Week 7:  Different Values and Pedagogies – Kindergarten & Elementary School Education in China and Canada

Kara Ghobhainn Smith; David D. Plain; Frank Rennie, Gareth Davies, UHI, Thu Le; Clinton Beckford, Loretta Sbrocca; ShiJing Xu, Chenkai Chi, Yuhan Deng, University of Windsor, Canada

Week 7: Different Values and Pedagogies – Kindergarten & Elementary School Education in China and Canada

Kindergarten and Elementary School Education in China and Canada (Session 4A)

Last week, we have learned the importance of teacher education. School education also plays a significant role in the Western and Eastern educational discourse. By completing Week 7’s study, you will develop a basic understanding of kindergarten education in China and Canada, and expand your understanding of elementary school education.

Read the articles in response to this week’s questions critically by reflecting on your own learning or teaching experience. We provide additional resources for those of you interested in expanding your knowledge of the Chinese language and culture and/or the English language and Canadian culture.

Readings

Assignments

Infographic Reading Summary or Reflective Summary

You can choose either summarize your reading visually and creatively on one page or write a reflective summary in 2-3 pages (12 Times New Roman, Double Space) based on the provided readings and/or learning resources.

Questions to Consider This Week:

1. Why has Ontario adopted the Full-Day Early Learning Program? Explain the historical, social, and cultural reasons.

2. What do you think of the inquiry-based learning in Chinese kindergarten?

3. What do you think of the following statement?

“… even if effective learning is claimed to be child directed, play-based and inquiry-based, and to embrace the equal status between teachers and children (Ministry of Education of China, 2001), the participating teachers indirectly guided the direction of the instruction and expressed their ideas through children’s mouth” (Huang et al., 2019, p.89).