PARENTAL PERCEPTIONS OF HOLISTIC EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN HONG KONG

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw

Early Childhood Education supports ethical, intellectual, physical, social, and aesthetic development alongside cognitive skills, and parents act as key role models influencing children’s early growth. Holistic Early Childhood Education (HECE) integrates wholeness, interconnectedness, and spirituality. This study investigates how parental perceptions of Hong Kong kindergartens align with HECE goals. Survey responses from 1383 parents and 165 teachers across 22 kindergartens in three districts show alignment between parent and teacher perceptions and HECE policy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Background of Early Childhood Education

Holistic Education Movement and Policy Initiatives

Research Questions

Major Research Question

Sub-questions

Significance of the Study

Literature Review

The Concept of Holistic Education

PARENTAL PERCEPTIONS OF HOLISTIC EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN HONG KONG DAVID TZE-KIN NG JOHN W. FISHER MEI LAN AU SING KAI LO The Education University of HongKong, China ABSTRACT Early Childhood Education is important in developing ethical, intellectual, physical, social, and aesthetic aspects of children together with cognitive skills. Parents play an important role in their children’s early life and provide a role model. Additionally, holistic education seeks to incorporate principles of wholeness, interconnectedness and spirituality. This study examined how well parental perceptions of kindergartens (KG) aligned with goals of Holistic Early Childhood Education (HECE) in HongKong. Written survey responses were received from 1383 parents and 165 teachers, including principals from 22 kindergartens across three Districts in HongKong. The findings of the study indicated that parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of kindergartens aligned with HECE policy in HK for young children’s development and practice in the kindergarten programs. These findings clearly indicate a cohesion between parents’ and teachers’ concern and official Hong Kong education documents regarding holistic development ofyoung children in kindergartens in HongKong. INTRODUCTION Early Childhood Education is important in developing the ethical, intellectual, physical, social and aesthetic aspects of a child as well as his/her language and cognitive skills in the early part of life (HKSAR, 2013). As pointed out by the Committee on Free Kindergarten Education,“Parents play a very important role in their child’s early life and are their role model. Parents, being the child’s primary educators at home, can be a major influence on the child’s healthy development and effective learning at schools. Their support and proactive involvement with kindergartens help consolidate the child’s learning and development during the schooling in kindergartens.”(Committee on Free KG Education, 2015, p. 98). On the other hand, the holistic education movement seeks to integrate the idealistic ideas of humanistic education with philosophically holistic ideas including the principles of wholeness, interconnectedness and spirituality. In 2007 the HKSAR government introduced a “Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme”(PEVS) asa sign to demonstrate the government’s commitment to improve the quality of KG education (Hong Kong Curriculum Development Council, 2006). The Committee on Free Kindergarten Education (the 2015 Committee) reported that “parents’ involvement” and “quality holistic education” are two important aspects of KG education. The committee also helped to provide equitable access to quality holistic KG education that promotes lifelong development of a person. The government responded positively to the report stating that free “quality kindergarten education” policy will be planned for action in the academic year of 2017/2018 (Leung, C.Y. 2016, HK Government News, 13/1/2016). However, research on parental perceptions on holistic childhood education is still lacking in Hong Kong. Proper understanding of parental perceptions on holistic early childhood education is an important starting point for identifying parental involvement in early childhood education. Educational Planning 2020 49 Vol. 27, No. 1 The purpose of this study was to investigate the parental perceptions of holistic early childhood education in Hong Kong to find out the extent of parents’ agreement with the teachers and the HKSAR government policies. This article only covers the six aspects of Holistic Early Childhood Education (HECE) portion of a broader study which also includes expectations, involvement and provision of the holistic early childhood education services. RESEARCH QUESTIONS Major Research Question: What are the parental perceptions of holistic early childhood education in Hong Kong? Sub-questions: a. How well do parents’ perceptions of HECE match official statements on E

FAQs

What does the study examine about Hong Kong kindergarten education?

It examines how parental perceptions of kindergartens align with the goals of Holistic Early Childhood Education (HECE) in Hong Kong.

How were participants selected for the study?

Written survey responses were collected from 1383 parents and 165 teachers, including principals from 22 kindergartens across three districts.

Why is parent perception considered important in early childhood education?

Parents play an influential role as primary educators at home and their support and involvement with kindergartens help consolidate children’s learning and development at school.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw