High-quality teacher-child interactions benefit children’s learning and developmental trajectories. However, professional development (PD) opportunities for early childhood teachers on how to interact with children are typically insufficient. To enhance teacher-child interactional quality in Hong Kong kindergartens, we designed an online PD entitled Chat with Children, composed of 10 units of learning resources and activities. The objective of this study was to explore how this online PD influenced teachers’ beliefs and intentions regarding teacher-child interaction. Participants were 217 in-service Hong Kong kindergarten teachers. Pre-post evaluation was conducted to examine teachers’ beliefs and intentions in the dimensions of Organization of the Teaching Experience, Group Sensitivity, Encouragement of Communication, and Behavioral Support. After taking the course, teachers had stronger beliefs and intentions to organize interactive activities, address children’s needs with sensitivity, and engage children in communications. Furthermore, teachers believed that they should give children more freedom to settle conflicts, rather directing their misbehaviours immediately. This study provides evidence on the potential of online PD to enhance teachers’ beliefs and intentions regarding how to engage children. Implications, limitations, and future research are discussed. Copyright © 2025 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

Prior research on COVID-related school disruptions focused mainly on primary or secondary, with limited studies on kindergarten children. Using a naturalistic quasi-experimental design, we examined whether school disruption during the first year of kindergarten (K1) affected early numeracy, literacy, and non-academic development. We also examined whether disruption during the first or second year of kindergarten (K2) was more detrimental to children's development. A cohort of K2 students from each of two consecutive years (N = 235, 4–5-year-old) were recruited from ten kindergartens in Hong Kong, which had long periods of COVID-related school disruptions. One cohort was assessed just before the onset of COVID-19; the other, one year later. K1 disruption did not affect performance at K2. In contrast, performance at K3 showed that K2 disruption had a more detrimental effect on physical performance than K1 disruption. Findings highlight the period and aspects of children's development that are particularly sensitive to schooling. Copyright © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Despite the rise of online professional development (PD) for early childhood educators, few studies have examined their perceptions of the usefulness of learning resources. We developed an online PD centered on teacher-child interactions, based on the critical features of high-quality PD. The PD was composed of 10 units with a variety of learning resources, including video lectures, research notes, testimonials, classroom videos, quizzes, reflection activities, and sharing activities. We examined teachers’ perceptions of the usefulness of such learning resources and explored potential differences based on key demographic variables. Participants were 137 in-service Hong Kong kindergarten teachers. Evaluation surveys and semi-structured interviews were utilized after course completion. Classroom videos, which provided real-life examples, were perceived as most useful resource to improve teaching practices. Participants also considered video lectures, research notes, and testimonials as extremely useful resources, and reflection activities and sharing activities as useful resources. Quizzes emerged as the least useful resource, especially when these involved fact-based questions. Teachers’ perceptions were not influenced by their demographic backgrounds. We conclude that teachers place a higher emphasis on online PD resources that offer practical examples compared to those focus on theoretical knowledge and self-reflection. The current study filled an important gap in the early childhood teacher education literature, specifically in the area of online PD, offering theoretical, practical, and policy-related insights. Copyright © 2025 Author(s).

We investigated the provision of musical activities in Hong Kong kindergartens and analysed potential differences among teachers with different levels of teaching experience. Using a self-designed survey, we asked 1,019 teachers how often they conducted 18 specific musical activities. Overall, we found that participants provided considerable music exposure to children. Advanced teachers (more than 15 years' experience) reported conducting more musical activities for children than Beginning teachers (less than 5 years). Principal component analysis revealed the existence of four components: Singing and Transitions (the most frequent); Movement, Technology and Thematic Activities; Sound Production; and Creativity and Self-expression (the least frequent). Teachers with varying teaching experience tend to focus on different musical activities in the classroom. Specifically, Beginning teachers reported to conduct significantly fewer musical creativity activities than Advanced teachers. We conclude that teaching experience is a crucial factor that affects the provision and types of musical activities conducted by kindergarten teachers. Findings May guide subsequent professional development efforts to better prepare kindergarten teachers with different profiles to achieve the learning objectives established in the curriculum framework. Copyright © 2024 Australian Society for Music Education.

This study aimed to (1) investigate the provision of physical activities in Hong Kong kindergartens across different grade levels and (2) examine the availability and utilization of venues in or near kindergartens for physical activities. We surveyed 526 hong Kong kindergarten teachers. Descriptive statistics and parametric statistical techniques (e.g. one-way ANOVA) were employed. Participants across all three grade levels reported implementing physical activities relatively infrequently (M = 2.47), with higher provision of unstructured physical activities involving low degrees of physical exertion and risk. However, K3 teachers (M = 2.55, SD =.45) were found to provide more physical activities than K1 teachers (M = 2.43, SD =.47, p =.033) and K2 teachers (M = 2.42, SD =.42, p =.030). Indoor venues were more commonly reported in or near kindergartens and were more frequently utilized for physical activities. In contrast, the availability and utilization of outdoor venues were limited. The results highlight the distance between internationally accepted physical activity guidelines and actual practices in Hong Kong kindergartens. We conclude that the limited opportunities for physical activities may not be enough for children to develop themselves optimally. Offering longer kindergarten programs and a wider range of easily accessible venues for physical activities would be vital to improving this situation. Copyright © 2024 Childhood Education International.

Online professional development (PD) can be a sustainable and easily scalable alternative to provide early childhood teachers with training opportunities. However, there is limited research on teachers’ levels of satisfaction and engagement in online PD initiatives. Understanding teachers’ levels of satisfaction and engagement is crucial, as these may influence the effectiveness of online PD in benefiting teachers and ultimately young children. This study aimed to examine Hong Kong kindergarten teachers’ satisfaction and engagement in a music-and-movement (M&M) online PD course. This study involved 56 participants who received an 11-week online PD course. Questionnaires were administered after course completion. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-tests. Participants had high levels of satisfaction with the course, particularly those with no or some M&M background, who were more satisfied with the course content and instruction. Participants had moderate-to-high levels of engagement in the course, particularly those with no or some M&M background, who were more emotionally engaged. We conclude that sustainable and easily scalable online PD initiatives can result in high levels of satisfaction and engagement among kindergarten teachers, especially those with limited M&M background. This study supports the idea that online PD can be responsive to teachers’ needs and preferences. Copyright © 2024 by the authors.

Fundamental movement skills (FMSs) are essential building blocks for children’s physical development and future participation in physical activities. While early childhood curriculum frameworks recognize the importance of teaching FMSs, little research has been conducted to explore actual teaching practices in center-based programs and their variations across different grade levels. The goals of this study were to investigate (1) the frequency of a variety of FMSs in the physical activities conducted by Hong Kong kindergarten teachers, (2) the association among these FMSs based on the frequency of use in the classroom, and (3) potential differences in FMSs across the three grade levels of kindergarten education in Hong Kong. The participants were 526 kindergarten teachers. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and parametric statistical techniques (e.g., one-way ANOVA) were employed to analyze their responses to a survey, in which we asked teachers to report the frequency with which FMSs are involved in their classroom physical activities. Overall, we found that the participants practiced an imbalanced set of FMSs in classrooms. K3 teachers were found to incorporate a wider variety of FMSs into their physical activities compared to K1 and K2 teachers. Through principal component analysis, seven components of activities were identified. K3 teachers were found to implement more activities involving springing, object manipulation, uneven locomotor movements, and agility and coordination. We concluded that there is a need to provide structured opportunities for teachers to better facilitate children’s FMS acquisition. Offering more explicit guidelines and further professional development for teachers is crucial to enhancing this situation. Copyright © 2024 by the authors.

In 2017, Hong Kong included the notion of creativity in its official kindergarten curriculum framework. However, the curriculum did not define what creativity means in relation to 3- to 6-year-old children. Stakeholders such as teacher educators, kindergarten principals, and teachers may have different understandings of creativity, possibly leading to difficulties in implementing this notion into practice. We adopted Rhodes’ 4P model to examine Hong Kong kindergarten stakeholders’ definitions of creativity in relation to young children. We posed two research questions: (1) What are the themes and elements that Hong Kong kindergarten stakeholders refer to in their responses when defining the notion of creativity? (2) How do these stakeholders differ in their responses when defining this notion? We asked 50 kindergarten stakeholders (20 teacher educators, 10 principals, and 20 teachers) to define the notion of creativity using their own words. Content analysis, descriptive statistics, and multiple Fisher’s exact tests (2 × 2) were used to analyze their responses. We found that all stakeholders possessed a partial understanding of creativity, especially teachers. Stakeholders’ definitions mainly focused on the importance of creative processes. Other components such as the learning environment, the traits of a person, and the creation of products were rarely alluded to in their definitions. We conclude that there is an urgent need to explicitly articulate and conceptualize the notion of creativity in kindergarten curriculum frameworks, such as Hong Kong’s curriculum Guide. This would allow stakeholders to find common ground in the teaching and learning of creativity. Implications for the enhancement of creativity education are discussed. Copyright © 2024 Faculty of Education.

Arts and Creativity is one learning area of Hong Kong’s official kindergarten curriculum framework. Kindergarten teachers are expected to foster children’s creativity via four art forms: music, visual arts, dance, and drama. However, prior studies have investigated the provision of activities for each of the art forms in isolation and have not explored the demographic variables that predict teachers’ provision of arts education activities. Investigating the provision of the four art forms and its relationship with teachers’ demographics could provide an overview of the status of arts education in Hong Kong kindergartens. We had two research goals: (1) investigate the frequency with which kindergarten teachers conduct arts education activities focusing on music, visual arts, dance, and drama; (2) identify subgroups of teachers who differ regarding the provision of arts education activities and analyze how key demographic variables predict their memberships to these subgroups. We surveyed 477 teachers. Descriptive statistics, latent profile analysis, and multinomial logistic regression analysis were performed. We found that the presence of the four art forms was unbalanced. Participants reported conducting music and visual arts activities frequently, while dance and drama activities were occasionally or rarely conducted. Moreover, we identified three subgroups of teachers who provided arts education activities with different frequencies. Participants with a master’s degree and those who worked in government-funded kindergartens were more likely to be in the highest arts provision group. Findings suggest that the curriculum is not being implemented accurately, as teachers do not equally expose children to the four art forms. We interpret these findings as a reflection of teachers’ uneven preparation in the various art forms. Implications for educational policy regarding professional development are discussed. Copyright © 2024 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.