Using a 3CAPs Conceptual Framework to Explore Hong Kong Kindergarten Teachers’ Perceptions About Visual Arts Education

In the past decades, the visual arts in early childhood education were dominated by conventional approaches to shaping children’s artistic output. Craft making formed the major content of visual arts activities in kindergartens, and teachers relied on product-oriented instructions to deliver visual arts teaching to young children. However, there was a revision of the Hong Kong kindergarten education curriculum in 2017, when the government recognized the importance of children’s creativity in the arts by placing more emphasis on the elements of free expression and creativity. The early childhood curriculum reforms were found to be a de facto revolution of teaching ideas, leading to a remarkable gap between teachers’ reported beliefs and their practices. Using a 3CAPs (i.e., culturally appropriate, contextually appropriate, and child-appropriate practice) conceptual framework, in-service kindergarten teachers’ views on and their competence in visual arts education in Hong Kong are examined. A belief–practice gap in implementing visual arts education in Hong Kong kindergartens is evident from the voice of teachers. Kindergarten teachers generally show support towards creativity in early childhood arts but face considerable difficulties to put it into practice. Policymakers and reform leaders should act boldly to develop curricula and pedagogies that are culturally appropriate, contextually appropriate, and child-appropriate. © The International Academic Forum 2022