Confucianism and early childhood education: A study of young children's responses to traditional Chinese festival stories

Confucianism and early childhood education: A study of young children's responses to traditional Chinese festival stories

• Yim, Bonnie Hoi Yin University of Southern Queensland
• Lee, Maria Lai Wan Dept. of Child Education and Community Services, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education
• Ebbeck, Marjory School of Education, University of South Australia

Early Child Development and Care, 181(3), 287-303, 2011

London

Routledge

2011

• B Human Behaviour
  • BB Interests, Attitudes & Values
• Q Philosophy of Education, Educational System & School At Different Levels
  • QB Pre-school Education, Child Caring Facilities, Maternal & Infantile Health Facilities

Chinese Culture Confucianism Moral Values Values Education Early Childhood Education

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Pre-Primary Education

The teaching of values has seen renewed interest, as educators, policymakers and parents seek ways of increasing peaceful coexistence for children in a conflict-driven world. Education systems are again reviewing values as part of their core mission. Confucian values form the core of most Asian cultures, penetrating different levels of social life, and also set the standards for most families, communities and political behaviour. The research reported in this study set out to examine young children's expressed views of Confucian values represented in traditional stories of four Chinese festivals. Within this research, Confucian values were centred on five virtues: Ren (benevolence), Yi (righteousness), Li (courteousness), Xiao (filial piety), and Zhi (wisdom). The four selected Chinese festivals were: (1) Chinese New Year, (2) Dragon Boat festival, (3) Chung Yeung festival, and (4) Mid-Autumn festival. Participants included 392 children aged four to five years from 29 kindergartens or nursery schools and 57 pre-service early childhood teachers in Hong Kong. Results showed that the values of Ren (benevolence) and Yi (righteousness) were the most popular responses among local young children, while the value of Li (courteousness) tended to be the least popular category. Some implications for curriculum planning in early childhood education are discussed arising from the study findings.
[Copyright of Roeper Review is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430903357837]

• English

Journal Articles

• 03004430

• 10.1080/03004430903357837

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/8428e4d3

2013-11-16