ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1602763
This article is part of the Research TopicBreaking the Mold: Groundbreaking Methodologies and Theories for Parental Involvement in EducationView all 12 articles
Tripartite Interaction Among Teachers, Parents and Young Children in Chinese Parent-child Program
Provisionally accepted
- National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
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The tripartite interaction among parents, children, and teachers serves as the primary method for organizing and implementing educational activities within early parenting programs. The research investigated the characteristics and issues associated with tripartite interactions within the Chinese context. Data were gathered from four groups comprising teachers, parents, and children (n = 29; Mage = 30 months). A total of 1130 interaction events and 23 interviews were collected using event sample observation and interview methods. The research performed an initial categorical analysis, coding and analyzing the behavioral themes and subsequently developing a theoretical model. The findings revealed that interaction serves as a valuable mechanism for enhancing the experiences of children, teachers, and parents. Nonetheless, challenges emerged from a singular structural approach, a disregard for the child's subjectivity, and superficial communication between teachers and parents. To improve the quality of interactions, parent-child activities need to prioritize dual goals and foster the development of all three parties.Parent-child program•Tripartite interaction•Event sampling•China• Early Childhood Education 1. Research Background Interaction is one of the essential indicators for evaluating the quality of early education. (Pianta et al.,2005; Mcguire,2016; Karen, et al.2019). The Strong Start Report published by the OECD Education Committee 2017 recognizes that children's daily interactions in Early Childhood Education (ECE)settings reflect the quality of ECE they experience. Numerous studies have indicated that high-quality interactions facilitate the enhancement of young children's capabilities, inspire their eagerness to learn, and contribute to the advancement of their cognitive skills, including language, mathematics, and
Keywords: Parent-child program, Tripartite interaction, event sampling, China, early childhood education
Received: 30 Mar 2025; Accepted: 26 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kang, Abu Bakar, Mohamed and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jiali Kang, National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
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