With the poverty rate of Hong Kong reaching 23.6%, the development and well-being of children from economically disadvantaged families becomes a concern for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. Children with lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds tend to have poorer development in early language and literacy skills, which may then adversely affect their later academic achievement and school success. This development gap between low- and middle-SES children may begin in kindergarten and persist throughout their formal education and beyond. This may be particularly true for ethnic minority groups, which often have to deal with not only economic pressure but also other stressors, including prejudice, discrimination, and cultural adaption. Composed of mostly Southeast Asians, ethnic minority groups constitute about 8% of the Hong Kong population. Importantly, the number of ethnic minority children continues to rise, underscoring the importance of increasing teachers’ multicultural competence and promoting the cultural integration among students in school. In this talk, the speaker will provide an overview about the language and literacy development among children from low-SES and ethnic minority families. The speaker will also explain how we may support these children by promoting culturally responsive teaching in kindergartens, providing professional training for early childhood educators and multicultural teaching assistants, and developing culturally responsive education benchmarks. Copyright © 2022 PECERA-HK.

Background: Early childhood is a critical period during which patterns of movement behaviors are formed. The World Health Organization had endorsed guidelines for physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep over a 24-h time period, which had been adopted by the Center for Health Protection of Hong Kong. This paper reports on stakeholder engagements that were conducted to inform the design of strategies to disseminate the guidelines in early childhood education (ECE) settings. Methods: Using a mixed-methods study design, we sought to (a) assess the stakeholders' levels of awareness and knowledge of the Hong Kong movement guidelines for young children and (b) identify the factors that influence the uptake of the said guidelines. We conducted an online survey of early childhood education teachers (N =314), twelve focus groups involving teachers (N = 18) and parents (N = 18), and individual interviews of key informants (N = 7) and domestic workers who provide care for preschool-aged children (N = 7). Descriptive statistics were used for the quantitative data, and thematic analysis was performed on the qualitative data using an inductive and semantic approach following a realist framework. Findings: Our findings show that teachers were aware of the movement guidelines for young children, but their knowledge of the specific guidelines was deficient; parents and domestic workers had limited awareness and knowledge of the guidelines. Uptake of the movement guidelines is enabled by parent engagement, activities in the ECE centers, home-school cooperation, and community activities for children. The challenges include the time poverty of parents, local curriculum requirements, limited physical spaces, social values, and pandemic-related restrictions. Conclusion: We recommend that dissemination strategies in the ECE context should deliver knowledge content and support stakeholders in mitigating the challenges associated with time, space, and social conditions. Copyright © 2022

The proliferation of screen-free programmable robotics allows teachers to implement age-appropriate integrated activities that can promote child learning and development. However, very scarce is known about the challenges of using programmable robots as a tool to empower children in minority communities. This mixed-methods case study examined a Free Quality Kindergarten situated in a low-income public housing estate in Hong Kong to explore the affordances and challenges of robot programming (RP) in early childhood education (ECE). Both quantitative and qualitative data were generated through videotaped observations, child assessments and teacher interviews to journey with the teaching team as they managed to implement the newly introduced RP curriculum. Child assessment evidence revealed that there was a statistically significant improvement in CT scores over 6 weeks of RP activities, while the pretest–posttest change of child self-regulation scores was nonsignificant. Video analysis results further revealed that children's interaction level with the robot kit significantly predicted the change of self-regulation over time. Qualitative results are presented to explicate the micro, meso and macro conditions that constrain the implementation of RP curriculum, including the following: (a) teachers' limited TPACK in RP education, (b) a disconnect between the RP curriculum and the school-based curriculum, (c) limited resources and (d) the Confucian tradition and cultural barriers. These illustrate the intricacies involved in the implementation of RP education to empower marginalized children in under-resourced ECE settings. This study will help bring systemic change to the ECE field by uncovering ecological difficulties in integrating new technologies to promote inclusiveness and sustainability for the future. Copyright © 2022 British Educational Research Association.

Introduction: Movement behaviours in childhood are believed to track to adulthood, potentially impacting later life. The Guidelines on Physical activity, Sedentary behaviour and Sleep for Children under five years of age by the World Health Organisation was adopted by the Centre for Health Protection in Hong Kong. It is being disseminated to early childhood education centres (ECECs) who had volunteered to join a campaign on healthy eating and physical activity. ECEC educators who are aware and knowledgeable of movement guidelines could help promote healthy movement behaviours. We assessed early childhood educators’ awareness and knowledge of the movement guidelines for young children in Hong Kong. Methods: Invitations to participate in an online survey were sent to registered local ECECs. Teachers (N = 301) responded to close-ended questions that were adapted from previous studies that measured the awareness (i.e., whether they had seen or heard of them) and knowledge of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep guidelines for children aged two to six years. Additional questions enquired about the background of the respondents (i.e., professional qualification, age, sex) and the contexts in which physical activities were being implemented in ECEC settings. Results: Majority of the participants reported awareness and knowledge, respectively, of the guidelines for physical activity (88%, 87%), sedentary behaviour (70%, 80%), and sleep (58%, 84%) of young children. Smaller portions of the participants reported the correct recommended time for physical activity (23%), sedentary behaviour (25%), and sleep (62%). Teachers who have higher degree qualifications tended to be aware of the guidelines for physical activity (Χ2=9.56, p=0.04) and sedentary behaviour (Χ2=13.20, p=0.01), more so than those with lower qualifications. Physical activities were reportedly promoted in ECEC settings during free play (81%), outdoor activities (73%), indoor games (66%), and other learning

With the rapid change of the technological world, educators have been urgently required to appropriately integrate various and innovative digital technologies to support the diverse learning needs of students in Hong Kong. The flexible learning spaces offer multiple opportunities for educators to integrate innovative toolkits to explore students’ potential learning needs, embracing their design thinking and creativity. An exploratory case study approach was adopted to investigate improving students’ learning by using digital technologies in the technology-mediated classroom and develop practical toolkits for educators. Students’ discourses and learning processes were collected as data. Three students aged 6-8 in Hong Kong were invited to participate in this study. Content analysis was employed to analyse the effectiveness of the toolkits on students’ learning modal and engagement. The findings show that digital technologies can help change students’ learning modal from passive to interactive by stimulating multimodal learning, i.e. making an AR vocabulary card required modals of linguistic, gestural, visual, and aural. The toolkits can build multiple learning spaces for design thinking and creativity, i.e. a map and digital story of the ocean were created by using a toolkit composed of 3D printing models, coding robots, and a digital book App.隨着科技世界日新月異，需要教育工作者整合各種創新數碼科技，以支持年幼學習者的多元化學習需要。靈活的學習空間為教育工作者提供了多種機會，特別是創新工具包，可以用於探索學生的潛在學習需求，提升他們的設計思維和創造力。此研究採用探索性案例研究方法，在技術為媒介的課堂中使用數碼技術來改善學生學習的方法，並嘗試為教育工作者開發實用工具包。研究通過學生的言談分析和學習歷程收集數據，三名6-8歲的香港學生受邀參與這項研究。研究者使用內容分析法來分析工具包和學習空間對學生學習模式和參與的有效性。研究結果表明，數碼技術可以通過刺激多模態學習來幫助學生將學習模態從被動轉變為交互式，即製作需要語言、手勢、視覺和聽覺模態的 AR 詞彙卡。工具包可以搭建多元化的創意學習空間，研究展示1. 3D打印模型、2. 編程玩具和3. 數字圖書App組成的工具包創建了一個關於海洋的學習空間。 Copyright © 2021 Learning and Teaching Expo.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) in early childhood lays the foundation for children’s later adjustment (Bornstein et al., 2010). Among existing SEL programs, OpenMind (OM) is a mindfulness-based kindergarten curriculum that has demonstrated effectiveness in the United States and Korea (Jackman et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2020). To enhance children’s SEL in Hong Kong, this study adapted and implemented OM activities over a one-month period. Initial efficacy on children’s SEL was examined, alongside teachers’ attitudes toward OM. Fifty-two Chinese children in K1-2 (3-5-year-old; nintervention=27; nwaitlist control=24) and four trained kindergarten teachers participated in daily meditation practices. They also completed pretest, immediate posttest, and a four-week follow-up posttest. Results suggest that teachers find OM activities useful, particularly during disruptive incidents. Children also had greater improvements in emotional control and shifting than did children in the waitlist control group. Through these practices, we hope to build a stronger foundation for children’s social-emotional competence. Copyright © 2021 HKERA-APERA International Conference.

In recent years, the Hong Kong SAR Government is committed to enhancing early childhood care and education (ECCE) provision for local children aged 0 to 2. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on the quality of ECCE provision for infants and toddlers in centre-based settings in Hong Kong; its impact on child outcomes also remains understudied. In the present study, we examined the structural and process qualities of ECCE settings for infants and toddlers in Hong Kong, and determined whether the qualities of ECCE provision were associated with young children’s language-communicative development. Two trained researchers visited 8 childcare centres in Hong Kong and used the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale to assess the qualities of the centre provisions. We also administered the Chinese Communicative Development Inventory to capture the young children’s language-communicative skills. Our results dovetail international findings that process quality is a more important factor affecting child developmental outcome, thus calling for staff training and measures supporting an environment conducive to quality practitioner-child interaction. Copyright © 2021 HKERA-APERA International Conference.

This paper reports significant findings from an exploratory investigation of factors influencing kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of holistic early childhood education (HECE) following the release of a recent policy document relating to Early Childhood Education by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. A comprehensive four-page survey questionnaire was completed by 165 teachers, in 22 Kindergartens across three Districts in Hong Kong. The questionnaire sought responses on demographics (including spiritual well-being); six aspects of ECE detailed in the HKSAR document; teachers’ expectations of HECE; and their perceptions of parental involvement in their young children’s development. This study revealed that kindergarten teachers’ spiritual well-being was a key demographic factor contributing to their expectations of holistic early childhood education. Copyright © 2022 Informa UK Limited.