Education and care for children three – six years in Australia and China – pedagogical perspectives

Abstract

Similar to the research in Chap. 5, which explored educator’s perspectives of children’s learning in the infant/toddler years, this study investigated the perspective of early childhood educators in Australia and China on children’s learning and optimal conditions for learning for preschool children. The same structured questionnaire used for the infant/toddler study was also conducted in both countries and four main questions were investigated; what situations can be characterized as learning? What activities are important for learning? What are the best conditions for children’s learning? How do early childhood educators understand participation in relation to children’s learning? Internationalization of education has seen relationships develop between countries and an exploration of educator’ theories on children and learning can provide a nuanced approach to comparative research. The findings suggest there is significant sharing of ideas as well as important differences across the contexts of Australia and China.