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Does the gender of a practitioner matter in early childhood education and care? Perspectives from Scottish and Chinese young children (2020)
Journal Article
Xu, Y. (2020). Does the gender of a practitioner matter in early childhood education and care? Perspectives from Scottish and Chinese young children. Children & Society, 34(5), 354-370. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12371

This paper responds to concerns over the assumed ‘feminisation’ of early childhood education and care (ECEC) and adds children's perspectives to debates on whether more men should work in ECEC. Pictorial conversations were conducted with 280 children... Read More about Does the gender of a practitioner matter in early childhood education and care? Perspectives from Scottish and Chinese young children.

Men’s participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC): comparative perspectives from Edinburgh, Scotland and Tianjin, China (2022)
Journal Article
Xu, Y., Schweisfurth, M., & Read, B. (2022). Men’s participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC): comparative perspectives from Edinburgh, Scotland and Tianjin, China. Comparative Education, 58(3), 345-363. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2022.2062950

At the global level, prominent narratives about improving the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) promote the recruitment of men into the profession. However, comparing across different policy and practice settings demonstrates contr... Read More about Men’s participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC): comparative perspectives from Edinburgh, Scotland and Tianjin, China.

Gender and sexuality in Global South early childhood education (2023)
Book Chapter
Bhana, D., Xu, Y., & Adriany, V. (2023). Gender and sexuality in Global South early childhood education. In D. Bhana, Y. Xu, & V. Adriany (Eds.), Gendered and Sexual Norms in Global South Early Childhood Education: Understanding Normative Discourses in Post-Colonial Contexts. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003211600-1

This chapter situates gender, sexuality, and early childhood education (ECE) within the context of colonial and postcolonial discourses. It sets the scene for the chapters that follow, highlighting the ways in which normative understandings of gender... Read More about Gender and sexuality in Global South early childhood education.

Gendered and Sexual Norms in Global South Early Childhood Education: Understanding Normative Discourses in Post-Colonial Contexts (2023)
Book
Bhana, D., Xu, Y., & Adriany, V. (Eds.). (2023). Gendered and Sexual Norms in Global South Early Childhood Education: Understanding Normative Discourses in Post-Colonial Contexts. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003211600

This volume examines gendered and heteronormative norms embedded within early childhood education (ECE) in the Global South, including Brazil, China, Pakistan, South Africa, and Vietnam. In this book, the contributors explore how gender, culture, rel... Read More about Gendered and Sexual Norms in Global South Early Childhood Education: Understanding Normative Discourses in Post-Colonial Contexts.

The manifestations of universality and cultural specificity in national curriculum policy frameworks: negotiations for culturally reflective practice in early childhood education (2023)
Journal Article
Xu, Y., Brooks, C., Gao, J., & Kitto, E. (2023). The manifestations of universality and cultural specificity in national curriculum policy frameworks: negotiations for culturally reflective practice in early childhood education. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2023.2267594

This paper presents findings from a review of 19 national curriculum policy frameworks (NCPFs) across the globe and discusses dominant and culturally specific discourses that shape early childhood education (ECE). We combine two frameworks of develop... Read More about The manifestations of universality and cultural specificity in national curriculum policy frameworks: negotiations for culturally reflective practice in early childhood education.

Understanding secondary school students' agentic negotiation strategies in accessing higher education in Cameroon (2023)
Journal Article
Zhao, T., Xu, Y., Yu, Y., & Liu, Z. (2023). Understanding secondary school students' agentic negotiation strategies in accessing higher education in Cameroon. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2023.2179870

This article investigates students’ post-secondary education transition processes in Cameroon through the lens of agency. Situated in a country where the higher education participation rate is fairly low, our article explores how students agentically... Read More about Understanding secondary school students' agentic negotiation strategies in accessing higher education in Cameroon.

When the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child meets Confucianism: Chinese parents' understanding of children’s right to play (2023)
Journal Article
Liu, C., & Xu, Y. (2023). When the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child meets Confucianism: Chinese parents' understanding of children’s right to play. Childhood, 30(2), 177–193. https://doi.org/10.1177/09075682231151848

This study employs a poststructuralist theoretical framework to explore parents’ attitudes towards children’s right to play in Shanghai, China. It adopted mixed methods of online questionnaires (N = 880) and semi-structured interviews (N = 11). The f... Read More about When the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child meets Confucianism: Chinese parents' understanding of children’s right to play.

Me, my child and Covid-19: Parents' reflections on their child's experiences of lockdown in the UK and China (2023)
Journal Article
Hoskins, K., Thu, T., Xu, Y., Gao, J., & Zhai, J. (2023). Me, my child and Covid-19: Parents' reflections on their child's experiences of lockdown in the UK and China. British Educational Research Journal, 49(3), 455-475. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3850

Over the past 2 years, the world has been living through the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic. Children have had to adapt to online classrooms and lessons of some sort, and many parents have been forced to work from home while supervising their child'... Read More about Me, my child and Covid-19: Parents' reflections on their child's experiences of lockdown in the UK and China.

Participation or eschewal? Final-year secondary school students’ attitudes towards participation in higher education in Cameroon (2022)
Journal Article
Zhao, T., & Xu, Y. (2022). Participation or eschewal? Final-year secondary school students’ attitudes towards participation in higher education in Cameroon. South African Journal of Education, 42(4), Article 2126. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v42n4a2126

In this article we examine students’ attitudes towards participation in higher education in Cameroon and consider the role of personal and socioeconomic factors in their post-school educational trajectories. The data were drawn from a questionnaire s... Read More about Participation or eschewal? Final-year secondary school students’ attitudes towards participation in higher education in Cameroon.

Children and young people's perspectives on and experiences of COVID-19 in global contexts (2022)
Journal Article
Hoskins, K., Xu, Y., Gao, J., & Zhai, J. (2023). Children and young people's perspectives on and experiences of COVID-19 in global contexts. Children & Society, 37(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12664

This special issue was proposed by Children & Society editors specifically for the journal's strategic aims to enhance its internationalisation; and to embrace children's perspectives and experiences in producing knowledge about childhoods in challen... Read More about Children and young people's perspectives on and experiences of COVID-19 in global contexts.

Men times ten: does the presence of more men support inclusion of male educators in early childhood education and care? (2022)
Journal Article
Sullivan, V., Coles, L., Xu, Y., & Thorpe, K. (2023). Men times ten: does the presence of more men support inclusion of male educators in early childhood education and care?. Gender and Education, 35(1), 18-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2022.2137106

Retention rates for men in early childhood education and care (ECEC) are low. Exit is associated with experience of feeling ‘other’ perpetuated by judgements of men’s sexuality, motives, and ability. In this paper, we take the unique circumstance of... Read More about Men times ten: does the presence of more men support inclusion of male educators in early childhood education and care?.

Men in early childhood education and care: on navigating a gendered terrain (2022)
Journal Article
Bhana, D., Moosa, S., Xu, Y., & Emilsen, K. (2022). Men in early childhood education and care: on navigating a gendered terrain. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 30(4), 543-556. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2022.2074070

Globally, the underrepresentation of men in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce is ongoing and has been largely attributed to the construction of ECEC as ‘women’s work’. Men’s involvement in ECEC can help to deconstruct the femini... Read More about Men in early childhood education and care: on navigating a gendered terrain.

Academic Career Development of Chinese Returnees With Overseas Ph.D. Degrees: A Bioecological Development Perspective (2022)
Journal Article
Liu, D., Xu, Y., Zhao, T., & Che, S. (2022). Academic Career Development of Chinese Returnees With Overseas Ph.D. Degrees: A Bioecological Development Perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 859240. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.859240

This study uses the bioecological model of human development to understand the academic career development of Chinese returnees with overseas Ph.D. degrees (CROPs). Focuses are placed on how CROPs engaged in this process through interactions with con... Read More about Academic Career Development of Chinese Returnees With Overseas Ph.D. Degrees: A Bioecological Development Perspective.

Understanding international postgraduate students’ educational mobility to China: an ecological systematic perspective (2021)
Journal Article
Yu, Y., Cheng, M., & Xu, Y. (2022). Understanding international postgraduate students’ educational mobility to China: an ecological systematic perspective. Higher Education Research and Development, 41(6), 2137-2153. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.1973383

International educational mobility is often perceived as westward mobility for non-English speaking learners. This study explores an increasing trend of mobility from developed countries to mainland China from ecological systematic perspectives. Draw... Read More about Understanding international postgraduate students’ educational mobility to China: an ecological systematic perspective.

(Re)constructing school readiness from Chinese young children's perspectives: Interim Report (2021)
Report
(2021). (Re)constructing school readiness from Chinese young children's perspectives: Interim Report. London: UCL Centre for Teacher and Early Years Education

This interim report presents the ongoing progress of a collaborative project between the Centre for Teacher and Early Years Education (CTEY), UCL Institute of Education and the Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University (BNU), which aims to (re)... Read More about (Re)constructing school readiness from Chinese young children's perspectives: Interim Report.

(Re)constructing school readiness from Chinese young children's perspectives (2021)
Report
Gao, J., Li, M., XU, Y., Qin, S., Guo, W., Tian, Z., …Zeng, X. (2021). (Re)constructing school readiness from Chinese young children's perspectives. Centre for Teacher and Early Years Education, UCL Institute of Education

This interim report presents the ongoing progress of a collaborative project between the Centre for Teacher and Early Years Education (CTEY), UCL Institute of Education and the Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University (BNU), which aims to (re)... Read More about (Re)constructing school readiness from Chinese young children's perspectives.

Promoting culturally sensitive teacher agency in Chinese kindergarten teachers: an integrated learning approach (2021)
Journal Article
Gao, J., Xu, Y., Kitto, E., Bradford, H., & Brooks, C. (2022). Promoting culturally sensitive teacher agency in Chinese kindergarten teachers: an integrated learning approach. Early Years, 42(1), 55-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2021.1901661

As increasingly more Chinese kindergarten teachers attend continuing professional development (CPD) based on pedagogies of international early childhood education and care (ECEC), it is imperative to explore how to address the well-documented rhetori... Read More about Promoting culturally sensitive teacher agency in Chinese kindergarten teachers: an integrated learning approach.

Policy decoupling in strategic response to the double world-class project: evidence from elite universities in China (2021)
Journal Article
Song, J., Chu, Z., & Xu, Y. (2021). Policy decoupling in strategic response to the double world-class project: evidence from elite universities in China. Higher Education, 82(2), 255-272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00642-y

Creating world-class universities (WCUs) has recently become a significant policy and practice in higher education in China under the Double World-Class Project. However, some negative effects have encouraged decoupling from the policy goals. To iden... Read More about Policy decoupling in strategic response to the double world-class project: evidence from elite universities in China.

Parents and children during the COVID-19 quarantine process: Experiences from Turkey and China (2021)
Journal Article
Toran, M., Sak, R., Xu, Y., ?ahin-Sak, ?. T., & Yu, Y. (2021). Parents and children during the COVID-19 quarantine process: Experiences from Turkey and China. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 19(1), 21-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718x20977583

This paper reports Turkish and Chinese parents’ experiences with their 3–6 year-old children during the COVID-19 quarantine process. Thirteen Turkish and 11 Chinese parents participated in a study that employed semi-structured interviews to examine p... Read More about Parents and children during the COVID-19 quarantine process: Experiences from Turkey and China.

What Makes an Effective Early Childhood Parenting Programme: a Systematic Review of Reviews and Meta analyses (2020)
Report
Gao, J., Brooks, C., Xu, Y., & Kitto, E. (2020). What Makes an Effective Early Childhood Parenting Programme: a Systematic Review of Reviews and Meta analyses. UCL Institute of Education, Centre for Teacher and Early Years Education

The widely acknowledged importance of educating parents in children's early years has led to a substantial number of parenting programmes aimed at various aspects of early childhood care and education (ECEC). A vast amount of research has been conduc... Read More about What Makes an Effective Early Childhood Parenting Programme: a Systematic Review of Reviews and Meta analyses.

Beliefs and attributions: Insider accounts of men’s place in early childhood education and care (2020)
Journal Article
Sullivan, V., Coles, L., Xu, Y., Perales, F., & Thorpe, K. (2020). Beliefs and attributions: Insider accounts of men’s place in early childhood education and care. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 21(2), 126-137. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463949120929462

Theoretical perspectives, and a large body of empirical research examining sex-segregated occupations, identify the attitudinal barriers of the majority as pivotal for both workplace well-being and the retention of minorities. Globally, where more th... Read More about Beliefs and attributions: Insider accounts of men’s place in early childhood education and care.

One child policy, China (2020)
Book Chapter
Xu, Y., & Woodyer, T. (2020). One child policy, China. In D. T. Cook (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529714388.n426

China’s one-child policy is renowned as the most aggressive and comprehensive population policy in the world. Introduced in China in 1979 at a time of high labour surplus, unemployment, and poverty, the policy sought to minimise the negative effects... Read More about One child policy, China.

Gender-diverse practitioners in early years education and care (EYEC): a cross-cultural study of Scotland, Hong Kong, and Mainland China (2019)
Journal Article
Xu, Y. (2020). Gender-diverse practitioners in early years education and care (EYEC): a cross-cultural study of Scotland, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. Early Years, 40(1), 109-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2019.1683816

This paper discusses whether practitioners’ gender subjectivities influence pedagogies and practices in early years education and care (EYEC) settings and whether an increase of men’s participation can improve gender diversity in EYEC. It draws on po... Read More about Gender-diverse practitioners in early years education and care (EYEC): a cross-cultural study of Scotland, Hong Kong, and Mainland China.

From Theories to Practicalities: Doing Cross-Cultural Research Fieldwork in Early Childhood Education & Care (ECEC) (2019)
Book Chapter
Xu, Y. (2019). From Theories to Practicalities: Doing Cross-Cultural Research Fieldwork in Early Childhood Education & Care (ECEC). In K. Kuen Tsang, D. Liu, & Y. Hong (Eds.), . Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-5811-1_8

Doing qualitative research in the field of social sciences can be both exciting and challenging. On the one hand, it enables researchers to look at issues that surround our social life in fresh and enlightening ways; on the other hand, naive qualitat... Read More about From Theories to Practicalities: Doing Cross-Cultural Research Fieldwork in Early Childhood Education & Care (ECEC).

An exploratory study of gender and male teachers in early childhood education and care centres in China (2017)
Journal Article
Xu, Y., & Waniganayake, M. (2018). An exploratory study of gender and male teachers in early childhood education and care centres in China. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 48(4), 518-534. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2017.1318355

This paper explores the impact of gender on the employment of men in early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres through the voices of male and female early childhood teachers (ECTs) working in China. Gender imbalance in the ECEC workforce is a... Read More about An exploratory study of gender and male teachers in early childhood education and care centres in China.