行政院國家科學委員會專題研究計畫 成果報告
教師對女性外籍配偶及其小學子女的知覺和預期: 文化編
碼和情境自我的分析
研究成果報告(精簡版)
計 畫 類 別 ： 個別型 計 畫 編 號 ： NSC 99-2410-H-009-023- 執 行 期 間 ： 99 年 08 月 01 日至 101 年 07 月 31 日 執 行 單 位 ： 國立交通大學通識教育中心 計 畫 主 持 人 ： 梁瓊惠 計畫參與人員： 此計畫無其他參與人員 報 告 附 件 ： 出席國際會議研究心得報告及發表論文 公 開 資 訊 ： 本計畫可公開查詢中 華 民 國 101 年 10 月 25 日
中 文 摘 要 ： 本計畫探討臺灣教師對於女性外籍配偶和她們的小學子女的 知覺和預期。三十位小學教師接受訪談，均教過或與外籍配 偶子女有過密切互動經驗，訪談問題關於對外籍配偶家庭與 其子女的看法和互動經驗。各次訪談均謄寫為逐字稿，分析 資料包括訪談逐字稿和民族誌田野工作筆記，從中抓取主要 表達意思的關鍵語句，再進行分類。將各教師訪談內容區分 為與學校、家庭、社區和政策有關的四類，對應到教師的社 會身分或情境自我，分別為教師、社區成員和現代社會成 員。在描述對外籍配偶及其子女的知覺和預期時透露出至少 包括「健全家庭」和「盡力」二個文化編碼，具備此二者的 家庭，教師預期小孩有較好的學習成果和社會適應，反之則 會遇到較多困難。可以看到教師文化思考框架的可能性和局 限，以其可能影響他們想法的切入方向。 中文關鍵詞： 外籍配偶, 小學, 小孩, 文化編碼, 情境自我
英 文 摘 要 ： This project investigates teachers＇ perceptions and expectations about female foreign born spouses and their elementary-school children in Taiwan.
Interviews were conducted with 30 elementary school teachers who had experience of teaching or frequently interacted with students from transnational families. Interview questions focused on teachers＇ beliefs about and experience with these families and children from these families. All interviews were transcribed verbatim. Interview transcripts and ethnographic field notes were included for data analysis. A coding scheme was first developed to categorize the
transcripts. Teachers＇ reactions were classified into 4 areas: school, family, community and policy. Three codes of situational selves or membership invoked in interviews were included: a teacher, a community member and a member of modern society. In describing their perception and expectation about foreign spouses and their children, two cultural codes emerged: ＇well-functioning family＇
and ＇trying one＇s best.＇ Children from families with these two elements were expected to better learning achievement and social adjustment. More difficulties were expected for those who from families lacking these two elements. The results reveal the possibilities and limits of teachers＇
cultural thinking frame and indicate possible ways of influencing their ways of thinking.
英文關鍵詞： foreign spouse, elementary school, children, cultural codes, situating selves
1 中文摘要 本計畫探討臺灣教師對於女性外籍配偶和她們的小學子女的知覺和預期。三十位 小學教師接受訪談，均教過或與外籍配偶子女有過密切互動經驗，訪談問題關於 對外籍配偶家庭與其子女的看法和互動經驗。各次訪談均謄寫為逐字稿，分析資 料包括訪談逐字稿和民族誌田野工作筆記，從中抓取主要表達意思的關鍵語句， 再進行分類。將各教師訪談內容區分為與學校、家庭、社區和政策有關的四類， 對應到教師的社會身分或情境自我，分別為教師、社區成員和現代社會成員。在 描述對外籍配偶及其子女的知覺和預期時透露出至少包括「健全家庭」和「盡力」 二個文化編碼，具備此二者的家庭，教師預期小孩有較好的學習成果和社會適應， 反之則會遇到較多困難。可以看到教師文化思考框架的可能性和局限，以其可能 影響他們想法的切入方向。 關鍵詞: 外籍配偶, 小學, 小孩, 文化編碼, 情境自我
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英文摘要
This project investigates teachers’ perceptions and expectations about female foreign born spouses and their elementary-school children in Taiwan. Interviews were conducted with 30 elementary school teachers who had experience of teaching or frequently interacted with students from transnational families. Interview questions focused on teachers’ beliefs about and experience with these families and children from these families. All interviews were transcribed verbatim. Interview transcripts and ethnographic field notes were included for data analysis. A coding scheme was first developed to categorize the transcripts. Teachers’ reactions were classified into 4 areas: school, family, community and policy. Three codes of situational selves or membership invoked in interviews were included: a teacher, a community member and a member of modern society. In describing their perception and expectation about foreign spouses and their children, two cultural codes emerged: “well-functioning family” and “trying one’s best.” Children from families with these two elements were expected to better learning achievement and social adjustment. More difficulties were expected for those who from families lacking these two elements. The results reveal the possibilities and limits of teachers’ cultural thinking frame and indicate possible ways of influencing their ways of thinking.
Key words: foreign spouse, elementary school, children, cultural codes, situating selves
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Introduction
As part of the recent gendered immigration trends in Asia through cross-border marriages involving men from Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong with women from South East Asia and China (Piper & Roces, 2003; Constable, 2005), the number of female foreign born spouses in Taiwan has reached more than 400,000 (Ministry of Interior, 2008). More than 110,000 children (6.75% of elementary students) of foreign born spouses are attending elementary schools in the school year of 2008 (Ministry of Education, 2009). The number is expecting to increase in upcoming years. Many elementary school teachers have had direct experience teaching children of foreign spouses and interacting with their families. Teachers’ perceptions and expectations about these children and their families are very important in that they can actually lead to the fulfillment of those expectations with long-lasting effects (Merton, 1948; Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968; Smith, Jussim & Eccles, 1999).
In experimental situations, manipulating teachers’ expectations well demonstrate the effect self-fulfilling prophecy. In everyday life, teachers’ expectations do not exist in vacuum. The reality teachers perceive is personally and culturally constructed. In analyzing the influence of teacher expectations, it is necessary to take teachers’ personal view in a culturally meaningful framework. Speech can be a window to see teachers’ expectation in a culturally meaningful way. As Philipsen (1992) states, “speech codes implicate a culturally distinctive psychology, sociology and rhetoric (p.136), it would be a culturally meaningful way to seek for speech codes that teachers’ expectations are consisted of.
In addition to how the degree of expectation as high or low could influence one’s performance, the content of expectation need to be included when investigating the mechanism of the influence of expectation. It is possible that that a set of
expectations may co-exist and the degree among different expectations of the same set or of the same people may show varieties. In other words, taking a profile view
instead of thinking expectation as one single item may reveal rich meanings through which more implications or applications could be discovered.
The nature of communication between teachers and foreign spouses, and their children as well, is cross-cultural. What is brought into the communication must be understood in a culturally sensible way that facilitation of mutual understanding is likely to occur. Here speaking is taken as a cultural medium of communication in which culturally distinctive codes, penetrating and organizing the meaning-making of communication conduct, are revealed through thematization of speaking (Philipsen, 1992). Through applications of particular cultural codes, multiple social identities that arrange social relations are enacted (Carbaugh, 1996). Analyzing what teachers say
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and recognizing the application of cultural codes and the enactment of different social identities provide a way to understand teachers’ perceptions and expectations in a culturally meaning way.
This study investigates elementary school teachers’ perceptions and expectations about female foreign born spouses and their elementary-school children in Taiwan in a culturally situated way. By recognizing cultural codes of teachers’ interview data, the understanding of expectation can be both personally and culturally constructed. This expands the link of expectation and student performance to a profile view about teacher expectation and draws more possible implications. Three major questions are asked. First of all, what are teachers’ perceptions and expectations of female foreign born spouses and their children? Secondly, what are the cultural codes revealed when teachers talk about female foreign born spouses and their children? Thirdly, which particular social identity is enacted in the application of a particular cultural code? Taken together, the goal is to understand the underlying ideology or folk theory of teachers’ perceptions and expectations about female foreign born spouses and their children.
Methods
This study is part of a larger ethnographic research project designed to investigate challenges and adjustment of foreign spouses in Taiwan. Data for this paper were collected via interviews and ethnographic field notes from a number of rural locales in Taiwan, which is where the proportion of foreign-born spouses and their children is highest. From November 2007 to April 2008, 30 elementary school teachers (6 of them also administrators) who had experiences instructing children of female foreign born spouses were interviewed. Interview questions focused on teachers’ experience with children of foreign spouses and their families. All
interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim in Mandarin Chinese. All transcripts were double checked by a second person for accuracy. Basic information and related parts of transcripts were extracting to an excel worksheet. Comparing the interviews, looking for similarities and differences across interviews, reading the transcripts repeatedly, and adding new information to the excel files were steps to look for, and verify themes of interest.
Results
In the interviews, teachers position themselves in several social identities (Carbaugh, 1996). The identity of a teacher is enacted when talking about children of foreign spouses. When talking about foreign spouses, the identities as a “teacher,” a “community member” and a “modern woman” were enacted at different points of the
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interviews.
Teacher expectation about the children
Major themes of teachers’ perceptions and expectations of children of female foreign spouses include:
1. Like other families, there are good cases and bad cases among children of female foreign born spouses.
2. In the peer group, children of female foreign born spouses, like other children, are usually well received. Children are rejected by their peers not because of being daughters or sons of foreign born spouses but because of their personality and attitude.
3. At the beginning of their elementary school life, children of female foreign born spouses are more likely than other children to have difficulties in learning the phonetic alphabet (Zhuyin, the spelling system of Taiwan) and communicating with the teachers because of home-school language differences.
4. Arrangement of how to help a child’s learning reflects how well-functioning a family is. Although children are born with different talents, a well-functioning family is essential to support children’s learning.
A code of a “well-functioning family” emerges in teachers’ descriptions about the children. When interpreting why some children are performing better or worse than others, good cases are linked with well-functioning families and bad cases with not-so-well-functioning families. A well-functioning family is an economically stable, harmonious two-parent family, in which parents do their best to help the child learn. In three-generation households, relationships between parents and grandparents are as well in harmony in a “well-functioning family.” Low-income families, single-parent families or families in which children’s major caregiver are grandparents are not considered as “well-functioning” families.
Teachers’ perception about the development of children’s communicative competence at school
The children’s communicative competence in terms of how well they function as members of their schools can be analyzed in terms of teachers’ evaluation about their interactions with peers and teachers. Teachers observed that children of foreign spouses got along well with school peers. Elementary school children seemed no concerning about the ethnicity of peers’ mothers. A common comment from the teacher is: “They play together. They don’t care about things like this.” Applied to all school children, peer rejection was viewed more related to personality traits and attitudes displayed during interaction with peers.
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Communicative difficulties are more related to children’s school work and in a few cases behavior problems as well. Upon entering elementary school, some children are not fluent in Mandarin Chinese, the major language used for class instruction, because their home language is Tai-gi (or Taiwanese a language commonly used in Taiwan and Southern Min of China). Language issue was overcome through the help of teachers who are fluent in both Tai-gi and Mandarin Chinese to scaffold children’s learning Mandarin Chinese and other subjects. By finishing first grade, children of foreign spouses could communicate with teachers in Mandarin Chinese.
Learning the phonetic alphabet (Zhuyin, the spelling system of Taiwan) can be an issue during the early stage of children’s elementary school life. Teachers expected parents (usually more emphasis on mothers) to help children with Zhuyin but the mothers could not help because they did not learn the spelling system. Teachers’ interpretations about the subsequent arrangement of helping children’s learning have a lot to do with their perceptions about the family. They are linked to socioeconomic status, gender, and family power structure.
Children from economically stable families and whose parents are more educated, from the teachers’ eyes, are more likely to gain support in learning Zhuyin. The father teaches the child or the family arranges an after school program for the child to fix the problem. In these families, the mother often is enthusiastic in communicating with the teacher to discuss about how to help the child. She is able to influence the family decision about how to help her child’s learning. A mother even attended a Mandarin class for 3 years with family support in order to help her child’s school work. She is able to communicate with the teacher without problems and even help her child’s school work.
Children who cannot gain family help but solely depend on the teacher’s help in learning Zhuyin, often are from either economically unstable families, or mother was relatively powerless in the family. Most are from three-generation households, in which grandparents have greater power about decision-making and the mother holds low status in the family. At the same time, the mother does not have much influence on the father. Although the mother is considered by the family to be responsible of the child’s education and she herself wants to help her child, she is powerless to do so. In short, it is not the mother who can decide how to help the child. The decision is made by the fraternal family.
Teachers see children of foreign spouses as a group not performing differently from other children. Applied to all children, they link individual child’s performance to the child’s own predispositions and the family, including parents and sometimes grandparents and extended family members who live in the same household or have frequent contact with the core family.
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Teachers’ perceptions and expectations about female foreign spouses
The identities as a “teacher,” a “community member” and a “modern woman” were enacted at different points of the interviews. Major themes of teachers’ perceptions and expectations of female foreign born spouses can be identified by different identities.
1. The identity as a teacher
(1)A foreign spouse as a mother. The major theme emerged is about the
responsibility of a student’s mother. The mother is considered to be responsible for the child’s education. She is the one who helps the child learn and communicates with teachers. Across cases, when teachers evaluate mothers when interpreting their students’ performance at school, a major concept is “she has tried her best” or not. “She has tried her best” can be taken as the code when a teacher makes sense of the motherhood of female foreign spouses.
(2)A foreign spouse as a parent of a student. In talking about their
communication with foreign spouses, teachers mention that some of the foreign born spouses are very respectful to teachers. When meeting with teachers, foreign born spouses dress up formally and talk to teachers in a very polite way. Although not very fluent in Mandarin Chinese, the major language used at school, teachers’ evaluation about their communicative competence (Hymes, 1974) could be very high because they have tried their best. Again, the idea of trying one’s best is critical.
2. The identity as a “community member”
Teachers also notice how community members view female foreign spouses. Younger people in general accept foreign spouses as members of the community. It takes time for the elders. At the beginning of entering the community, elder people, the generation of grandparents, tend to express prejudices toward female foreign spouses because they link female foreign spouses with their negative impressions about foreign workers from South East Asia. Gradually their attitudes may change become because they observe foreign spouses working hard, taking care of the family and trying their best to adjust the community life.
3. The identity as a “modern woman”
Teachers’ comments reflect that most modern women do not want to enter a “traditional” family to play the role of “traditional” women. Their descriptions about gender, power and family structure reflect a view about traditional and modern families. A “traditional” family is often linked with bad outcomes. Foreign spouses who enter not-so-traditional or modern families are more likely to be happy.
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The household of a modern family consists of parents and children. The
distribution of power is more equal between the husband and wife. At times the wife could be more dominant than the husband. By contrast, most foreign born spouses are in traditional families. They live in the same household with in-laws. They often do not have the power to make decisions for their children and their status in extremely low in the family. A few teachers say that foreign spouses who live with in-laws tend to be in trouble. “In-laws tend to look down of the mother and the mother does not have power at all.”
Teachers are also aware of foreign spouses’ decreasing willingness to play the role of “traditional women” as they are becoming more adapted to life in Taiwan. For teachers, it is legitimate that the family should treat the foreign spouse as a modern woman. At the beginning of marriage, when the foreign spouse “does not know
anything,” she is very compliant to her husband and in-laws.” After two or three years, “she knows what’s going on” and may not be satisfied with the way she has been treated. She may request better ways of treatment. If her husband does not take care of her, she may want to leave. If the parents-in-law still treat her badly, she may run away. “It is natural that she wants to leave if she was not kindly treated.” As Wang (2007) states, a foreign spouses may create hidden spaces of resistance to gain control of life. She may request better treatment in her unique way. If her husband and
in-laws do not take care of her needs, she may want to leave.
Teachers mentions some really bad cases that in-laws, even the husbands, repeatedly say the mother was “bought” by the family in front of the child’s face. A few children are ashamed because their mothers were “bought” and were not respectful to their mothers, who were really sad. In sum, teachers clearly expressed that a foreign spouse, as a woman in a modern society, should be fairly treated in a modern way.
Teachers’ perception about the development of mothers’ communicative competence All teachers notice the development of the mothers’ communicative competence and see the effects it brings. At the beginning of marriage, when the foreign spouse “does not know anything,” she is very compliant to her husband and in-laws.” After two or three years, “she knows what’s going on” and may not be satisfied with the way she has been treated. She may request better ways of treatment. If her husband does not take care of her, she may want to leave. If the parents-in-law still treat her badly, she may run away. “It is natural that she wants to leave if she was not kindly treated.”
The degree of enculturation of foreign spouses is largely influences her family life. When they are more knowledgeable about the local community and how to
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survive, some of them decide to leave. The teachers clearly said, “It’s all because of the husband and the in-laws.”
A few teachers describe that who live with in-laws tend to be in trouble because in-laws tend to look down of the mother. Some in-laws, even the husbands, repeatedly say the mother was “bought” by the family in front of the child’s face. A few children are ashamed because their mothers were “bought” and were not respectful to their mothers, who were really sad. Fortunately, at some areas the school arranges events to invite the mothers to come to the school as a multi-cultural fair to demonstrate their languages, customs and food-preparation. The teachers openly appraise and celebrate multiculturalism, which relieves the tension of some children and their mothers. Some mothers regain their dignity or de-stigmatized the image of being “bought.”
Teachers also notice the development of how neighbors view female foreign spouses. At the beginning of entering the community, older people, the generation of grandparents, tend to express prejudices toward the female foreign spouses because they have negative impression about foreign labors work in Taiwan from South East Asia starting in the 1990s. Younger people are in general accepting foreign spouses. Older people gradually know foreign spouses in person and become more acceptable.
Conclusion
In sum, teachers’ perceptions and expectations about female foreign born spouses in Taiwan reveal two cultural codes: a “well-functioning family” and “doing one’s best.” The code of a well-functioning family is deeply rooted in teachers’ interpretations about children’s performance. A “well-functioning family” is considered the foundation of a good childhood. Since many families of children, including some children of foreign spouses, are not from “well-functioning” families in the teachers’ terms, what effect this cultural code may bring should be carefully examined. The second code “doing one’s best” in teachers’ perceptions and
expectations about foreign spouses seems to relate to the high value placed on hard working in Taiwan. One does not have to be perfect in language, know everything about the community, or even marry the right husband and enter the right family; she can do her best to become a competent parent, a competent community member, and a respectful mother. Her motherhood and womanhood can be constructed in a positive way as she tries her best.
Implications
Teacher expectation about children from transnational families reveals a complicated understanding about achievement and potentiality. It is a multi-facet construct with certain part more flexible than others. The code of “well-functioning
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family” is relative stable and is not easy to change. In other words, stigmatization is inevitable for children from non-well-functioning families. In contrast, flexibility seems more possible when examining the code of “trying one’s best” in which the effort of female foreign spouses is addressed.
Teacher expectation is a set of concepts or a profile and does not only derive from one single evaluation. It is very clear from the teacher interviews that teachers have a set of ideas about female foreign spouses and their children. It may be difficult to challenge the teachers’ idea about well-functioning families but it is more possible to direct their attention to how much the mothers have tried their best in surviving in a new homeland and helping their children to achieve in the school.
In the training process of teachers as well as other professionals who provide service to children from transnational families, one way to enhance their expectation toward the children may be emphasizing “trying one’s best.” It is a culturally
preferred code that one can achieve by one’s effort. Teachers seem to show more empathetic thinking and flexibility about the child’s achievement when talking about trying one’s best.
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References
Carbaugh, D. (1996). Situating selves: The communication of social identities in
American scenes. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Constable, N. (2005). Cross-border marriage: Gender and mobility in transnational
Asia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.
Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. B. Pride and J. Holmes (eds.), Sociolinguistics (pp. 269-85). Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Merton, R. (1948). The self-fulfilling prophecy. Antioch Review, 8, 193-210.
Ministry of Interior (2008). Number of foreign spouses and mainland China spouses by obtaining identification documents, Taipei: Ministry of Interior.
(http://www.immigration.gov.tw/aspcode/9707/外籍配偶人數按國籍分與大陸 (含港澳)配偶人數.doc)
Ministry of Education (2008). Distribution of children of foreign spouses in elementary and junior high school in school year of 2008.
(http://www.edu.tw/files/site_content/B0013/son_of_foreign_97.pdf)
Philipsen, G.. (1992). Speaking culturally: Explorations in social communication. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Piper, N. & Roces, M. (2003). Introduction: Marriage and migration in an age of globalization: Wife or worker? In N. Piper and M. Roces (eds.), Asian women
and migration (pp. 1-21). Boulder CO: Lanham Rowman and Littlefiled.
Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom: Teacher
expectation and pupils’ intellectual development. New York: Holt
Smith, A. E., Jussim, L., & Eccles, J. (1999). Do self-fulfilling prophecies
accumulate, dissipate, or remain stable over time? Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 77, 548-565.
Wang, H.-Z. (2007). Hidden spaces of resistance of the subordinated: Case studies from Vietnamese female migrant partners in Taiwan. International Migration
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國科會補助專題研究計畫項下出席國際學術會議心
得報告
日期：101 年 10 月 31 日計畫
編號
NSC 99 － 2410 － H － 009 － 023 －
計畫
名稱
教師對女性外籍配偶及其小學子女的知覺和預期: 文化編碼和情 境自我的分析出國
人員
姓名
梁瓊惠
服務
機構
及職
稱
國立交通大學通識教育中心
會議
時間
101 年 7 月 8
日至 101 年
7 月 12 日
會議
地點
加大拿艾德蒙頓
(Edmonton,Canada)
會議
名稱
(中文)2012 年第 22 屆國際行為發展研究學會會議
(英文)ISSBD 2012/22
ndBiennial Meeting
(International Society for the Study of Behavioural
Development)
發表
論文
題目
(中文)靠近小孩的同儕團體:幼稚園的生活與健康福祉
(英文)Getting close to children’s peer group:
Preschool life and well-being
2
一、參加會議經過
原本計畫參加 ICA 2010 Singapore (International
Communication Association), 將本計畫部分成果在會議中發表，
但投稿未被接受。後來與國外學者組成與孩童的生活與健康福祉
為主題的 symposium，投稿 ISSBD 2012，獲得通過而前去發表論
文「靠近小孩的同儕團體:幼稚園的生活與健康福祉」。
二、與會心得
此次與會參加多場與同儕和兒童發展有關的論文發表，收穫頗豐，
與來自多國學者交換研究心得，回國後和澳洲和阿根廷學者持續
交換研究成果，另外，和一位加拿大學者談及可能的合作計畫，
是最大的收穫。
三、考察參觀活動(無是項活動者略)
四、建議
至跨越大時區參與會議的成本以旅費和體能而言都非常高，必需
自掏腰包和克服嚴重時差的影響，但是能夠和各國學者見面互動，
可以當面提問題和談及合作，對研究人員而言，機會難能可貴，
有助於研究能量的提升。希望未來能夠提供足夠的經費補助，鼓
勵國內研究者參與國際研究社群的活動，耳聞有些國內研究者因
3
經費問題放棄至北美參加國際性會議，數年之後，已不習慣長途
旅行，便不再參加國際學術社群活動，甚為可惜。聽到中、日、
韓學者得到國家全額補助參與國際社群活動，比較自己的經費連
機票費用都無法完全支付的情況，更覺得低人一等，此情況若不
改善，不利於國際交流。
五、攜回資料名稱及內容
ISSBD 2012 program book: 內容包括本次會議發表內容和參與者
資料。
4
論文被接受發表之大會證明文件 (Email forwarded by Symposium chair)
Fwd: ISSBD 2012 Proposal -- GOOD NEWS!! X
InboxX
Reply |Frank Kessel kesfam@pdq.net to Ron, me, Urmitapa, Colette, jantosib show details Dec 16 (1 day ago)
FOLKS: This **just** in -- So thanks yet again for making it possible! Looking forward . . . And best wishes for a peaceful holiday season and a healthy, fulfilling New Year. FRANK
P.S. Marion and I are heading 'home' = Cape Town on the day-before-Xmas . . . largely because I'm hono(u)red to have received a 3-month Mellon Visiting
Fellowship at my original-original alma mater, University of Cape Town . . . Doing what? Yup, working with various departments/institutes to help foster greater inter-discipinary collaboration across campus! In any case, I'll certainly remain in e-mail-range.
Begin forwarded message:
From: Apache <apache@issbd.psych.ualberta.ca>
Subject: ISSBD 2012 Proposal
Date: December 15, 2011 4:56:22 PM MST
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Abstract Title: Interdisciplinary Research on Human Development: Illustrations and Implications
Format: Symposium Status: Accepted
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所發表之論文全文或摘要
Running Head: GETTING CLOSE TO CHILDREN’S PEER GROUPS
Getting Close to Children’s Peer Groups: Preschool Children’s Life and Well-being
Chung-Hui Liang
Center for General Education, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
I would like to express my sincere thanks to the National Science Foundation (Taiwan)
for providing financial grants to Chung-Hui Liang. I would also like to thank the
following students of National Chiao Tung University for their help transcribing video
recordings: Lin Chi-Wen 林紀汶, Hou Patricia Hsiao-Ying 侯曉穎, and Huang Jiu-Fu 黃
軍富.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to:
Chung-Hui Liang, Center for General Education, National Chiao Tung University,
1001 University Road, HsinChu, Taiwan 300; Tel (+886 3) 571-2121 ext. 52757; Fax:
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Abstract
This presentation addresses insights and issues related to preschool children’s well-being that emerged in two three-year longitudinal ethnographic projects, one aimed at studying preschool children’s play, the other children’s home-school
transitions. The research sites included a working-class preschool in rural Taiwan and a middle-class preschool in Taipei City. Carefully constructing a peer-like role, I participated in children’s daily activities in a wide range of social contexts, including activities not usually accessible to adults. Field notes, audio and video data were collected. The video data were centered on one child’s daily activities on each day. In addition, when situations allowed, both formal and informal interviews with parents and teachers were conducted.
In the process of getting close to the children’s peer groups, issues and insights related to their well-being and early education emerged at both micro- and
macro-levels. These few examples will be discussed: (1) Problems of eating and early adjustment issues can be analyzed from different levels to gain insights of solutions. (2) Understanding how children can be empowered by language and their use of certain vocabularies is essential to intervening when peer conflict emerges. (3) Understanding how even young children in peer groups collectively embrace and resist adult rules, and the fact that children are more mature and smart on certain occasions with their peers than with adults both are essential to the design of an appropriate learning environment. (4) Analyzing how the process of transforming shy children into active participants in Taipei might provide a possible model for early childhood educators in different cultural settings who encounter shy young children. In both conceptual and methodological terms, these projects were informed by multiple, intersecting disciplines, including at least anthropology, education, psychology, and sociology. In terms of overall methodology, guided by Geertz (1973), I wanted to study children’s “local knowledge” in their “village”. And Corsaro’s work (1985, 1997) provided an example of an adult researcher becoming a peer of young children whom he studied. In conceptual terms, a number of theorists and researchers, e.g., Vygostsky and Piaget, have shaped my interest in studying how children as cultural beings actively participate in their own everyday socialization processes. Finally, I am influenced by interpretive researchers who view children as actively selecting and creatively using cultural resources and, in the process,
contributing to adult culture (Gaskins, Miller, & Corsaro, 1992). In these and other ways, my research has profited from an increasingly inter-disciplinary framework.
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Getting Close to Children’s Peer Groups: Preschool Children’s Life and Well-being
Researchers in psychology, anthropology, sociology, education, and health sciences
have their own preferred methods and theoretical perspectives in the pursuit of
understanding children. Methods and theories are tools facilitating the
understanding of children. Meanwhile, they limit what a researcher can see from the
conduct of research. Coming from psychology and later education, I have been
familiar with experimental, correlational and observational methods which are often
used by psychologists and educational psychologists. Immersing in psychological
theories since undergraduate years should have shaped my thinking toward a
“psychology” way. Entering education especially learning qualitative methods and
theories from other disciplines provides me new ways of thinking. It was confusing at
some point because methods and theories from different disciplines are not always
compatible. Fortunately, a more integrated view emerged over time. For me, the
core idea is multiple social realities. Methods and theories are for different goals with
different underlying assumptions. Realities revealed from different methods and
theoretical perspectives are ways of understanding target phenomena. Researchers
need to design their studies based on research goals and choose appropriate
methods and theoretical perspectives. I tend to think of methods and theories as
tools to make certain kinds of understanding possible. The chosen methods and
theories are not the only set of ways of understanding the target phenomena. They
provide researchers means to search for possible answers for questions that they are
interested in. Therefore, the matching of research questions and the chosen methods
and theoretical perspectives is essential for good research work. Technically all
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Researchers choose appropriate methods for their research projects based on their
research purposes.
I have done two ethnographic projects in preschools in the past years. Doing
ethnography is often more than collecting data for answering pre-designed questions.
Participating in and observing children’ activities in their natural settings make it
possible to witness more than presumed phenomena. In other words, ethnographic
approach enables discoveries which are not yet the focus of pre-designed research
questions. The other feature is the nature of data collection which can range from
micro to macro levels and makes the analysis from different levels possible. The “side
effect” and “side product” of ethnographic projects may include valuable discoveries
and data across different levels.
In both conceptual and methodological terms, these projects were informed by
multiple, intersecting disciplines, including at least anthropology, education,
psychology, and sociology. In terms of overall methodology, guided by Geertz (1973),
I wanted to study children’s “local knowledge” in their “village”. I didn’t realize my
desire was so strong until I did my first ethnographic project. Looking back I am
sometimes surprised by my determination to engage in all kinds of endeavors to
make the idea of studying children in their village real. I have been inspired by
Corsaro’s work (1985, 1997) which provide examples of how an adult researcher
becoming a peer of young children whom he studied. I went even farer to participate
in various peer activities such as climbing up the playground facility and engaging in
various kinds of play. In conceptual terms, a number of theorists and researchers
have shaped my interest in studying how children as cultural beings actively
participate in their own everyday socialization processes. Vygostsky and Piaget are
the two leading theorists in my thinking. Researches of psychologists Dunn, Rogoff
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anthropologists Sutton-Smith, Schwartzman, Briggs, Shieffelin, Oaks, Thorne,
sociologist Goffman when thinking about my research questions. I learn about
children’s play and preschool life from researchers in education. Finally, I am
influenced by interpretive researchers who view children as actively selecting and
creatively using cultural resources and, in the process, contributing to adult culture
(Gaskins, Miller, & Corsaro, 1992). In these and other ways, my research has profited
from an increasingly inter-disciplinary framework.
This presentation addresses insights and issues related to preschool children’s
well-being that emerged in two three-year longitudinal ethnographic projects, one
aimed at studying preschool children’s play, the other about children’s home-school
transitions. The research sites included a working-class preschool in rural Taiwan and
a middle-class preschool in Taipei City.
Methods
This presentation includes data collected from two ethnographic projects. One was
to study children’s play during 1996-1998. The other was designed to investigate
children’s transition from home to preschool during 2003-2006. Both preschools
were private. Most preschools, about 60%, in Taiwan are private. One preschool
served a working-class community in rural Taiwan. The other was located in Taipei
City, the capital of Taiwan and most parents were college graduates from
middle-class backgrounds. Children could attend the preschool between the ages of
2 and 6, while most children started at 3 or 4. Parents might enroll their children at
any time of the year but mostly in September. The total number of children in the
two preschools was about 150 and 120 respectively.
Children were grouped into 6 classrooms in the rural preschool and 7 classrooms in
the Taipei preschool. About 25 to 30 students were in each classroom in the rural
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and schedule of Taipei preschool allowed children from different classrooms to
interact with each other during part of the school day. Children in the rural preschool
mostly participated in activities with their classmates only. The children I observed in
the rural preschool were in a mixed-age classroom before they were 5 years of age;
children’s age ranged from 2 to 5. They then moved to a single-age group when they
turned 5. The rural private preschool was quite flexible in arranging children’s
classrooms.
Ethnographic fieldwork was combined with extensive audio and video recording of
naturally occurring daily activities in the two preschools. During the video recording,
one child wore a wireless microphone at a time. In other words, the recording
centered on one particular child at a given time and included other participants who
interacted with the child. The researcher carried an audio recorder as a supplement
to fieldnotes taking. In addition, when situations allowed, both formal and informal
interviews with parents and teachers were conducted.
The researcher was able to establish a special role in the preschool to access the
children’s peer groups that were not otherwise accessible to adults (Corsaro, 1985).
It is similar to the “least adult role” stated by Mandell (1991) in a sense that the
researcher did not take up adult responsibilities and exercise adult authority. Yet,
from the activities that the researcher was able to participate in such as climbing up
the playground facility and engaged in various kinds of peer play and conversations,
the established role was very close to a peer. Parents reported that at home their
child referred the researcher as “my classmate” or “my friend” when talking about
school life.
The function of constructing a peer-like role when conducting fieldwork is getting
close to children’s peer group to participate in peer activities. The participation is
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and feeling.
Emergent issues and insights
As stated earlier, side effects and discoveries other than pre-planned research goals
emerged in the process of conducting the two ethnographic projects. From the
outset, I will first discuss the role of sibling hierarchy in preschool life. Following that
will be examples of issues and insights related to children’s well-being and early
education.
Sibling hierarchy and socialization practices
The Confucian tradition defines the relationships of siblings as that the elder sibling is
helpful to the younger one and the younger one is respectful to the elder one.
Preschool children often participate in activities that activate the sibling hierarchy.
Cultural practices that reinforce a sibling hierarchy are found in the two preschools.
Adult-arranged daily routines constantly remind children who they are based on age
and the standards that they need to meet. Adults also support the usage of kinship
terms in the preschool among non-kin children of different ages. Calling other
children as younger or elder siblings positions a child in a framework that she or he is
with siblings. With the progress of preschool years, at age 3 every child starts as a
younger sibling and leaves the school as an elder sibling at age 6. Children are clear
about what behaviors are appropriate when interacting with children of different
ages. Violating the sibling hierarchy may be protested or teased in the peer group.
Part of adults’ encouragement and shaming practices also reflect the framework of
sibling hierarchy. Children are praised or shamed according to their age with a
reference to the sibling hierarchy.
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children’s performance. What is special in the Taiwanese case is that a sibling
framework sets up an interpersonal relationship “map” that growing up or increasing
in age is not only a person’s own issue but an issue related to others. A preschool
child is trained to experience the world with different roles from young age both as
younger and elder siblings. A child may engage in a de-centering process that the
center of consideration is shifted from oneself to social roles as elder or younger
siblings.
As the sibling hierarchy is well incorporated into preschool life, it becomes a powerful
socialization tool that helps children’s adjustment in transitions when they need to
achieve different performance goals. It provides explanations for better performance
and being role models of younger siblings. It also defines harmonious relationship
among children of different ages.
It is necessary to understand the background information because this information
enables a process to disentangle the cultural meanings of the mundane socialization
practice. The following section begins with a brief description about morning
activities, providing a description of the background information and illustrating the
age-related mundane practice in the preschool. The second part provides
descriptions about how kinship terms are used in the preschool. Socialization
practices based on age are illustrated in the third part.
Morning activities: Defining a child’s self based on age
Children are assigned into different groups based on age. Groups of children
lined up for morning activities when the music is on at around 9 AM. Each group has
an assigned spot according to age, from 2 to 5. The youngest group is at the far left
and the oldest at the far right. The 3 and 4 year olds are in the middle. 3 to 4 children
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lead the morning exercise on a 1-meter high stage, another two take charge of the
flag during the flag ceremony. The 3 or 4 children receive a small gift after their good
performance. During my observation period, all children performed well on stage
and received their small gifts. Younger children know that when they become big
brothers and sisters, they will have opportunities to lead the morning exercise and
handle the flag.
A child’s self seems to be defined based on age in the morning routine and
other activities. From 2 to 5 year olds, like children’s assigned physical space, their
position and moving path is clear. Children are immersed in an environment silently
telling the relationship of age and ability, responsibility, honor and status. Younger
children look forward to growing up, as they often say, “Wait until I grown up, I will…”
It may not be an exaggeration to say that children are reminded every morning about
who they are based on age.
Kinship terms in the preschool
In general, adults encourage children of different age groups to refer to each other by
kinship terms. For example, “the Duck group’s elder brothers and sisters” refers to
children of the Duck group. This naming practice defines children’s relative status in a
“sibling hierarchy” in the “preschool family.” Children usually follow this naming
practice especially when they talk to adults. Among children, they may at times use
“the Duck group’ folks.”
Children of the same age group usually consider each other as equals and refer to
each other by names. Exceptions occur when children have other interaction
opportunities outside of school. An example was that two girls who used to share a
babysitter. At their babysitter’s place, they referred to each other as younger sister
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were in different groups in the past two years, they often visited each other’s
classroom. The younger one sometimes asked the older one to intervene in a
dispute.
The sibling hierarchy is usually encouraged and celebrated. The older children are
encouraged to help the younger ones to illustrate their status as elder siblings who
are capable of helping and who are nice to nurture the younger ones. Younger
children who help the older ones are praised as being capable and nice. Younger
children are usually proud of being able to accomplish tasks to show that they are
growing up.
Children usually give feedback to peers’ “age-inappropriate” performance very
quickly. Acting like a younger child is easily to be teased as “like a baby.” Performing
like people who are older may cause objections. For example, during play, a
4-year-old girl warned the other one not to take play objects to a spot caused
objection:” Don’t talk to me like that. You are not an adult!” Younger children’s trying
to control older children may be ignored. One time a 2-year-old asked a group of 4
year olds to stop playing toys belonging to the 2-year-old group, a 4-year-old girl said
to me, “Don’t listen to her! She is in the little group!”
Understanding the role of age in young children’s life and how cultural meanings
about age are produced and reproduced in children’s everyday communicative
practice through which socialization proceeds (Miller & Hoogstra, 1992; Ochs &
Schieffelin, 1984; Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986; Vygotsky, 1987) is essential to children’s
well-being. Developing age appropriate behavior and concepts is an important task
for young children in Taiwan. “To revere the aged and honor the wise” has been an
important idea in the Confucian tradition. One’s status is often advanced with age.
Chinese kinship terms clearly point out the relative age of family members. The
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relationship in preschool life. In the following examples of issues emergent in the
process of doing fieldwork, the concept of sibling hierarchy will be mentioned again.
Examples of emergent issues
Problems of eating and early adjustment
Not finishing meals properly, children could not move to their next activity with
classmates in time that caused problems for classroom management. When children
were 3 year old, teachers were more lenient. At age 4, the expectation was very
different. The sibling hierarchy was often incorporated into shaming practice to
remind children the standards to meet.
Children may be teased or shamed by applying to the framework of sibling hierarchy.
Older children are expected to take care of themselves. When they do not meet
expectations of their age, shaming practice may be implemented. For example, when
a 4 year old does not eat the meal properly, the teacher may illustrate examples in
the younger group to “push” the child to perform well, namely to eat properly. An
extreme case occurred when two 2 year olds were brought to the 4-year-old group to
“help” an “elder brother.” Because the 4 year old boy ate extremely slowly, the
teacher “invited” a 2-year-old girl to feed the elder brother. This 2 -year-old girl had
finished eating and she ate very well according to the teacher’s judgment. She had
received praise from her own teacher and other adults in the preschool. The other 2
year old who ate pretty well accompanied his friend to the 4-year-old group. Children
in the 4-year-old group engaged in energetic private discussion about the arrival of
the two “little siblings” and warned each other to eat properly to prevent being fed
by the “little siblings.” Occasionally a few children of the 4-year-old group were fed
by their teacher and I have never heard so much discussion about being fed. While
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brother, a strong sense of shame was activated. During the process of feeding, the
4-year-old who was fed was quiet and cooperative. At the end of feeing, the teacher
praised the two 2 year olds and announced that the two “little siblings” might be
invited again to feed the elder brothers. Many children said, “I don’t want that!” In
the following several weeks when I visited the preschool, children of this group
seemed to finish eating timely. This practice of bringing in younger children seemed
to be effective.
One obvious phenomenon reflecting part of children’s early adjustment soon
after they start preschool is crying. Although not intended, soon after entering the
Taipei preschool, I could not help paying attention to children’s crying because it was
a common phenomenon for new students and was repeatedly recorded in the
fieldnotes.
16 of the 20 children ever cried during the first semester. The reasons included
missing their parents, health problems, physical harm or object damage caused by
peers, conflict with peers, eating problems, being caught of transgressions, being late
of school, and fear of dental check. By the end of the first semester, all children no
longer cried due to missing their parents except a new child. Crying for missing their
parents was highly tolerated at the beginning of the semester. They were offered to
stay close with the teacher until their emotion recovered. Children rarely teased
crying peers but explained to onlookers, “(S)he is missing Mommy.” with an
empathetic tone. By the end of their first semester, children often said, “Only babies
cry. We have grown up.” The 2-year-olds were referred as babies. The 3-year-olds
referred to the sibling hierarchy and called themselves “elder brothers/sisters.” The
kinship terms provided a tool to recognize a sense of growing up and served as a
valid reason of no longer crying. In addition, children sometimes said “crying is
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useless. You’ve got to stop crying then you can say it clearly.” The language tools
provided by adults seemed effectively taken by children to control their ways of
expressing emotions.
Language as tools
In addition to use language as tools to express and control one’s emotion, children
also used language to handle interpersonal challenges. Facing conflict is an everyday
task for preschool children (e.g., Hartup & Laursen, 1993). When disagreements
occur, children may comment on each other by negative terms. Appropriate tactics
and strategies to deal with such situations are important to maintain good will and
social interaction. Children can be empowered by language as young as age 3 and
their use of certain vocabularies is very effective when defending themselves of
intervening peer conflict.
No negative comments to younger children
Usually only children of the same age would engage in interactions involving negative
comments. The influence of culturally constructed roles based on age was salient.
Kinship terms of siblings were used extensively. Older children were assumed to take
care of and not to bully younger children. Children rarely said bad words to younger
children. New children of a classroom were considered as younger sisters/brothers
even though they might not be younger by age. It is worth to note that body size was
not a determining factor in that a few younger brothers/sisters were bigger and taller
in size than the elder sisters/brothers.
The idea of “growing up” was discussed frequently. Teachers and parents also utilized
this idea when asking children to behave in a more mature way. When encountering
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baby sisters/brothers would engage in certain behaviors. They picked up the identity
of elder sisters/brothers and behaved in ways consistent with such identity most of
the time. Most children identified themselves as elder siblings by the end of their
first semester. The arrival of new or younger children usually triggered the topic of
“growing up” among the 3-year-olds. They often performed a more mature side
when they were aware of the presence of younger children.
The development of ways to deal with negative comments
At the beginning of the school year, the most frequently occurred negative
comments included being stupid, bad, quick-tempered, and stingy. Children reacted
to negative comments by silence, saying bad words back, reporting to the teacher,
and occasionally getting into fights. Especially at the very beginning of the school
year, children often stood still quietly in facing negative comments from peers. They
seemed unclear about how to react. Some children would report to the teacher. A
few of them would say bad words back such as “You stupid too” and repeated such
behavior for many rounds until the teacher intervened.
The teacher instructed children to react to negative comments with a sentence,
“Saying (bad words) about others is saying about oneself” when children reported
that someone had said bad words. Children soon employed the sentence in their
daily interactions. This sentence could stop “bad” interactions almost every time and
I called it “the magic sentence.” This sentence became the most often used way to
deal with negative comments from peers. When observing other children saying bad
words to each other, they often said the sentence to stop a dispute or fight. Such
practice was observed across all age groups in the Taipei preschool.
Memorizing slogans or classics has long been a tradition among Chinese intellects. In
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that children would benefit from classics both cognitively and morally. From the daily
practices of the Taiwanese preschool, the moral socialization is consistent with that
tradition.
The collective power of utilizing the magic sentence was salient. Children who were
good at using it properly would not be easily hurt by negative comments from peers.
Meanwhile, the dyads in conflict became a teacher-student like relationship. The
child who used the sentence was exercising the power authorized by their teacher.
As all children in the preschool shared the slogan, it became a powerful tool. By the
end of the second semester, children rarely said bad words to each other. When a
child said bad words, other children would use the magic sentence to react. An
exception was about stinginess when children engaged in sharing.
The cultural practice of using the magic sentence to react to negative comments
revealed several layers of meanings. First of all, the children could become
self-reliant when facing negative comments. They did not need to rely on adults’
assistance and they would not face the situation helplessly. Secondly, by using this
magic sentence, a child did not have to say bad words back to violate the classroom
rules. Thirdly, one could be protected from personal negative comments by
appropriate language use.
Two major features of preschool peer life
The peer world of children at times is considered as their secret space (Opie & Opie,
1959/1977). In participating in children’s peer activities in the two preschools, I have
witnessed part of this secret space. One of the major features is that even young
children in peer groups collectively embrace and resist adult rules. Secondly, children
are more mature and smarter on certain occasions with their peers than with adults.
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reinforce each other to follow the rules in their daily life. On the other hand, they
seek for opportunities to resist and escape from the rules collectively. As Goffman
(1961) states, embracing and resisting rules and expectations of institutions at the
same time is the central feature of one’s identity or one’s self. The co-existence of
embracing and resisting adult rules is essential to the children’s development. The
children’s preschool life includes the above-ground life which is shared with adults
and the “underlife” (Goffman, 1961; Corsaro, 1997) of which participants are peers.
Children may engage in activities resisting, challenging or violating adult rules in their
underlife. They seek for their own goals such as having fun by avoiding or escaping
away from adult attention.
One example of underlife activities is engaging in “black market” gift exchange or
sharing activities. Gift exchange or bringing toys from home to share with peers were
basically not allowed except on special occasions announced by teachers. However,
children did exchange gifts with friends and brought their favorite toys to share with
peers. To hide these activities, children were very skillful in choosing the objects for
sharing. Tiny objects were best choices. Stickers, paper cards, rings, necklaces, flyers,
and miniature objects were among the often-seen objects for gift exchange or
sharing. Children understood very well that parents would not discover the missing
of these kinds of objects and did not care about losing them. To successfully
accomplish the black market sharing activity, children had to be very careful about
adult attention. If the activity was discovered by teachers, the consequence would be
not extremely bad because the objects were very tiny and of low cash value. 3 year
olds were not skillful and sometimes caught by teachers when engaging in black
market sharing activities. At age 4, almost all children mastered how to deliver gifts
or share objects with their friends secretly without attracting their teachers’
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The second example is about children resolved disputes by themselves escaping
away from adult attention. Children demonstrated high degree of autonomy in their
underlife. In most disputes, children chose to resolve the disagreement by their own.
Most children understood very well that adults often pushed a dispute to the more
serious end and the consequence could be really bad. In preschool life, it was
inevitable to have small accidents like accidently hurting someone. In most cases,
children chose to negotiate by their own with peer involvement instead of adult
involvement. The ending was often one party apologized and the other party chose
to forgive. The children would also collectively comfort the children who were hurt
and ask the transgressor to be careful to avoid the same mistake. Children also
collectively concealed the fact that a dispute occurred from adults to avoid unwanted
attention and negative consequences. Only a small percentage of disputes would
involve the teacher when one party was not satisfied with peer intervention.
In addition to demonstrate high degree of autonomy in the peer group, children
seem more mature and smarter on certain occasions with their peers than with
adults. A salient example is when children help or take care of their peers especially
new members. In the two preschools, during the first weeks of fieldwork, I received
tremendous help from these very young children soon after they defined me as a
new classmate or “new friend” literally. When I was in the rural preschool, a
4-year-old boy couched me step by step so precisely about how to ask the teacher to
give me a piece of seaweed as a welcome gift to new classmates. He was aware of
the timing, the wording and even the voice quality. At the same time he was
explaining to me about the rules and the possible meanings of the teacher’s facial
expressions! His ability shown in the context of helping me was very high, probably
about the level of an adult. Again, when I first enter the Taipei preschool, a
23
spot. It was a big room with more than 100 children. All teachers were busy with
helping children. The 3-year-old girl noticed my helplessness about not having a nap
spot. She first skillfully negotiated with other children with a soft voice to adjust a
space for me. She then gently checked if I had my own pillow and comforter. She
folded her towel for me to be used as a pillow when she noticed that I did not
brought a pillow and advised me, “Next time bring your own pillow. The floor is hard.
It is not comfortable without a pillow.” Before lying down, she even carefully
re-arrange the comforter to avoid mutual overlapping and causing discomfort during
napping. Every utterance she produced was precise and smooth. Every step was like
well-planned. I was surprised and thought that many adults could not take care of a
person as well as she did.
Another occasion that children demonstrated high ability was when the visiting of a
Canadian girl who did not speak Mandarin Chinese fluently. She visited the Taipei
preschool twice, each time about a month. When she came the first time at 4 year
old, almost all children in the classroom were eager to help the “new friend.” She did
not understand the language well and looked confused from time to time. But she
seemed to have a good time. The second time of her coming was again welcomed by
her classmates. During both visits, quite a few children were helping her in many
ways and were more mature and smarter than when they were with adults.
Shy children’s transformation into active students
The process of transforming shy children into active participants in Taipei might serve
as an example to think about how culture resources support children’s possibilities.
Shy children in the two Taiwanese preschools seemly naturally transform themselves
into active students. The process was very subtle in nature. It was in progress every
24
The two girls were in the two ethnographic research projects respectively. One was in
the rural preschool and the other was in the Taipei preschool. Both were viewed as
very shy children by their teachers and mothers when they first entered preschool at
age 3. They both were soft-spoken and usually interacted with only one or two
particular children. They occasionally cried in school. It took about two years for
Mei-Yin of the rural preschool to become an active student. In contrast, Pei-Ling of
the Taipei preschool became an active student by the end of her first semester.
The children’s transformation into active students can be linked to the cultural
conceptualization of children’s shyness. In both the working-class and middle-class
preschools, shy children were well accepted and considered malleable. Their timidity
was attributed to their young age. Time was granted for the children’s nature to
unfold. Such expectation leaves room for children to change in the future.
Differences in values, practices and ecological layout of the two schools seemed to
influence the pace of becoming active students. The Taipei preschool placed high
value on children’s becoming courageous social beings, who could interact with
various kinds of people. Such value was not particularly emphasized in the rural
preschool. Discipline was highly emphasized in both preschools, yet many more
classroom rules were enforced in the rural preschool, especially not to make noises.
Reticent children were preferred by the teachers in the rural preschool. The
child-teacher relationship also showed differences. Children were more obedient in
the rural preschool and less frequently engaged in negotiations with their teachers.
The space arrangement of the Taipei preschool seemed to encourage social
interaction. In addition to regular whole-school activities, children met each other on
the hallway on their way to the bathroom, sink, water fountain and the playground.
In their spare time, they visited friends in other classrooms and observed ongoing
