"Harmony Is All What Matters": Chinese Teachers’ Discursive Reactions to Students’ Peer Conflicts

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Abstract

Teachers’ discourses for students’ peer conflict resolution have been considered as a crucial topic in preschool education. However, limited attention has been paid to elementary school teachers’ work in particular cultural contexts. A four-month field work was conducted in elementary schools in two cities of eastern and southern China, proceeding filming, recording, and in-depth interviews as research methods. Inspired by the understanding of harmony and justice in traditional Confucian philosophy, Chinese teachers propose a unique brother/sisterhood relationship to cultivate students’ socialization and emotions, which enables them to resolve peer conflicts generously, nonjudgmentally, and forbearably. The findings may enrich our pedagogical understandings of the peer conflicts of lower-grade students.

Author

• Yan Liang