ABSTRACT
Early childhood is one of the most important stages in a child's cognitive development, and early child education can be one of the most crucial yet often ignored educational stages. The narratives about early childhood education can vary greatly between cultures and countries, and perceptions about early childhood education in China and the United States are very different, aside from the inherent systematic differences. This research dives into how differences in political, cultural and socioeconomic factors lead to differences in early childhood education in these two countries, and it also examines the differences in culture and teaching values behind these differences. Analyzing existing Chinese and American literature, this research aims to provide a holistic view of factors accounting for the differences and eventually call for policy changes that can potentially improve both education systems. Governmental interventions and the perception of the role of early childhood education seem to be the dominant difference between early childhood education systems in the two countries, and the inequality in educational resources in both countries highlights socioeconomic factors as a common factor leading to the cultural and social stratification from unequal participation in early childhood education.
