A Chinese lens on children’s learning dispositions

The notion of learning dispositions has extended conceptions of learning in early childhood education to incorporate dimensions such as habits of mind and patterns of behaviour. This paper conceptualizes learning dispositions through a Chinese lens, and with conceptualizing this notion, explores associated pedagogical practices. The data are drawn from the field notes in an early childhood classroom and focus group interviews with sixteen early childhood teachers and three early childhood experts. The evidence indicates that disposition is an essential component on the participants’ construction of children’s learning as well as a deliberate focus of teachers’ teaching. However, it is also revealed that children’s learning dispositions are something of paradox, offering the potential of a learner-centred pedagogy and yet are grounded in teaching plans, prescribed goals and specific activities. Findings interrogate the positioning of learning dispositions in relation to the wider discourse of children’s learning in the Chinese early childhood context.