This presentation advocates for fluid pedagogies that align with the transnational parenting practices of immigrant families and sustain diverse cultural practices. New Zealand is now considered to be a 'superdiverse country (Royal Society of New Zealand, 2013) with a large population of immigrants. This superdiversity phenomenon can therefore also be found in its early childhood education settings. Research has indicated that many contemporary immigrants are transnationals who maintain close connections with their home countries and frequently engage in border-crossing activities (see for example: Bartley & Spoonley, 2008; González Barea et al., 2010; Huang & Yeoh, 2005, Levitt, 2001; Pacini-Ketchabaw, 2007, Zhang & Guo, 2015). Transnational immigrants are mobile, and their parenting strategies may be similarly fluid.
This presentation will use findings from a research project to illustrate Chinese immigrant families' transnational perspectives of early childhood education and parenting practices. A life story methodological approach was applied in the project. Findings collected from individual interviews will be presented and analysed using key theoretical constructs of transnationalism (using the work of: Bartley & Spoonley, 2008; Levitt, 2001, 2003; Ong, 1999; Vertovec, 1999; Yeoh, 2006) to illustrate the participants’ cultural dilemmas in their parenting, their determination to maintain heritage practices, their preparedness to adopt early childhood education discourses of the host country, and their agency in choosing parenting strategies that they believed best support their children’s learning. The presentation will highlight the importance of parent-teacher dialogue for teachers to establish caring and respectful relationships with children and families. It will also suggest early childhood teachers to enact a curriculum with fluid pedagogies that are responsive to diverse parental aspirations and are supportive to sustaining diverse cultural practices.
