Glocalization of arts and creativity in Hong Kong kindergartens : stakeholders' perspectives and classroom practices /

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Student Theses

2024

Yeung, Cheuk Lam Jerry

Hong Kong : The Education University of Hong Kong

Thesis

Under the influence of globalization, Asian countries have borrowed educational notions and policies from Western societies in recent years. One of these notions is that of creativity. In Hong Kong, Arts and Creativity is included as one of the six learning areas in the Kindergarten Curriculum Guide. The Guide encompasses four art forms: visual arts, music, drama, and dance. Kindergarten teachers are expected to design lessons that support children to develop creativity through active exploration in art activities. However, the literature in this area has important research gaps. There is no research on how kindergarten stakeholders (specifically teachers, principals, and teacher educators) understand the notion of creativity. Similarly, there has been no research to examine how stakeholders perceive the teaching and learning of Arts and Creativity in Hong Kong. Furthermore, local studies have focused on documenting the presence of individual art forms in the classroom, without considering the content of the four art forms in an integrated fashion.Drawing on the constructs of policy borrowing and glocalization (i.e., hybridization of global and local perspectives in education), this dissertation includes three empirical studies which aim to address the above-mentioned research gaps.• Study 1 is an interview study exploring how Hong Kong ECE stakeholders defined the notion of creativity in relation to young children. This study showed that all stakeholders have a relatively partial understanding of creativity.• Study 2 is an interview study on how stakeholders perceived Arts and Creativity and its viability in kindergarten settings. The results showed that this learning area is not perceived to be implemented in accordance with the curriculum framework.• Study 3 is a survey study examining the provision of the four art forms and its relationship with teachers' demographics. This study provided an overview of the status of arts education in Hong Kong kindergartens. Results showed that teachers conduct music and visual arts activities more frequently than dance and drama activities. Teachers with a master's degree and those who work in a government-funded kindergarten tend to engage children in more arts activities.Overall, this dissertation informs Hong Kong curriculum designers and policymakers about how to better conceptualize Arts and Creativity within the local context. The three empirical studies provided strong evidence that the current curriculum pertaining to Arts and Creativity does not fully align with the local cultures and values in education. Hence, this learning area needs to be glocalized. Specifically, there are five aspects that the EDB should consider: (1) the integration and inclusion of creativity beyond the arts; (2) the urgent need to clearly define the notion of creativity in the curriculum; (3) the inappropriateness of directly borrowing and over-stressing certain Western education notions such as free exploration and originality; (4) the importance of offering a more balanced provision for the different art forms, especially dance and drama; and (5) the necessity to make the Arts and Creativity learning area more inclusive and flexible, depending on contextual school characteristics. This dissertation discusses the practical implications for teachers' pre-service training and professional development

LG51.H43 Dr 2024eb Yeungclj

https://educoll.lib.eduhk.hk/records/uVhYfAH8