Children’s Agency, Cultural Identities, and Learning in a Chinese Immersion Preschool: Insights from the Little Tiger Community

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 3:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Cultivating Global Citizens: Agency and Belonging in World Education

Abstract

This paper examines how children’s agency is shaped by intersecting cultural and linguistic practices within a Chinese immersion preschool. Drawing on video-cued ethnography, I analyze classroom interactions, teacher reflections, and community engagement to highlight how culturally sustaining pedagogies challenge dominant Western narratives of individualistic learning. Findings show that children’s agency emerges through collaborative, relational, and multilingual activities, especially during outdoor explorations and school-wide gatherings. These moments foster cross-cultural knowledge exchange and collective decision-making, illustrating how agency is negotiated within community relationships rather than as isolated autonomy. This study contributes to conversations on equity and inclusion by proposing alternative frameworks that value multilingualism, cultural heritage, and collaborative learning in early childhood education.

Author

• Li Tan, University of Texas Austin