Discourses/8, China: Children’s Participation Rights in Chinese Early Childhood Education: A Critical Investigation of Policy and Research

TY - CHAP

T1 - Discourses/8, China: Children’s Participation Rights in Chinese Early Childhood Education: A Critical Investigation of Policy and Research

AU - Tang, Fengling

N1 - Dr Fengling Tang is Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at School of Education, Froebel College, University of Roehampton. She worked in schools and further education in China and a nursery school in London before joining Early Childhood Studies and Early Childhood Research Centre at University of Roehampton in 2007. Her teaching involves BA and MA Early Childhood Studies at University of Roehampton and Foundation Degree Early Years Education programme at Carshalton College in collaboration with Roehampton. She has also undertaken External Examining and school governing. Her research interests include early childhood pedagogy and policy, children’s rights, Froebelian perspectives in early childhood, technology with young children, play and creativity, professionalism in early years, and ethnographic comparative research with young children. She completed her PhD research entitled ‘A comparative ethnographic case study of the early years curriculum in Chinese and English contexts’ (2004-2008). She conducted a research project on university students’ e-learning in collaboration with colleague Dr Sue Robson funded by UK Training and Development Agency (2008-2009). She conducted a research project on young children’s digital learning experience funded by the Froebel Trust (2010-2012). She took part in Early Childhood Assessment research project led by Professor Mathias Urban commissioned by Education International (2016-2017). Currently, she undertakes a joint research on ‘Wellbeing and democratic living: comparative policy analysis of curriculum documents in China, Colombia, Denmark, England and Portugal in the context of the OECD’s International Early Learning and Wellbeing Study developments’ with colleagues Sigrid Brogaard-Clausen, Dr Sofia Guimaraes and Dr Clara Rubiano at University of Roehampton.

PY - 2019/7/3

Y1 - 2019/7/3

N2 - China has made great efforts to improve quality of early childhood provisions by addressing child-centredness in early childhood pedagogy since 1992 when China ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in the aftermath of China’s Reform and Opening-Up policy. Children’s rights have been addressed as part of the Chinese government efforts especially starting with the China Children Development Plan in the 1990s. The Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium- and Long-Term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020) borne out of the social, economic and political developments guides educational reform and development in contemporary China. The Learning and Development Guidelines for Children of 3-6 Years Old (Ministry of Education 2012) alongside the Kindergarten Education Guidelines (Ministry of Education 2001) are the current statutory framework for early childhood settings in China. Through documentary analysis of key policy documents and existing research in relation to Chinese early childhood education in the last three decades, this chapter shows implicitness in addressing children’s participation rights in policy documents alongside evidence from research that young children’s participation takes place in schools, families, communities and society but with worrying aspects. Pressure from school learning restricts scope and depth of children’s participation outside the school contexts whilst the urban-rural divide as a long-term issue needs to be tackled in order to widen children’s participation in China.

AB - China has made great efforts to improve quality of early childhood provisions by addressing child-centredness in early childhood pedagogy since 1992 when China ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in the aftermath of China’s Reform and Opening-Up policy. Children’s rights have been addressed as part of the Chinese government efforts especially starting with the China Children Development Plan in the 1990s. The Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium- and Long-Term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020) borne out of the social, economic and political developments guides educational reform and development in contemporary China. The Learning and Development Guidelines for Children of 3-6 Years Old (Ministry of Education 2012) alongside the Kindergarten Education Guidelines (Ministry of Education 2001) are the current statutory framework for early childhood settings in China. Through documentary analysis of key policy documents and existing research in relation to Chinese early childhood education in the last three decades, this chapter shows implicitness in addressing children’s participation rights in policy documents alongside evidence from research that young children’s participation takes place in schools, families, communities and society but with worrying aspects. Pressure from school learning restricts scope and depth of children’s participation outside the school contexts whilst the urban-rural divide as a long-term issue needs to be tackled in order to widen children’s participation in China.

KW - children's participation

KW - children's rights

KW - Chinese early childhood education

KW - Decision Making

KW - urban-rural divide

KW - UNCRC

KW - documentary analysis

KW - left-behind children

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-14556-9_17

DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-14556-9_17

M3 - Chapter

SN - 978-3-030-14555-2

SP - 247

BT - Children’s Self-determination in the Context of Early Childhood Education and Services

A2 - Farini, Federico

A2 - Scollan, Angela

PB - Springer

ER -