Different ways that preschool teachers taught children to write Chinese characters in Hong Kong classrooms

This study aimed to explore how preschool teachers teach children to write Chinese characters. The method used in this study was inspired by phenomenography. Specifically, the author videotaped and analyzed the ways that three preschool teachers taught their children to write the same set of eleven Chinese characters. The analysis focused on how the teachers enacted the same object of learning (i.e., the writing of the 11 characters) differently in the classrooms. Pre- and post-tests were administered to determine how well the children learned to write the characters after the teaching of their teachers. Seven teaching strategies that the three teachers used to teach their children to write the characters were identified. Interestingly, an inconsistency was found among the three teachers’ understandings of the correct ways to write the characters. This study expands the understanding about possible ways for teaching preschool children to write Chinese characters, which are practically useful for the professional development of preschool teachers. Copyright © 2014 Hong Kong Educational Research Association.