Readers will better appreciate the growth in pragmatic applications of technologies, together with theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches.This will be a valuable resource for any academic or practitioner, whether beginning or expert, in understanding how digital competence development occurs through cultural learnings, is inclusive, not discipline-based, is holistic. In reframing early childhood professionals’ digital competence development as a naturalistic process, it will inspire educators to integrate a range of digital and multimodal technologies in their everyday practices.

Although Chinese societies have generally become striking as the classic over-achievers in international measures of academic performance, there has been no specialised publication exploring early childhood curriculum in Chinese contexts. Through this book, readers will learn more about how the Chinese context and culture collide with educators’ beliefs about the right activities for children and educators in early childhood settings. This book will be the first one of its kind to focus on early childhood curriculum in Chinese societies – from social context and culture to reforms and practices, and finally to the lessons that researchers, policymakers and practitioners could learn, as well as future directions. Is play valued? Are young children schooled earlier in Chinese societies? How do Chinese children learn in kindergartens? What is valued by Chinese educators when they implement early childhood curricula? How do Chinese teachers deliver early childhood curricula for their young children? Why were Chinese early childhood curricula implemented in these ways? Answers to these questions and more will be provided in this pioneering book.

This book offers new insights and critical perspectives on the integration of computational thinking, engineering design process, and AI literacy into early childhood education. The authors draw on research from around the world in early childhood education and computer science education (CSE) to explore the possibilities, benefits and challenges of incorporating emerging technologies into the formal and informal learning settings for young children aged 3-8 years. They offer strategies and research insights for designing and implementing curricula, selecting appropriate tools, and engaging families, drawing upon a wide range of research and pedagogical approaches. With a strong emphasis on equity and inclusion the authors suggest developmentally appropriate CSE activities to develop skills like literacy, maths and problem-solving, while adhering to appropriate screen time guidelines. It is written for researchers, policy-makers and educators interested in advancing the field of early childhood education and empowering young children in the rapidly evolving digital society.