Karen Guo
Biographic Data
| ID | 3838120 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Karen Guo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Karen |
| FAMILY NAME | Guo |
| SIGNATURE | GUO K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Deakin University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7362-5197 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 40 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 20 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Not Just a Pretty Garden
High-quality outdoor spaces are crucial for fostering children’s holistic development and wellbeing. This study investigates children’s perspectives on desirable preschool outdoor spaces in a private demonstration preschool in China, highly regarded for its outdoor environment. Using affordance theory and the Mosaic approach, multiple methods—observations, child-led photography tours, map-making, and interviews—were employed to triangulate childr…
Gathering strengths and building capitals
The significance of family involvement in early childhood services has been recognised as crucial for enhancing the educational outcomes of young children, particularly among those from minority and immigration backgrounds. Extensive research has been conducted on collaborative practices between immigrant parents and early childhood communities, but it may be useful to pursue further efforts targeting immigrant grandparents, given their substanti…
Positioning the notion of group in children’s learning
Current research and literature emphasize the crucial role of group experiences in children’s learning during early childhood. However, despite the frequent use of the term ‘group’, little attention has been paid to its position in children’s learning and the diverse perspectives that inform it. This study addressed this gap by applying a tri-partite lens, considering the perspectives of young children, parents and teachers in three preschools in…
Teachers' Exemplar of Effective Peer Collaboration in Young Children
Peer collaboration is widely recognized as essential in children's learning and early childhood education policy and pedagogy. However, research has largely focused on researchers' interpretations, with limited attention to teachers' perspectives. Conducted in a Chinese preschool, this study explored how teachers perceived and interpreted effective peer collaboration in young children. Drawing on video‐recorded classroom interactions, teachers' e…
Searching for evidence-based practice
The Reggio Emilia Approach (REA) to early years education has attracted considerable attention over the past decades, with a growing interest in its adoption internationally. Despite a substantial body of qualitative research in the field, there remains a gap in understanding how the REA has influenced teaching pedagogies beyond the REA context. This study presents a metasynthesis of qualitative studies on Reggio-inspired practices in Australia, …
‘They can do many things’
Rhymes are popular tools in children’s learning in many cultures, but the pedagogical underpinnings of rhyme practice are largely unknown. Drawing on insights from a study in China, this paper explores the pedagogical meaning and function of rhymes in early childhood education. Individual interviews were conducted with 10 Chinese early childhood teachers and a series of classroom observations of teachers’ rhyme practices were undertaken. An overa…
Preschool children's dispositions of collaboration
There is converging evidence that young children's development of peer collaboration is crucial for their later success in life. However, little attention has been paid to how children develop collaboration as a lifelong capability. Drawing on the notion of learning disposition, this study explored Chinese children's dispositions of collaboration. Our aim was to identify the characteristics of these dispositions and considered how they might sugg…
A systematic review of research on immigrant parenting of young children in the 21st century (2000–2020)
As the immigrant population grows in many countries, immigrant parenting has become a prominent research topic and generated an extensive body of literature. This bibliometric study conducted a systematic review of 1090 articles published from 2000–2020 within the field of immigrant parenting (IP) of young children. Using the citation and co‐citation data, the study delineated the developing trends of IP research, explored the significant shifts,…
Exploring the notion of ‘group’ in Chinese children’s learning
Relationships, Rules, and Responsibilities
In this study, we are looking for insights into children’s learning in Japanese kindergartens from the perspectives and experiences of kindergarten teachers and children. Combining research on early childhood education in Japan and the capabilities approach, the findings indicate that children’s learning is situated within a dynamic praxis, involving relationships, rules, and responsibilities. The study argues for the utility of going beyond chil…
Australia’s Engagement with Asia in the National Curriculum
A systematic review of early childhood research on diversity and difference (1968–2019)
Digital learning across cultures
This paper explores a teaching and learning process as it unfolds in an online offshore classroom. The paper reports on teaching and learning narratives distilled from different cultures, namely the cultures of educators and students in the context of digital learning environments. Drawing on activity theory as a conceptual framework to analyse the narrative, we employ self-study as a methodological tool for capturing the dynamism and complexitie…
A randomised controlled trial examining the efficacy of smoking-related response inhibition training in smokers
The trial was prospectively registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry 17th February 2017. Trial ID: ACTRN12617000252314
Teacher accounts of parent involvement in children's education in China
Belonging as a force of agency
The notion of agency is being used with increasing frequency in early childhood policies, replacing traditional assumptions about young children’s immaturity and their role as mere recipients of adults’ arrangements. Agency is thus both an educational aspiration as well as a signifier of a strong rights-based political commitment to countering views of children as immature and incompetent. This article develops the argument that agency is inheren…
For a Better Life
This article discusses the parenting aspirations of Chinese immigrants, looking in detail at a study in New Zealand. My discussion of the topic centers on the aspirations of educated Chinese immigrants for their preschool children, and their ways of parenting. The “Tiger Mother” practice described in Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and other research on immigrant parenting, directed my attention to this subject. It is argued that in times of cha…
Ideals and realities in Chinese immigrant parenting
This paper is about Chinese immigrant parenting. Drawing on discourses of cultural ideals and living realities of Chinese immigrants, it sketches the complex cultural and contextual web of Chinese immigrant parenting, and explains why the tiger mother practice illustrated in one of the 2011 bestselling books Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was a story of a mother’s pursuit of cultural ideals in her parenting. The paper proposes that traditions an…
Ideals and realities in Chinese immigrant parenting
Switching Channels
Media critics invariably disparage the quality of programming produced by the U.S. television industry. But why the industry produces what it does is a question largely unasked. It is this question, at the crux of American popular culture, that Switching Channels explores
Ideals and realities in Chinese immigrant parenting
This paper is about Chinese immigrant parenting. Drawing on discourses of cultural ideals and living realities of Chinese immigrants, it sketches the complex cultural and contextual web of Chinese immigrant parenting, and explains why the tiger mother practice illustrated in one of the 2011 bestselling books Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was a story of a mother’s pursuit of cultural ideals in her parenting. The paper proposes that traditions an…
Switching Channels
Media critics invariably disparage the quality of programming produced by the U.S. television industry. But why the industry produces what it does is a question largely unasked. It is this question, at the crux of American popular culture, that Switching Channels explores
Teacher accounts of parent involvement in children's education in China
For a Better Life
This article discusses the parenting aspirations of Chinese immigrants, looking in detail at a study in New Zealand. My discussion of the topic centers on the aspirations of educated Chinese immigrants for their preschool children, and their ways of parenting. The “Tiger Mother” practice described in Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and other research on immigrant parenting, directed my attention to this subject. It is argued that in times of cha…
Ideals and realities in Chinese immigrant parenting
Belonging as a force of agency
The notion of agency is being used with increasing frequency in early childhood policies, replacing traditional assumptions about young children’s immaturity and their role as mere recipients of adults’ arrangements. Agency is thus both an educational aspiration as well as a signifier of a strong rights-based political commitment to countering views of children as immature and incompetent. This article develops the argument that agency is inheren…
Switching Channels
Media critics invariably disparage the quality of programming produced by the U.S. television industry. But why the industry produces what it does is a question largely unasked. It is this question, at the crux of American popular culture, that Switching Channels explores
Ideals and realities in Chinese immigrant parenting
This paper is about Chinese immigrant parenting. Drawing on discourses of cultural ideals and living realities of Chinese immigrants, it sketches the complex cultural and contextual web of Chinese immigrant parenting, and explains why the tiger mother practice illustrated in one of the 2011 bestselling books Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was a story of a mother’s pursuit of cultural ideals in her parenting. The paper proposes that traditions an…
Ideals and realities in Chinese immigrant parenting
For a Better Life
This article discusses the parenting aspirations of Chinese immigrants, looking in detail at a study in New Zealand. My discussion of the topic centers on the aspirations of educated Chinese immigrants for their preschool children, and their ways of parenting. The “Tiger Mother” practice described in Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and other research on immigrant parenting, directed my attention to this subject. It is argued that in times of cha…
Belonging as a force of agency
The notion of agency is being used with increasing frequency in early childhood policies, replacing traditional assumptions about young children’s immaturity and their role as mere recipients of adults’ arrangements. Agency is thus both an educational aspiration as well as a signifier of a strong rights-based political commitment to countering views of children as immature and incompetent. This article develops the argument that agency is inheren…
Teacher accounts of parent involvement in children's education in China
A randomised controlled trial examining the efficacy of smoking-related response inhibition training in smokers
The trial was prospectively registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry 17th February 2017. Trial ID: ACTRN12617000252314
Digital learning across cultures
This paper explores a teaching and learning process as it unfolds in an online offshore classroom. The paper reports on teaching and learning narratives distilled from different cultures, namely the cultures of educators and students in the context of digital learning environments. Drawing on activity theory as a conceptual framework to analyse the narrative, we employ self-study as a methodological tool for capturing the dynamism and complexitie…
Exploring the notion of ‘group’ in Chinese children’s learning
Relationships, Rules, and Responsibilities
In this study, we are looking for insights into children’s learning in Japanese kindergartens from the perspectives and experiences of kindergarten teachers and children. Combining research on early childhood education in Japan and the capabilities approach, the findings indicate that children’s learning is situated within a dynamic praxis, involving relationships, rules, and responsibilities. The study argues for the utility of going beyond chil…
Australia’s Engagement with Asia in the National Curriculum
A systematic review of early childhood research on diversity and difference (1968–2019)
A systematic review of research on immigrant parenting of young children in the 21st century (2000–2020)
As the immigrant population grows in many countries, immigrant parenting has become a prominent research topic and generated an extensive body of literature. This bibliometric study conducted a systematic review of 1090 articles published from 2000–2020 within the field of immigrant parenting (IP) of young children. Using the citation and co‐citation data, the study delineated the developing trends of IP research, explored the significant shifts,…
‘They can do many things’
Rhymes are popular tools in children’s learning in many cultures, but the pedagogical underpinnings of rhyme practice are largely unknown. Drawing on insights from a study in China, this paper explores the pedagogical meaning and function of rhymes in early childhood education. Individual interviews were conducted with 10 Chinese early childhood teachers and a series of classroom observations of teachers’ rhyme practices were undertaken. An overa…
Preschool children's dispositions of collaboration
There is converging evidence that young children's development of peer collaboration is crucial for their later success in life. However, little attention has been paid to how children develop collaboration as a lifelong capability. Drawing on the notion of learning disposition, this study explored Chinese children's dispositions of collaboration. Our aim was to identify the characteristics of these dispositions and considered how they might sugg…
Not Just a Pretty Garden
High-quality outdoor spaces are crucial for fostering children’s holistic development and wellbeing. This study investigates children’s perspectives on desirable preschool outdoor spaces in a private demonstration preschool in China, highly regarded for its outdoor environment. Using affordance theory and the Mosaic approach, multiple methods—observations, child-led photography tours, map-making, and interviews—were employed to triangulate childr…
Gathering strengths and building capitals
The significance of family involvement in early childhood services has been recognised as crucial for enhancing the educational outcomes of young children, particularly among those from minority and immigration backgrounds. Extensive research has been conducted on collaborative practices between immigrant parents and early childhood communities, but it may be useful to pursue further efforts targeting immigrant grandparents, given their substanti…
Positioning the notion of group in children’s learning
Current research and literature emphasize the crucial role of group experiences in children’s learning during early childhood. However, despite the frequent use of the term ‘group’, little attention has been paid to its position in children’s learning and the diverse perspectives that inform it. This study addressed this gap by applying a tri-partite lens, considering the perspectives of young children, parents and teachers in three preschools in…
Teachers' Exemplar of Effective Peer Collaboration in Young Children
Peer collaboration is widely recognized as essential in children's learning and early childhood education policy and pedagogy. However, research has largely focused on researchers' interpretations, with limited attention to teachers' perspectives. Conducted in a Chinese preschool, this study explored how teachers perceived and interpreted effective peer collaboration in young children. Drawing on video‐recorded classroom interactions, teachers' e…
Searching for evidence-based practice
The Reggio Emilia Approach (REA) to early years education has attracted considerable attention over the past decades, with a growing interest in its adoption internationally. Despite a substantial body of qualitative research in the field, there remains a gap in understanding how the REA has influenced teaching pedagogies beyond the REA context. This study presents a metasynthesis of qualitative studies on Reggio-inspired practices in Australia, …
Sociology (15 works) · Pedagogy (12 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (11 works) · Developmental psychology (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Parental Involvement in Education (7 works) · Social science (7 works) · Early childhood education (6 works) · Children's Rights and Participation (5 works)