“Whenever using media, you should have purpose”: A Study of Chinese Immigrant Parents’ Media Practices

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 11:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: AI in Practice: Adoption and Reflection

Abstract

This qualitative study explores how Chinese immigrant mothers of young children in a southwestern U.S. city navigate and mediate media in their households. Guided by Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy and Confucian concepts of family education, eleven Mandarin-speaking mothers participated in semi-structured Zoom interviews. Findings show mothers balance media’s educational affordances with concerns about health and age-appropriate content, employing gatekeeping, time limits, and purposeful sharing. Children acted as learners, co-learners, and cultural connectors, sometimes reversing mediation by teaching parents about U.S. media norms. Results underscore the need for early childhood educators to honor immigrant families’ practices while fostering ongoing critical media literacy.

Authors

• Xiaoning Gui, University of North Texas

• Daniel G. Krutka, University of North Texas