Hong Kong and German teachers' and parents' perspectives on learning at play

This study investigates Hong Kong and German teachers’ and parents’ perspectives and understandings of learning at play. A total of 28 teachers and 12 parents will take part in this study. Among them, twelve kindergarten teachers (6 German and 6 Chinese) will be interviewed to obtain their perspectives on learning at play. They will assist the researchers to capture the episodes of “learning at play” in their views in the classrooms. Four 3-minute-videos containing the biggest amount of learning elements in teachers’ views will be selected from each culture. Applying the video-cued multivocal ethnography(Tobin, Hsueh, & Karasawa, 2009), the selected video clips will be shown to 16 other teachers (8 German and 8 Chinese) and 12 parents (6 German and 6 Chinese) in focus groups for further discussion and will be used to elicit their perspectives and understanding of learning at play. This comparative study provides different social representations of learning at play from parents’ and teachers’ perspectives, and has implications for professional practice and curricular policy for the two contexts which are currently undergoing educational reforms.

Funding Source: HK Others - Departmental Research Fund^^