Bridging the research–practice divide in exploring early childhood education quality

Abstract

Drawing on a growing body of international literature that conceptualises early childhood education (ECE) quality as a culturally constructed rather than a universal notion, this colloquium discusses how quality is being investigated in China, a country where ECE research has grown exponentially in recent years. The colloquium is structured into two main sections, highlighting the differing approaches to quality inquiry among Chinese academic researchers and practitioners, respectively. Whilst many Chinese academic researchers still adopt positivist paradigms, viewing quality as an objective reality, they extend frameworks by developing localised quality standards that foreground cultural considerations. Researchers’ work is often published in high-impact English-language journals, reflecting their engagement with global discourses whilst addressing Chinese contextual specificities. In contrast, Chinese ECE practitioners employ methods that transcend positivism through action research, commentaries and reflective papers. Some practitioner-led explorations offer nuanced, practice-informed, locally situated perspectives to construct ECE quality. However, practitioners’ views are mainly published in Chinese lower-tier journals with limited international visibility. We argue that academic researchers and practitioners select divergent paradigms and methods to investigate ECE quality, producing different types of knowledge. Lack of collaboration among them may lead to fragmented definitions, hindering coherent improvement of ECE practices. A critical next step would involve integrating Chinese researchers’ and practitioners’ perspectives more rigorously to conceptualise the multifaceted and context-specific nature of ECE quality. Insights gained from China can inform international dialogues about ECE quality around the world.