Between the Foreground and the Background Lies the Middle Ground: Painting a Harmonious Early Childhood Curriculum Landscape

Abstract

This commentary centers on one of the insightful articles in this Special Issue: “Curriculum Hybridization and Cultural Glocalization: A Scoping Review of International Research on Early Childhood Curriculum in China and Singapore,” authored by Yang and Li (2022). The commented article provides insights and directions regarding early childhood curriculum policy and practice in China and Singapore. Aligning with Yang and Li’s (2022) findings, this commentary further paints a new three-component framework (the foreground, the background, and the middle ground) for understanding and harmonizing the global–local dissonance in the early childhood curriculum landscape. Leveraging both hindsight and foresight, this commentary also provides insights for policy and practice to advance a harmonious early childhood curriculum landscape in China and Singapore as well as in other societies confronted with similar predicaments.