head start

children aged

social competence

children play

childhood teachers

early care education

executive functions

school readiness

Children and Youth Services Review

Quality early childhood education (ECE) is central to children's development and, thus, has become a focus of the current Chinese education agenda. Using a sample of 589 Chinese children in 59 preschool classrooms, this study examined how a key aspect of ECE quality, teacher-child interactions, was related to children's skills. Findings indicated that teacher-child interactions were related to children's cognitive skills, but not to social skills. These results contribute to the growing international research literature on the critical role teacher-child interactions play with children's learning and development. Implications for policy and professional development are discussed.

Teacher-child interactions and children's cognitive and social skills in Chinese preschool classrooms