Approaches to Learning of Preschool Children in China: A Comparison between Only Children and Non-Only Children.

Preschool children are at the initial stage of individual development and at a critical period in cultivating their approaches to learning. In the context of China's frequently adjusted birth policies, further research is necessary on children's approaches to learning in families of different sizes. A questionnaire survey was administered to 5454 only child and 4632 non-only child parents from the east, middle, and west of China. The study found that children's approaches to learning generally developed well, but non-only children's approaches to learning was significantly lower than those of only children. There are four profiles of approaches to learning for both the only children and the non-only children. This study also found that gender, social skills, family income, and type of preschool exert significant influences on children's approaches to learning. Parents' educational background had a significant influence on only children's approaches to learning but had no significant influence on non-only children's approaches to learning. We provide practical implications for promoting children's approaches to learning in families of different sizes.

Type of Family Support for Infant and Toddler Care That Relieves Parenting Stress: Does the Number of Children Matter?

The present study aimed to investigate the status and relationships between family support for infant and toddler care and parenting stress, and to explore differences related to the number of children in the families. We conducted a survey among 13,390 Chinese parents who were randomly sampled from six provinces of China. Descriptive analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, and regression analysis indicated that (1) current family support for infant and toddler care in China is insufficient; (2) most Chinese parents reported moderate parenting stress, with the highest scores given for parental distress, followed by difficult child, and parent-child dysfunctional interaction; (3) the larger the number of children in the family, the less the family support for infant and toddler care, the greater the parenting stress; (4) there was a difference between the effects of family support for infant and toddler care on relieving parenting stress among families with different numbers of children. These findings indicate that different types of family support for infant and toddler care should be provided for families with different numbers of children, to ease parenting stress and promote the implementation of the government's current fertility policy.

Parental Educational Anxiety during Children's Transition to Primary School in China.

Children's transition from preschool to primary school has long been recognized as a particularly challenging period that can induce parental educational anxiety. As a true portraiture of Chinese parenting, educational anxiety during this transition has attracted considerable attention, given its detrimental effects on children's development and education. This study was aimed at identifying the characteristics of parental educational anxiety and its influencing factors during children's transition to primary school in China. We examined parental educational anxiety and parental educational experience through a questionnaire survey. The sample comprised 26,295 families with children in grade one distributed across nine cities in five provinces. The results indicate that (1) Chinese parents experience some degree of educational anxiety during their children's transition to primary school and are more worried about their children's learning and social adaptation processes than about how the curriculum is taught; (2) scores for parental educational anxiety varied significantly across different regions and urban/rural areas; (3) family socioeconomic status, parents' educational concepts, preschools' entrance preparation work, and primary school enrollment adaptation work are all important factors influencing parental educational anxiety during this transition. Our findings highlight the prevalence of parental educational anxiety in China and the need for effective measures to facilitate a smooth transition.

Unusual Experience in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Young Children's Readjustment from Home to Preschool following School Closures in Different Risk Regions.

Children's readjustment to preschool following long-term school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic merits special attention. This study examined children's preschool readjustment using a survey of 1008 teachers in a high-risk region and 1399 teachers in a fluctuating-risk region of China. Results found are as follows. (1) children's preschool readjustment was at a medium level after the long-term school closures. However, children's preschool readjustment scores in the fluctuating-risk region were significantly lower than those in the high-risk region. (2) Children in both regions were divided into four profiles based on their preschool readjustment: low-level, middle-level, upper-middle-level, and high-level groups. (3) Preschool transition practices and teachers' turnover intention are common factors relating to preschool readjustment in both regions. Teachers' professional development support impacted children's preschool readjustment only in the high-risk region. The findings inform the design of targeted interventions to help children readjust to preschool across different risk regions.

Early childhood teachers' professional learning about ICT implementation in kindergarten curriculum: A qualitative exploratory study in China.

Many teachers have begun to adopt information and communication technologies (ICT) in early childhood education (ECE) settings to support children's learning. However, research shows that ECE teachers' ICT implementation practice is not always appropriate, and their limited professional learning opportunities is one reason for this. Researchers worldwide have called for more understanding of professional learning that supports ECE teachers' use of ICT in the kindergarten curriculum. In China, although ECE teachers' ICT competencies and skills are required in national documents, little has been reported about how they are supported in learning about implementing ICT in the current curriculum. Drawing on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model, this study investigates how a small group of ECE teachers in China have experienced professional learning regarding ICT-related curriculum. By conducting individual interviews and analyzing public and teachers' personal documents, this study finds that teacher participants had received diverse types of professional learning opportunities related to ICT implementation. These opportunities were provided by different organizations; however, one shared feature was a focus on the technical level of how to use ICT devices. This study also discusses the teaching-research culture underpinning participants' professional learning. This article provides significant implications for advancing current professional learning programs.

Assessing young children's national identity through human-computer interaction: A game-based assessment task.

As a way of human-computer interaction, game-based assessment is more suitable for young children because it is situational, interesting, and effective. National identity is an important factor affecting the overall development of young children and the future development of a country, which has attracted extensive attention from researchers. Nevertheless, the assessment of young children's national identity is still based on traditional evaluation, including questionnaires and interviews, which have the limitations of being inaccurate, dull, and time-consuming. To understand the characteristics of children's national identity, it is necessary to use scientific and interactive assessment methods. The present study investigated whether the game-based assessment we developed specifically would be an appropriate tool to measure young children's national identity. The results show that the game-based assessment had good item discrimination. Exploratory factor analysis demonstrated the game covered three aspects: national cognition mastery, national emotion engagement, and national behavior tendency. The confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the model with three factors fit the data well. The internal consistency, the split-half reliability, and the test-retest reliability meet standards. Overall, the results indicated that this game can be successfully used to assess young children's national identity with acceptable validity and reliability. Our study provides strong evidence for the use of human-computer interaction in child measurement. These findings are the first to demonstrate the promise of game-based assessment in assessing children's national identity reliably and effectively.

Perceived Crisis Management and Post-Traumatic Growth among Chinese Preschool Teachers during COVID-19: Risk Perception as a Moderator.

This study explored post-traumatic growth among preschool teachers during COVID-19 and investigated associations among post-traumatic growth, perceived crisis management, and risk perception. The participants were 2921 Chinese preschool teachers (96.5% women). Teachers' reports of post-traumatic growth, perceived crisis management, and risk perception were analyzed by multivariate techniques. The results revealed that preschool teachers' post-traumatic growth was at an intermediate level, and there was no significant difference in post-traumatic growth by risk level area. Post-traumatic growth was significantly related to risk perception and perceived crisis management, and risk perception appeared to moderate the relationship between perceived crisis management and post-traumatic growth. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the roles of perceived crisis management and risk perception in preschool teachers' post-traumatic growth. Related suggestions for preschool teachers' mental health are discussed.

Implementation and Challenges of Online Education during the COVID-19 Outbreak: A National Survey of Children and Parents in China.

This study aims to explore the implementation and challenges of China's national online education strategy - "Suspending Classes Without Stopping Learning" (SCWSL) - during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of children and their parents. Altogether 28,334 children (aged 6-8 years) and their parents were randomly sampled from nine cities in five provinces of China, and a mixed-method design involving a questionnaire and interviews was used. The results indicated that: (1) most children had participated in online education characterized by wide-ranging content, teacher-led interaction, and rich learning platforms; (2) online education had an effect on children's physical and mental health; (3) parent pressure was at a medium to high level due to online education; and (4) parents perceived that offline education was more effective than online education, and this perception varied significantly between geographical regions, living areas, and school types. These findings reveal that the sudden implementation of nationwide online education created many challenges, and also provided practical implications for countries carrying out online education in the post-pandemic era.

Development and Validation of a Questionnaire to Measure Chinese Preschool Teachers' Implementation of Social-Emotional Practices.

We describe the development and validation of the Social-Emotional Teaching Practices Questionnaire-Chinese (SETP-C), a self-report instrument designed to gather information about Chinese preschool teachers' implementation of social-emotional practices. Initially (study 1), 262 items for the SETP-C were generated. Content validation of these items was conducted separately with Chinese practice experts, research experts, and preschool teachers. Significant revisions were made to items based on theoretical evidence and empirical findings from initial content validation activities, which led to a 70-item version of the SETP-C. In study 2, preliminary psychometric integrity evidence and item characteristics of the SETP-C were gathered based on the data from a sample of 1,599 Chinese preschool teacher respondents. Results from confirmatory factor analyses suggested a seven-factor measurement model, and high internal consistency score reliability was documented for each dimension of the SETP-C. Results of item response theory graded response models further indicated adequate psychometric properties at the item level.

Preschool Teachers' Technology Acceptance During the COVID-19: An Adapted Technology Acceptance Model.

Online education has become a major reaction to the COVID-19 epidemic, which requires preschool teachers to quickly adapt to online education and accept educational technology. In this emergency background, research on the preschool teachers' technology acceptance provides clues to improve preschool teachers' intention to use educational technology. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is widely used to examine the process of individuals' technology acceptance in the previous literature. Therefore, this study seeks to examine preschool teachers' technology acceptance with the adapted TAM and their determinant factors. The proposed model was empirically validated by using survey data from 1,568 preschool teachers during the COVID-19. Results indicate that preschool teachers' behavioral intention was moderate to high level. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are direct significant predictors of preschool teachers' behavioral intention. Perceived usefulness is affected by perceived ease of use and job relevance. Computer self-efficacy and perceptions of external control are the positive factors toward perceived ease of use. Our findings present powerful evidence for the applicability of the adapted TAM in a sample of Chinese preschool teachers under emergency circumstances. These results highlighted some potential avenues for interventions aimed at improving preschool teachers' acceptance toward educational technology.

Dual Stressors and Female Pre-school Teachers' Job Satisfaction During the COVID-19: The Mediation of Work-Family Conflict.

Online education has become a vital weapon to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in the world. In the home-based online education environment, female pre-school teachers are expected to balance the dual roles of teacher and mother at the same time, which may trigger the work-family conflict. Although previous studies analyzed individual stressors, work-family conflict and its outcomes, there is little research on pre-school teachers' work and parenting experience during major public health emergencies. The current study examined the associations among work overload, parenting stress, work-family conflict, and job satisfaction during the COVID-19. Seven hundred eighteen female pre-school teachers with children who worked online at home participated in the study. Female pre-school teachers reported that the COVID-19 has increased work overload and parenting stress. Moreover, work overload was negatively associated with job satisfaction via its positive association with work-to-family conflict. Parenting stress was negatively associated with job satisfaction via both family-to-work conflict and work-to-family conflict. The study contributes to a better understanding of the association among female pre-school teachers' work overload, parenting stress, work-family conflict, and job satisfaction. Our findings highlighted potential avenues for interventions aimed at balancing female pre-school teachers' work and family and improving their job satisfaction during the COVID-19.

Non-parental Care Arrangements, Parenting Stress, and Demand for Infant-Toddler Care in China: Evidence From a National Survey.

This study examined the patterns and characteristics of non-parental child care arrangements for Chinese very young children before they enter preschool and the extent to which families' utilization of non-parental child care influenced parenting stress. A total of 3,842 Chinese parents of infants and toddlers were selected from 10 provinces to participate in this study. The results indicated that (1) Chinese families relied heavily on grandparents to care for their children; (2) a set of family demographics predicted the utilization of non-parental child care arrangements, including parents' educational level, household income, labor force participation, and maternal age; (3) there existed a clear parental preference for publicly funded, affordable, and high-quality child care services; and (4) families' use of non-parental child care was generally not linked to parenting stress. These findings shed light on the development of the infant-toddler non-parental child care system in the Chinese sociocultural context.