Changing culture, changing curriculum: a case study of early childhood curriculum innovations in two Chinese kindergartens

Abstract

School-based curriculum development (SBCD) has been advocated to enhance the quality of early childhood education within the context of modernization and globalization. However, few studies have examined how the social change and globalization may shape the early childhood curriculum. This study examined SBCD in two Shenzhen kindergartens via interviews, observations and documents to understand the curriculum innovations and how and why the SBCD took place in the Chinese kindergartens. This study revealed that curriculum in each case was an integrated system balancing different curriculum approaches. Also, the conflict and fusion of cultures were found throughout the dynamic transformation of curricula. Social change, reflected by conflicting motives, such as child-centeredness versus teacher-directedness, individualism versus collectivism, and imported versus local approaches, played a decisive role in the SBCD. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords:

• Cultural conflicts
• cultural-historical approach
• early childhood curriculum
• globalization
• school-based curriculum development
• social change

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Weipeng Yang

Weipeng Yang, Ph.D., is a Lecturer in Early Childhood Education in the S R Nathan School of Human Development at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. His research focuses on exploring the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of early childhood curriculum innovations. He has published in Journal of Curriculum Studies, Computers and Education, Early Education and Development and other journals. He is currently the editorial board member of Early Education and Development.

Hui Li

Hui Li, Ph.D., is the Professor in Early Childhood at the University of Macquarie. His research interests lie in developmental psycholinguistics, early Chinese literacy, early childhood curriculum and pedagogy, and educational policy. He is the co-editor of the Journal of Research in Childhood Education, the associate editor of Early Education and Development, and the editorial board member of three international research journals in the field of early child development and education.