To examine and identify the current inclusive practices in early childhood educational settings in Hong Kong, this qualitative study looks at the support and educational services available for young children with special needs in Hong Kong mainstream preschools as well as the characteristics of early childhood educational settings that support inclusion. Inclusive practices of each of the three preschools involved in the study are presented. Challenges to enhance the quality of inclusion in early childhood educational settings and future possibilities in the field in Hong Kong are also discussed.
[Copyright of Roeper Review is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13603110903317676]

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]

With a growing awareness of the importance of early childhood education, the governments of Hong Kong and England have both increased investment through providing fee assistance to parents for buying services and providing funding to providers for offering 'free' places, respectively. Alongside the increased funding of early childhood education, a heightened interest in the quality of early years settings has arisen. This paper aims to develop a framework for comparative studies by addressing the similarities and differences in quality improvement of both systems. Three key issues are discussed: relevance of the quality criteria for assessment, interpretations of the quality improvement mechanism and its use in guiding practice, and the influence of contextual factors in terms of stakeholders' views of the quality process. It is argued that these key issues are fundamental to a framework for understanding different sociocultural contexts and dynamics in shaping the quality improvement of early childhood education.
[Copyright of International Journal of Early Years Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2010.524058]

This article aims to identify leadership roles for quality in early childhood programmes in the local settings of a sample of Hong Kong preschools. Two schools were selected for the study, both of which were rated as excellent in the quality assurance inspections of a local education authority. Effective leadership was explored from the multiple perspectives of various school stakeholders, including school governors, principals, teachers, members of support staff and parents. The qualitative interviews were used for data collection. The interview data indicated that the teachers, members of support staff and parents quite often viewed themselves as followers and were dependent on a single leader, the head. As perceived by the school stakeholders, the principals tended to take up three major roles: role model, school manager and mentor for curriculum and pedagogy. Characteristics of the associated patterns of the three leadership roles were similar to those of moral, managerial and instructional leadership documented in the Western literature. The implications of the study for promoting moral leadership and developing teacher leadership are discussed.
[Copyright of International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13603120903387561]