Dr WU, Shu-chen    吳淑真 博士
Senior Lecturer II
Department of Early Childhood Education
Contact
ORCiD
0000-0002-7775-6178
Phone
(852) 2948 7548
Fax
(852) 2948 7160
Email
scwu@eduhk.hk
Address
10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong
Scopus ID
56161658300
Research Outputs

Scholarly Books, Monographs and Chapters
Chapter in an edited book (author)
Wu, S.-C. (2019). Teachers’ Involvement in Their Designed Play Activities in a Chinese Context. S. Faas, D. Kasuschke, E. Nitecki, M. Urban, & H. Wasmuth, Globalization, Transformation, and Cultures in Early Childhood Education and Care: Reconceptualization and Comparison (221-234). cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmilla.
Wu, S.-C., Faas, S. & Geiger, S. (2019). Chinese and German teachers’ and parents’ conceptions of learning at play – similarities, differences, and (in)consistencies.. Ward, U. & Perry, B., Working with Parents and Families in Early Childhood Education (73-89). Abingdon: Routledge.
Cheng, P. W. D., & Wu, S. C. (2013). Serious learners or serious players? Revisiting the concept of learning through play in Hong Kong and German classrooms. O. F. Lillemyr, S. Dockett, & B. Perry, Varied Perspectives of play and learning: Theory and research on early years’ education (193-212). Charlotte: The Information Age Publishing Inc..
Cheng Pui Wah, Doris ; Wu Shu Chen (2013). Cheng, P.W.D. and Wu, S. C. (2013) Serious learners or serious players? Revisiting the concept of learning through play in Hong Kong and German classrooms. In Lillemyr, O.F., Dockett, S. & Perry, B (Ed.), Information Age Publishing Inc. (IAP).. Lillemyr, O.F; Dockett, S. & Perry, B (Ed.), Varied Perspectives of play and learning: Theory and research on early years’ education (193-212). North Carolina, N.C.: Information Age Publication Company.
Wu, S. C. (2012)。 Compulsory education。In Chan, H.M., Yu, K.P., & Mok, K. T. F, Social ethics (282-285)。Hong Kong: Oxford University Press (China)。

Journal Publications
Publication in refereed journal
Wu, S. -C. & Cheung, C. Y. (2024). Investigating curriculum policy’s impact on teachers’ beliefs about play-based learning in two Hong Kong kindergartens(探究課程政策對教師遊戲教學信念的影響-以香港兩所幼稚園教師為例). Educational Policy Forum (教育政策論壇), 27(2), 37-60. https://doi.org/DOI 10.53106/156082982024052702002
Wu, S.C. (2023). How similar is Hong Kong’s play-based learning pedagogy to Fröbel’s Spielpädagogik?. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 31(5), 784-796. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2023.2202919
Wu, Shu Chen (2023). How similar is Hong Kong's play-based learning pedagogy to Fröbel's Spielpädagogik?. European early childhood education research journal, ahead of print, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2023.2202919
吳淑真 (2022)。 從福祿貝爾的遊戲教育反思香港幼兒教育的遊戲中學習課程 (Reflections about of play-based learning curriculum in Hong Kong early childhood education From Fröbel’s play pedagogy)。 比較教育 ,93,57-84。 https://doi.org/10.53106/160957582022110093003
Wu, S. C. (2020). Humboldt’s Allgemeinbildung and General Education in Hong Kong Universities (洪堡特的普通教育與香港的大學通識教育). Journal of Comparative Education (比較教育), 89, 45-63.
Wu, S. C. (2020). A co-constructed picture of learning in play by teachers and parents.. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 15(2), 197-211.
Wu, S.-C. (2019). Researching children’s learning and play in a Chinese context: children’s perspectives on their play and learning. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 27(4), 1-15.
Wu, S.-C., Faas, S. & Geiger, S. (2018). Chinese and German teachers’ and parents’ conceptions of learning at play – similarities, differences, and (in)consistencies. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 26(2), 229-245.
Wu, Shu-chen, Stefan Faas, Steffen Geiger (2018). Chinese and German teachers’ and parents’ conceptions of learning at play–similarities, differences, and (in)consistencies.. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 26(2), 229-245.
Stefan Faas / Shu-chen Wu / Steffen Geiger (2017). The importance of play in early childhood education: A critical perspective on current policies and practices in Germany and Hong Kong in the context of an overall international reform movement. Global Education Review, 4(2), 75-91.
Wu, S. -C. (2015). What Can Chinese and German Children Tell Us About Their Learning and Play in Kindergarten?. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 29, 1-14.
Wu, Shu-Chen (2014). Practical and conceptual aspects of children’s play in Hong Kong and German kindergartens. Early Years: an international research journal, 34(1), 49-66.
Wu, Shu-Chen & Rao, Nirmala (2011). Chinese and German teachers’ conceptions of play and learning and children’s play behaviour. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 19(4), 471-483.
Wu, Shu-Chen (2011). The Role of Free Play in the German Kindergartens. The Hong Kong Journal of Early Childhood, 10(1), 85-90.

Conference Papers
Refereed conference paper
Wu, S. C. (2017, November). Chinese teachers’ and parents’ perspectives on learning through play. WERA Focal Meeting & HKERA International Conference 2017, Hong Kong.
Wu, Shu-chen (2017, May). Children’s sense-making of their daily activities. Conference for Research in Early Childhood Education, Hong Kong.
Wu Shu-chen (2016, May). Children’s sense-making of their daily activities. 2016 4th International Symposium on Education, Psychology and Social Sciences, Osaka, Japan.
Wu, S.-C. (2015, June). Children's perceptions of their play and learning. Quality Childhood Conference International (QCCI) 2015, Hong Kong.
Wu, S. C. (2013, April). What can children tell us about what they did in kindergarten? Comparing Hong Kong and German children’s perceptions of their learning and play experiences. International Symposium on Education and Psychology, Kitakyushu.

Projects

Teachers’ Practices and Beliefs in a Play-Based Curriculum
In Hong Kong, the play-based learning approach has been advocated in the curriculum policy for almost two decades. However, studies show a significant disconnection between the goals of play-based learning, and its implementation in practice. Therefore, this study investigates teachers’ teaching practices in children’s play. It examines the implications of these teachers’ beliefs about their practices, and their impacts regarding the tension between academic oriented teaching and government advocated play-based learning approaches. Play is a vital element in early childhood education. It is deemed not only as a medium of learning and child development, but it also provides a context for learning. Studies have shown that children learn best in a playful environment. How to maximize children’s learning in a play-based curriculum becomes a challenge in early childhood practices. In the Hong Kong traditional academic oriented kindergartens, many teachers are used to relying upon teacher directed approaches which are the opposite of play-based learning and its emphasis on children’s-initiated play. Therefore, this study will examine teachers’ teaching practices, as well as their beliefs, about their teaching in children’s play to investigate the correlation between them. Applying the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, especially the microsystem and macrosystem, as its conceptual framework, this qualitative study will use multi-methods including documentary analysis, individual pre-and post- interviews, observation and video-stimulated recall group discussion to collect and triangulate data. Two local kindergartens and a total of 16 teachers will participate in the study to tap into their teaching practices and beliefs in teaching in the play-based curriculum. Findings of the study will have implications for educational practice and curriculum policy, and it may contribute to the international discussion and understanding of play-based pedagogy in an academic context.
Project Start Year: 2022, Principal Investigator(s): WU, Shu-chen

 
Hong Kong and German teachers' and parents' perspectives on learning at play
This study investigates Hong Kong and German teachers’ and parents’ perspectives and understandings of learning at play. A total of 28 teachers and 12 parents will take part in this study. Among them, twelve kindergarten teachers (6 German and 6 Chinese) will be interviewed to obtain their perspectives on learning at play. They will assist the researchers to capture the episodes of “learning at play” in their views in the classrooms. Four 3-minute-videos containing the biggest amount of learning elements in teachers’ views will be selected from each culture. Applying the video-cued multivocal ethnography(Tobin, Hsueh, & Karasawa, 2009), the selected video clips will be shown to 16 other teachers (8 German and 8 Chinese) and 12 parents (6 German and 6 Chinese) in focus groups for further discussion and will be used to elicit their perspectives and understanding of learning at play. This comparative study provides different social representations of learning at play from parents’ and teachers’ perspectives, and has implications for professional practice and curricular policy for the two contexts which are currently undergoing educational reforms.
Project Start Year: 2014, Principal Investigator(s): WU, Shu-chen 吳淑真

 
Children’s perceptions of their school activities
This study aims at investigating children’s perceptions of play and learning. Many scholars claimed that children’s perspectives should be heard and considered while discussing curriculum issues. Children are the protagonists and they are seen as competent informants. They are required to present their views on learning in/and play which they experience and conceive in the daily practices. This study will obtain children’s perceptions of play and learning by interviewing children after they have experienced play and learning activities to explore their understandings of play and learning. Children’s answers will be compared with their real activities which are filmed to grasp their understanding of play and learning.
Project Start Year: 2012, Principal Investigator(s): WU, Shu-chen 吳淑真

 
Prizes and awards

Departmental Publication Award

Date of receipt: 2/8/2013, Conferred by: ECE Department