期刊：
Early Childhood Education Journal,2021年49(5):869-879 ISSN：1082-3301
通讯作者：
Xin Gong
作者机构：
[Tan, Fei] Tufts Univ, Medford, MA 02155 USA.;[Gong, Xin] Cent China Normal Univ, Sch Educ, 152 Luoyu Rd, Wuhan 430079, Hubei, Peoples R China.;[Zhang, Xiao] Univ Hong Kong, Fac Educ, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong, Peoples R China.;[Zhang, Ronghua] Wuhan Univ, Wuhan, Hubei, Peoples R China.
通讯机构：
[Xin Gong] S;School of Education, Central China Normal University, Hongshan District, Wuhan, China
关键词：
Approaches to learning;Family-school connections;COVID-19;Preschoolers;Wuhan
摘要：
The concept, approaches to learning (ATL), is an important dimension of children’s school readiness, which reflects children’s enthusiasm and engagement in learning settings. Due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), when preschools were shut down for months and children’s social interactions were greatly limited, preschoolers’ ATL might be negatively affected. However, strengthened family-school connections might have the potential to reduce the adverse effects of the pandemic. Based on a sample of 340 preschoolers from 30 classes of 6 preschools in Wuhan, China, we explored the association between family-preschool connections and preschoolers’ ATL scores. The findings showed that the preschoolers’ ATL were statistically and positively associated with parental attendance at the online parent-teacher meetings initiated by the preschools (standardized coefficient = 0.15). Policy implications regarding the enhancement of family-preschool connections are discussed.
期刊：
Journal of Chinese Sociology,2021年8(1):1-22 ISSN：2198-2635
通讯作者：
Lei Zheng
作者机构：
[Lei Zheng] Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China;[Qiuyi Weng] National Institute of Education Sciences, Beijing, China;[Xin Gong] School of Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
通讯机构：
[Lei Zheng] F;Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
摘要：
Cognitive abilities have a great impact on individuals’ socioeconomic status. Among the factors that affect cognitive ability, early childhood development and preschool education are vital. However, evidence on the effect of preschool attendance on the urban-rural cognition gap from large-scale samples is almost nonexistent. Based on a nationally representative dataset from the China Education Panel Survey, this study fills this gap by presenting evidence of a significant cognition gap between urban and rural middle school students. We find a consistent positive relationship between preschool attendance and cognitive ability in grade 7 and grade 9 based on ordinary least squares and propensity score matching estimations. Results based on a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition suggest that the differences between urban and rural students in preschool education account for 28% to 44% of the between-group cognition gap. We also simulate the effects of policy interventions meant to develop preschool education on the narrowing of the urban-rural cognition gap.
期刊：
Studies in Educational Evaluation,2020年67:100932 ISSN：0191-491X
通讯作者：
Gong, Xin
作者机构：
[Gong, Xin] Cent China Normal Univ, Sch Educ, 152 Luoyu Rd, Wuhan 430079, Hubei, Peoples R China.;[Zhang, Xuan] Univ Houston, Dept Math, Houston, TX 77004 USA.;[Tsang, Mun C.] Columbia Univ, Teachers Coll, New York, NY 10027 USA.
通讯机构：
[Gong, Xin] C;Cent China Normal Univ, Sch Educ, 152 Luoyu Rd, Wuhan 430079, Hubei, Peoples R China.
摘要：
As one of the potential contextual factors for creativity development, children’s museum has been introduced to China from the western world in recent years, with the aim to offer a new informal educational environment to enhance children’s creativity. Based on experimental data for two groups of 4-year-old preschoolers (218 for the family mode and 202 for the preschool mode) from Beijing with an appropriately one-year long intervention (September 2017 to July 2018), this study examines the effect of regular visits to a children’s museum and other education environmental factors on young children’s creativity measured by Torrance’s Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement (TCAM) test. Results indicate that in terms of family visit, compared to the control group, the intervention that offers 18 times free tickets to visit a children’s museum significantly improved the experiment group’s originality (a sub-measure of creativity) by an additional 34.51 %. A beneficial effect of this intervention was also found in improving children’s fluency from the sample of preschool group visit (46.80 %). In addition, family education environment factors such as public preschool attendance, frequency of visits to science museums, and the degree of parents’ latitude were also found to positively affect creativity. Children’s personal features such as sex and geographic location of the family are also found to be related with children’s creativity.
