Enhancing early childhood schooling of South Asian children in Hong Kong: beliefs and perceptions of kindergarten teachers and principals

Abstract

Enhancing quality early childhood education and enabling access for ethnic minority South Asian (SA) children in kindergartens have increasingly been a social concern in Hong Kong. This empirical study examines the beliefs and perceptions of kindergarten teachers and principals towards educating SA children in their own educational settings. The research focus was sharpened by a case-study method to examine the effectiveness of SA children from two different kindergartens with significant demographic differences. In total, 10 focus group interviews with 29 teachers and individual interviews with the 2 principals were conducted to understand their perspectives on the learning and transitional needs of SA children. The findings reveal a remarkable difference between the beliefs and perceptions of both teachers and principals from the two kindergartens in response to the diverse needs of SA children. School policy, practice and the implications for the development of early years education are discussed.