Culturally Situated Pedagogies for Self and Society in Hong Kong Kindergartens
摘要
In Hong Kong’s kindergarten curriculum framework (Curriculum Development Council, 2017), the learning area of Self and Society focuses on how children can understand and learn more about themselves and how they can effectively engage in society. As toddlers start to gain knowledge, they begin to create their self-image. Even more important than developing self-care skills is learning to take responsibility for your own actions and emotions. At this age, children also become more conscious of their surroundings and adopt different social roles. Hence, children need to enrich their social development (i.e., sharing toys, respecting others, making friends, collaborating with peers) through real-life scenarios. In this chapter, drawing on Chen (2022) framework, we introduce global theoretical insights and how they can be situated in the Hong Kong preschool curriculum in the context of Self and Society. Emphasizing the current international practices, one concern schools are trying to address now is the inevitable existence of technology and its users becoming younger every year. Digital citizenship education has been developed over the years and is being promoted to schools. Bridging the foreground (digital citizenship curriculum) and the background (Hong Kong being one of the top societies in Asia in global innovation index and comprising very young digital users), we propose a middle ground by introducing a digital citizenship curriculum for Hong Kong preschools. We envision an innovative learning experience for children. Children nowadays are organically exposed to technology. As we embrace the technology era, we must empower children to understand others and the world through the lens of technology. We should equip children with the knowledge on how to responsibly utilize (i.e., when to use digital devices, balancing the use of digital devices and physically interacting with others) these digital tools as part of society. Topics covered in this chapter include the main components of the Self and Society learning area, namely: Self-awareness: understanding and expressing emotions; Social cognition: relationships with others; Relationships with social groups; Moral education; and Culturally situated and glocal pedagogies for Self and Society. Lastly, we discuss new opportunities for early learning of digital citizenship. Each topic discusses what children should learn (i.e., learning objectives), theoretical foundations, developmental appropriateness, practical activities, and strategies for assessing the Self and Society learning area. The structure of each component will be discussed based on Chen’s framework.