What do children say about tidy-up time? A comparative study of American and Taiwanese children’s perceptions of tidy-up time

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the similarities and differences in American and Taiwanese children’s perspectives of tidy-up time. The participants consisted of 25 American kindergarteners in the southeastern US, and 25 Taiwanese kindergarteners from central Taiwan. Children were asked to respond to five questions regarding tidy-up time. Qualitative analysis of the data yielded four themes: transitions, clean and safe environments, work, and cooperation. All participants associated tidy-up time with transitions. They considered tidy-up as the notion of maintaining clean environments, but only Taiwanese children perceived it to be keeping the classroom safe. Also, all participants viewed such time as work, and as time to cooperate with each other. More Taiwanese children’s responses indicated how they and their teachers cooperate during cleaning as compared to their American counterparts.

Understanding children’s perceptions of tidy-up time is important since awareness of such perceptions enables teachers to recognize that children have their own interests, concerns, and issues regarding school activities (Dockett and Perry, 2007; Griebling et al., 2016). Tidy-up time is one of those issues (Izumi-Taylor et al., 2015). When teachers understand children’s perspectives and listen to them, their school experiences might improve (Dockett and Perry, 2007). Children experience and understand the world differently from adults, and listening to and understanding children’s views can build respectful relationships among children and adults (Dockett and Meckley, 2007; Dockett and Perry, 2007; Griebling et al., 2016). Building such relationships is one of the main goals of developmentally appropriate early childhood education (Copple and Bredekamp, 2009).

Tidy-up time refers to “cleaning up of materials, toys, and work space so that the class can transition to another activity” (Lash, 2008: 35). Transitions in early childhood educational settings mean children finish one activity and move on to another one (Thelen and Klifman, 2011). In many classrooms, many teachers often use different kinds of cues for tidy-up time, and simply giving children two signals before a transition could help with this activity (Thelen and Klifman, 2011; Weldemariam, 2014). Some studies found that saving children’s play activities can promote smooth transitions to other activities (Izumi-Taylor et al., 2015; 2017; Weldemariam, 2014).

The purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to examine the similarities and differences in American and Taiwanese children’s perspectives of tidy-up time. Children’s views of school activities may be influenced by their own cultural beliefs, values, and traditions with which they are familiar, and understanding such influences might lead to the best practices for early childhood education. Sharing children’s views of tidy-up time would be beneficial in a universal understanding of early childhood education.

Article 12 in the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child (United Nations, 1989) states that children have the right to express their views of issues that are important and that matter to them. However, there exist limited studies examining children’s views of tidy-up time in different cultures. This study was conducted to address such limitations and was guided by the following two research questions: 1. What views of clean-up time were revealed among American and Taiwanese children? 2. Are there any similarities and differences regarding their views of clean-up time? This paper first outlines the contexts concerning previous studies of tidy-up time, and is followed by a report on the study, analysis of findings, and discussions of implications and limitations for early childhood education.

Previous studies of clean-up time

Studies of tidy-up time were examined in relation to children’s self-regulation (Elias and Berk, 2002; Kochanska et al., 1995, 1997; Rubin et al., 2002) or parent–child relations (Combs-Ronto et al., 2009; Gilliom et al., 2002; Hastings et al., 2008; Kuersten-Hogan and McHale, 2000; Sessa et al., 2001). None of these studies asked about children’s perceptions of tidy-up time in the classroom, while another study found that teachers reported cleaning-up time to be a 100% teacher-initiated task (McMullen et al., 2006).

Children’s views of tidy-up time were examined by Corsaro (1988) when he interviewed preschoolers. He found that children perceived “clean up was not simply work they wished to avoid. To them, clean up was unnecessary. It was dumb work that interfered with fun play” (p.22). In another study by Corsaro (2003), preschoolers were asked about their notions of clean-up time, and he found that many children resisted the task. Corsaro perceived children’s views of clean-up time as their “secondary adjustments to adults rules” (p.138). Secondary adjustments are defined as children creating adjustments to avoid required tasks, such as clean-up time. These preschoolers reported that it would be helpful if they were able to save their activities till the next day and that they did not understand why they had to tidy up just for one day. Romero (1991) explored children’s views of work and play and found that cleaning was not play to them.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s book on developmentally appropriate practice (Copple and Bredekamp, 2009) states “teachers engage children in developing their own community rules and behavior” (p.17). Although it does not use the term, “tidy up,” Copple and Bredekamp recommend that everyone in the classroom should be responsible for its members and its environment.

One study examined Japanese children’s perceptions of tidy-up time and found that some kindergartners perceived that cleaning up toys should be done by only those who played with toys, while others thought that everyone in the classroom should participate (Hashimoto et al., 2012). Nakatsubo et al. (2009) found that Japanese teachers reported that sometimes tidy-up time becomes “a source of conflicts” between children and teachers (p.81). Other Japanese researchers observed children’s behavior during tidy-up time and found that children learn to clean up as part of their everyday habits in group settings (Nagase and Kuramochi, 2011a, 2011b).

In Taiwan, The Preschool Activities and Curriculum Guidelines Working Edition issued by the Ministry of Education (2013) states that children need to use appropriate tools to clean up their environments, and that they should observe and adjust their behavior in order to care for and clean their environments. Tidy-up time in Taiwanese early childhood settings is allocated for transitional time from one activity to another (Lin, 2015). However, there exists no research regarding Taiwanese children’s concepts of the subject.

One comparative study of American, Japanese, and Taiwanese preschool teachers’ views of tidy-up time found that their perspectives were related to their methods of teaching, the developmental stages of children, and the extension of play, and they were a reflection of teachers’ professional knowledge and skills (Izumi-Taylor et al., 2015). These teachers perceived tidy-up time as more than just a transitional time and used various kinds of encouragement to engage children. To signal children it was time to clean up, American teachers utilized songs, classroom lights, or bells, whereas Japanese teachers simply talked to them, and Taiwanese teachers also used bells. All teachers reported that children learn to work together and to cooperate when cleaning their classrooms. None of these teachers described any difficulties in engaging their charges in cleaning classrooms.

Method

Participants

The participants consisted of 25 (13 boys and 12 girls) American kindergarteners in the southeastern US, and 25 (13 boys and 12 girls) Taiwanese kindergarteners from central Taiwan. The respondent pool was selected through convenience of access (Hactch, 2007), and we identified the children as our participants who might have “the best information to which we can address our research questions” (Hancock and Algozzine, 2006: 40).

Data collection

An American research assistant interviewed American children, and the second author interviewed Taiwanese children. Each interview took 5–10 minutes. Interviews were carried out informally depending on children’s preferences of place (some children wanted to be interviewed in the classroom, while others preferred be interviewed in the playground). Children’s responses were written down during interviews, and children were informed that the interviewers would take notes while talking to them. The interview questions were as follows:

1. What does clean-up time mean to you?

2. Why do you think we have to clean up?

3. Is clean-up time work or play? If it is work, why? If it is not play, why? If it is play, why?

4. How do your teachers help you during clean-up time?

5. What do your teachers say when you are not cleaning up?

6. Do you and your classmates do something together to help each other during clean up?

Data analysis

The second author translated Taiwanese children’s responses into English, and two bilingual educators reviewed the responses, reaching consensus on translation (Izumi-Taylor et al., 2010). Our data analysis consisted of content and thematic analyses. The data were coded and categorized using qualitative analysis methods (Lichtman, 2013). The first author trained two assistants to code and categorize responses. We coded each response “according to its relevance to the study, and multiple category codings were counted as separate responses” (Izumi-Taylor et al., 2010: 412). Because of the informal nature of interviews, some children’s responses did not relate to our questions (Dockett and Perry, 2004). We discarded such responses and coded other responses more than once (Izumi-Taylor et al., 2010).

Results

Qualitative analysis of the data yielded four themes regarding children’s views of tidy-up time: transitions, clean and safe environments, work, and cooperation. We define transitions as finishing cleaning up one activity to move on to another (Thelen and Klifman, 2011). Clean and safe environments mean pristine and secure classrooms. Work refers to engaging in required tasks. Cooperation is defined as working together to achieve goals. Each theme will be discussed accordingly.

Transitions

When asked about the meaning of tidy-up time, both American and Taiwanese children talked about picking up or putting up toys. Although they did not mention the word “transitions,” their responses indicated the end of their current activities to move on to other ones. In the US, 13 children said that they need to pick up their toys, and in Taiwan 21 children commented that they put away materials. One American boy said, “We have to clean up and put toys away and go sit on the bench,” and another one responded, “Make the room clean. We can do something else.” Two Taiwanese girls replied, “Clean up means we cannot play anymore,” and “Because time is up, we need to have our lunch.”

Both American and Taiwanese children voiced their opinions that tidy-up time is related to transitions when asked the reasons why they have to clean up. One Taiwanese girl remarked, “Because we have classes to go to,” and another one also replied, “To have classes.” Two American girls similarly claimed, “It is time to have class,” and “Put toys away and have a morning meeting.”

Only American children seemed to engage in cleaning through their teachers’ signals, including verbal cues, songs, and turning off lights. Four American children talked about their teachers’ signals. Three American children commented that they clean up when their teachers turn off the lights. One American boy explained, “It is clean-up time when teachers turn the lights off,” and another boy said simply, “Teachers sing a song.”

On the other hand, some Taiwanese children engaged in cleaning when teachers talked to them about some consequences of not cleaning. Eight children mentioned that their teachers would explain what would happen if they did not clean. When asked what their teachers say when they are not participating in cleaning, one girl articulated, “My teacher said if you don’t put materials back, you cannot play tomorrow.” Another girl remarked, “Teachers would ask us to clean up again. If we don’t, we have to stay in the classroom and cannot go out and play.”

Clean and safe environments

It appeared that some children in both countries, when asked the reasons for cleaning, saw cleaning up as associated with the idea of maintaining clean environments. One American girl simply said, “Make the room clean,” while another one said, “We clean up, then our room will be clean.” Taiwanese children also saw clean-up time as keeping clean environments. One girl opined, “To keep our classroom clean,” and one boy described his reasons, saying, “If we don’t clean up, the environment will become messy.”

However, this theme of safe environments separated Taiwanese children from their American counterparts, because the Taiwanese children associated cleaning with a safe environment. This was not the case for the American children. Nine Taiwanese children described cleaning up as not only necessary to maintain a clean classroom, but also to keep the classroom safe. One Taiwanese girl noted, “If you don’t clean up, it would be messy. Then, someone might step on toy, and would stumble,” and another girl articulated, “The classroom would become messy if you don’t clean up and if someone steps on the toys, they would stumble and fall.”

Work

When asked if clean-up time was work or play, the majority of both American and Taiwanese children appeared to consider clean-up time as work (16 American and 24 Taiwanese children). One American boy responded, “It is not play because we have to do it,” and another one replied, “Work, because we can’t play.” Some Taiwanese children’s responses related to the notion that it is work, and work is not fun. “Work, and play is fun. Clean-up is not play,” remarked one Taiwanese girl. Another one stated the seriousness of cleaning: “It is work. When you finish playing, you need to clean up. Clean up needs to be serious, not fun anymore.” Again, one Taiwanese girl ’s responses were serious and related the notion of safety of others, saying, “It is work because if you don’t want people to step on toys and get hurt, you have to work. Cleaning is to help people and is not play.”

One Taiwanese girl was more adamant about clean-up time being work and gave a detailed explanation, “No one would think clean up is play. It is boring! You have to put things into the storage boxes and put toys back to their places.” Another Taiwanese girl expressed her feelings of clean-up time, “Work! Because I feel it is work. When I play, I don’t feel that way.”

Cooperation

The theme of cooperation emerged through both American and Taiwanese children’s responses identifying the importance of working together. Fourteen American and 12 Taiwanese children talked about how they help each other. One American boy said, “We help each other to put blocks away,” and another boy remarked, “I help my friends to clean up in the block center.”

Similarly, two Taiwanese girls stated: “We would put the toys up together,” and “We clean what we played with. Friends should clean up together if they play together.”

Although Taiwanese children’s responses indicated a cooperative nature of cleaning up together, three of them stated that children should clean up only what they had played with. For example, two boys articulated, “Clean what you played with,” and “Materials we played with together, we have to clean up together.”

Only Taiwanese children’s responses appeared to show the cooperative nature of relationships between the children and their teachers. Five children mentioned how their teachers show them step-by-step processes to clean up their toys. One girl explained, “My teachers would help us to clean our toys by posting tags or writing numbers, so it would be easy for us to find places for toys.” Another girl commented, “My teachers would help us by tearing apart our Lego toys first so we can clean them by ourselves.” One Taiwanese girl explained how her teachers guide the children depending on their developmental stages: “If they were new students, teachers would teach them how to clean. If they were older students, teachers would just ask them to try.”

Both American and Taiwanese children described their teachers’ methods of encouraging them during clean-up time. According to 14 American and 10 Taiwanese children, it appeared that both countries’ teachers reminded their charges to clean. Two Taiwanese girls explained, “My teachers remind me and ask me to get back to cleaning,” and “My teachers tell us to get back and clean again together.” Two American boys remarked: “My teachers say ‘Go, and help’ and ‘Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere!’”

However, when asked how their teachers help in cleaning, five American children explained that their teachers do not help them in cleaning up their toys or materials. Two American boys said, “Teachers don’t help; they just sing clean-up songs,” and “Teachers never help and they just say ‘clean-up time.’” One Taiwanese boy did not mention how his teacher helped cleaning up, but explained that he takes care of his toys by himself, saying, “No, you have to clean up what you play with.”

Discussion

The thematic analysis of results indicated how samples of American and Taiwanese children perceived tidy-up time and related it to transitions, clean and safe environments, work, and cooperation. Certain themes appeared to be more commonly identified by one or another of the two samples in their responses. Both research questions will be addressed simultaneously.

American and Taiwanese children’s perceptions of clean-up time

All participants appeared to freely express their opinions about cleaning. Both American and Taiwanese children seemed to associate tidy-up time with transitions, although they did not use the word, “transitions.” They stopped their activities when their teachers gave signals that included verbal warnings, bells, songs, and lights. These observations about teachers’ use of signals were supported by others (Corsaro, 2003; Izumi-Taylor et al., 2015; Thelen and Klifman, 2011; Weldemariam, 2014) who noted that many early childhood teachers implemented various kinds of signals before classroom cleaning. Additionally, only Taiwanese children’s responses appeared to be related to the consequences of not engaging in cleaning. Taiwanese children were told by their teachers what would happen if they did not clean the classroom. This was not the case for American children. According to one study, American teachers were relaxed and did not explain to their charges about the consequences of not cleaning (Izumi-Taylor et al., 2015).

Both American and Taiwanese children’s responses to tidy-up time aligned with the notion of maintaining clean environments. In the US, Copple and Bredekamp (2009) recommend that children and teachers should be responsible for class members and the class environment. Similarly, the Ministry of Education (2013) in Taiwan recommend that children need to learn to clean up their environment using appropriate tools. Interestingly, only Taiwanese children perceived clean-up time to be more than maintaining clean classrooms since they considered it as keeping the classroom safe.

The majority of American and Taiwanese children perceived tidy-up time as work. To these children, since clean-up time signifies the end of activities, and they cannot play anymore, it means work (Corsaro, 1988; Romero, 1991). Contrary to others’ findings (Corsaro, 1988, 2003; Nakatsubo et al., 2009; Romero, 1991; Weldemariam, 2004), these children did not mention any resistance toward cleaning the classroom. Instead, they simply responded that when they stop playing, it was time to put items away, and that was work. Interestingly, some Taiwanese children were able to give a more detailed rationale for clean-up time not being play than their American counterparts. It appeared that some Taiwanese children viewed cleaning as serious work.

The cooperative nature of responses emerged from children in both countries when asked if they and their classmates do something to help clean up the rooms. These children helped each other tidy up their toys and props, and some mentioned the importance of supporting their friends during cleaning. One possible explanation for these observations is related to the fact that teachers in both countries encourage children to help each other in the classrooms (Copple and Bredekamp, 2009; Izumi-Taylor et al., 2015). However, only Taiwanese children mentioned that they should be cleaning up only toys with which they played. This observation aligns with a study by Hashimoto et al., 2012, who found that some children felt they should only be responsible for cleaning up the toys that they used. Interestingly, more Taiwanese children’s responses indicated how they and their teachers cooperate during cleaning than their American counterparts. This finding is parallel with another study (Izumi-Taylor et al., 2015) that found Taiwanese teachers and children tend to cooperate more during cleaning than American teachers and children do.

Implications for early childhood education

The findings of this study indicate that children from the US and Taiwan have their own perceptions of tidy-up time and their own ways of understanding it. Teachers in different countries could work together to expand their knowledge on how to engage children in cleaning. Teachers might also observe and recognize that tidy-up time is more than a transitional time, and that children learn to cooperate during this time. By acknowledging and understanding children’s perspectives, teachers can construct effective methods of encouraging their charges during tidy-up time. Thus, educators of different nations can share their knowledge of how to nurture children’s abilities and initiatives during cleaning.

Because children in different cultural settings appeared to make their own connections between tidy-up time and environments, it is important for educators to understand how their views of tidy-up time are influenced by their own cultures. Teachers should know that Taiwanese children consider tidy-up time as not only related to clean environments, but also to safety. It would be beneficial for children and teachers to discuss their views of tidy-up time to rethink and reflect on their own understanding of the subject.

Limitations of the study

This indication must be considered limited given the small number of participants from the two nations. Further research would require a wider sample of children from different schools.

Although the interview questions were created by researchers in various countries, it is not free of cultural bias, and children in different cultures may interpret each item differently. It would be appropriate to have more input from researchers and educators of different nations.