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ABSTRACT
The Project Approach has been promoted in Hong Kong kindergartens since the 1990s. However, the dynamic processes and underlying mechanisms involved in the teachers’ implementation of this pedagogical method there have not yet been fully investigated. This case study of one typical kindergarten in Hong Kong documented how and why eight teachers implemented the Project Approach the way they did. Methodological triangulation was established through (1) videotaped classroom observations, (2) audiotaped interviews with the teachers and school principal, and (3) document analysis. The study revealed that instead of uncritically adopting the Project Approach, the teachers responsively adapted it into hybrid pedagogy between traditional Chinese pedagogy and contemporary early childhood pedagogy. Such a paradigm shift reflected the teachers’ (1) practical considerations of contextual realities (e.g., time limitation, curriculum demands, parental expectations, professional and emotional comfortability) and (2) cultural hybridity in pedagogical beliefs. The findings suggest that, considering cultural incompatibilities, when implementing pedagogies cross-culturally, a sensible, viable, and potentially sustainable solution is not a radical, direct transformation from a traditional pedagogy to an imported one, but rather an alternative, hybrid pedagogy that infuses unique characteristics of the two. Similarly, when promoting pedagogical change, policymakers should consider sociocultural and other contextual influences.
Funding
The research was supported by a Fulbright Scholarship awarded to the first author.
Notes
1. Hong Kong has been vigorously advocating for environmental protection. Visible signs of “environmental protection” in Chinese and English can be found throughout Hong Kong to raise such awareness among the public. Actions taken include banning the provision of free plastic shopping bags by retail outlets, notably supermarkets.
2. Ubiquitous in Hong Kong, Dim Sum is a style of traditional, beloved Cantonese food, typically cooked as bite-sized portions and served in small steamer baskets or on small plates.