Early childhood inquiry and e-learning: recontextualizing a progressive pedagogy in online school

ABSTRACT

This is a study of progressive education in the context of virtual preschool. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged teachers globally to adapt to new e-learning environments while finding creative solutions to support child engagement and learning. In this case study, we examined a preschool program in a progressive and multilingual Hong Kong preschool as teachers struggled to adapt the school’s inquiry-based pedagogy to online and at-home learning. Findings suggest that, while teachers had some successes in maintaining the school’s progressive philosophy, teachers and children struggled with unmet needs for social learning.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The names of the school and the participants are pseudonyms.

2. Because the children were not research participants in this study, we do not have more specific demographic information.

3. Because learning journeys are developed to be shared with families, they include text in English and Chinese. The Chinese text was translated by a Graduate Research Assistant prior to analysis.