An exploration of the participation of kindergarten-aged Hong Kong children in extra curricular activities

Abstract

In this study, we used a mixed-methods research design to investigate the extra curricular participation of kindergarten-aged Hong Kong children, based on reports provided by 1260 parents, and parents’ perceptions of their children’s extra curricular participation, through nine individual interviews. The results of the survey indicated that kindergarten-aged Hong Kong children are regularly and extensively involved in extra curricular activities, and that children with more educated parents and children from families with higher incomes participate in more extra curricular activities. The interview responses revealed that, in general, the parents believe that extra curricular participation provides their children with opportunities for positive development that are beyond the scope of the training provided by kindergartens. We discuss the implications of these findings for parent education and Hong Kong’s policy of subsidizing kindergarten education.

Keywords

early childhood education extra curricular activities mixed-methods research ‘parents’perceptions

Introduction

As researchers have agreed for many years that children’s after-school hours constitute an important part of their day, particular attention has been paid in the literature to children’s involvement in extra curricular activities (Eccles and Barber, 1999; Larson, 2001; Larson and Verma, 1999; Mahoney et al., 2005). It has been suggested that participation in extra curricular activities promotes children’s development in a number of dimensions, such as school satisfaction, academic achievement and social competence (Mahoney et al., 2002; Posner and Vandell, 1999; Powell et al., 2002). Chinese parents are known to place a high value on academic achievement. Recent studies have also shown that Chinese parents tend to involve themselves closely in their children’s education at an early stage, to provide them with a good foundation for academic and professional development later in life (Fung and Cheng, 2011; Lau et al., 2011). It is unsurprising, therefore, that a trend has recently arisen among Chinese children for extensive and diverse extra curricular participation at a very young age, which is intended by their parents to reinforce their early educational attainment. Although there is considerable evidence of adolescents’ extra curricular participation in Western countries (e.g. Durlak and Weissberg, 2007; Gilman et al., 2004; Lauer et al., 2006), comparatively little attention has been paid to extra curricular participation among Chinese young children, or to their parents’ perceptions of extra curricular activities. The current study has been designed to address this gap in the literature using a sample of kindergarten-aged children and parents in Hong Kong.

Children’s extra curricular participation

Recent studies have indicated a marked increase in children’s participation in extra curricular activities (Dunn et al., 2003; Larson et al., 2004). Extra curricular activities are generally defined as formal and organized activities that are not part of the school curriculum, but which involve regular and scheduled meetings to help schoolchildren to develop particular skills (Clegg et al., 2010; DeMoulin, 2002; Fredricks and Eccles, 2006). The range of extra curricular activities available to children today is substantial and includes language programmes, music lessons, sports clubs and interpersonal-skills training. Researchers in this field have tended to emphasize the positive outcomes of children’s extra curricular activities, which are often claimed to provide children with access to positive adult and peer relationships that occur on a voluntary basis yet within a supervised and structured setting, and which may also serve as protective factors (DuBois et al., 2002; Molinuevo et al., 2010). For instance, the potential of extra curricular activities to build positive attitudes and behavioural traits, such as persistence, reflection, responsibility and reliability, has been thoroughly documented. Such attitudes have been linked with positive academic outcomes, such as improved school engagement, higher grades and increased educational aspirations (Cooper et al., 1999; Mahoney et al., 2003; McLaughlin, 2000). Extra curricular participation has also been found to predict psychological and social competencies, such as high levels of interpersonal competence and self-esteem and low levels of depression, because it offers children the opportunity to learn and develop their social skills through a variety of adult–child and peer interactions (Barber et al., 2001; Mahoney, 2000).

Factors influencing extra curricular participation

Many factors may influence a child’s participation in extra curricular activities. For instance, studies have identified influential aspects of individual family background, such as childcare arrangements, parental employment and family socio-economic status (SES) (Capizzano et al., 2000; Covay and Carbonaro, 2010). In particular, families’ economic characteristics have been found to be important determinants of extra curricular participation: the ease with which the costs of such activities can be met will affect parents’ willingness and desire to enrol their children in extra curricular programmes and their ability to manage their children’s participation in such activities (e.g. childcare and transportation) (Mahoney et al., 2005). The results of one study indicated that families with higher incomes are better able and thus more likely to pay tuition fees and purchase the equipment required for different extra curricular activities, such as musical instruments and sports kits (Capizzano et al., 2000). Similarly, Barnett (2008) suggested that as the number of children in a family affects the amount of resources available for each child, children from families with a larger number of children are less likely than children with fewer siblings to enrol in extra curricular activities (Barnett, 2008).

Parents’ educational background has also been found to greatly influence children’s participation in extra curricular activities. Specifically, Anderson et al. (2003) argued that mothers educated to a higher level are more likely to enrol their children in extra curricular programmes than less well-educated mothers, as the former are likely to be more aware of the positive effects of extra curricular participation. Other researchers have suggested that parents’ perceptions and valuation of extra curricular involvement are crucial determinants of their children’s participation, as parents may structure their children’s leisure experiences to secure what they perceive to be important benefits and outcomes for their children (Dunn et al., 2003; Shaw and Dawson, 2001). As parents’ perceptions of the effectiveness and benefits of extra curricular activities may influence their decisions as to whether to enrol their children in extra curricular activities, and whether to sustain their children’s involvement in these activities (Kremer-Sadlik et al., 2010), it is crucial to explore further the various factors that may influence parents’ decision-making regarding their children’s extra curricular activities.

The current study

The existing literature on children’s extra curricular participation has many limitations. First, most studies have been conducted with school-aged students in Western contexts. As a result, little is known about young children’s extra curricular participation in the Chinese setting. Second, no studies have explored Chinese parents’ perceptions of their children’s extra curricular activities during early childhood. In this research, we focussed on the participation of kindergarten-aged Hong Kong children in extra curricular activities that are not part of the school curriculum. We also explored parents’ perceptions of children’s extra curricular participation during the kindergarten years. More specifically, we used a mixed-methods research design with two stages: (1) the parents involved in the study were asked to complete a survey reporting on their children’s participation in extra curricular activities, and (2) individual interviews were conducted with parents to examine their perceptions of their children’s extra curricular activities.

Methodology

Participants

In Study 1, the parents chosen for inclusion in the research completed a survey on the demographic characteristics of their families and their children’s participation in extra curricular activities. We used stratified random sampling to select and invited eight kindergartens from each of the three districts in Hong Kong, namely Kowloon, Hong Kong Island and the New Territories to participate in the study. It is important to note that in Hong Kong, the term ‘kindergarten’ refers to a private educational pre-primary programme for children between 3 and 6 years of age. Nearly all kindergarten-aged children in Hong Kong attend kindergarten. Of the 24 kindergartens contacted, 20 agreed to participate (an 83% response rate), and completed surveys were collected from 1260 parents of kindergarten-aged children (of whom 47% were girls, 30.9% were in lower kindergarten classes, 36.7% were in middle kindergarten classes and 32.4% belonged to upper kindergarten classes). As shown in Table 1, the majority of the participating parents were married (94.3%) and aged between 31 and 40 years old (66.2%). In terms of education, 31.7 per cent of the parents had completed senior high school, and 33.1 per cent had a family monthly income within the HKD10,001–HKD20,000 (Hong Kong Dollars) range. The mean number of children per family was 1.67 (standard deviation (SD) = 0.65). The parents participating in the follow-up interviews of Study 2 comprised nine mothers. Researchers have often claimed that mothers are the primary determiners of the types of extra curricular activities in which their children participate and the extent to which they participate (Shannon, 2006). An understanding of mothers’ perceptions of extra curricular activities is thus important to any exploration of young children’s extra curricular participation. The ages of the mothers involved in Study 2 ranged from 23 to 49 years. All of the mothers reported that they were married. Their median educational attainment was senior high school level (see Table 2).

Table 1.

Demographic information for participants in Study 1 (valid per cent).

Relationship with child (total: 1205)
Mother	959 (79.6%)
Father	216 (17.9%)
Other	30 (2.5%)
Age (total: 1240)
20 years old or below	8 (0.6%)
21–30 years old	187 (15.1%)
31–40 years old	821 (66.2%)
41–50 years old	196 (15.8%)
51 years old or above	28 (2.3%)
Marital status (total: 1233)
Married	1163 (94.3%)
Divorced	33 (2.5%)
Remarried	13 (1.1%)
Other	24 (1.9%)
Highest education level (total: 1240)
Junior high school or below	278 (22.4%)
Senior high school	393 (31.7%)
Pre-degree	247 (19.9%)
Bachelor’s	200 (16.1%)
Master’s or above	122 (9.8%)
Family income per month (total: 1222)
Less than HKD10,000	215 (17.6%)
HKD10,001–HKD20,000	405 (33.1%)
HKD20,001–HKD40,000	333 (27.3%)
More than HKD40,000	269 (22%)

HKD: Hong Kong Dollars.

1 Hong Kong Dollar = 0.13 US Dollars. N ranged from 1205 to 1240.

Table 2.

Demographic information for participants in Study 2.

	School	Age	Education	Family income (per month)	No. of children	Child age	Child gender	No. of extra curricular activities	Monthly expenditure on extra curricular activities
A	1	32	Senior high school	HKD20,001–HKD30,000	1	6	Male	4	HKD3001–HKD4000
B	1	37	Senior high school	HKD10,001–HKD20,000	1	4	Male	2	HKD501–HKD1000
C	1	28	Junior high school	HKD40,001–HKD60,000	1	5	Female	4	HKD1001–HKD2000
D	2	45	Junior high school	HKD20,001–HKD30,000	2	6	Female	0	Less than HKD500
E	2	43	Bachelor’s	HKD40,001–HKD60,000	1	5	Male	2	Less than HKD500
F	2	23	Senior high school	HKD10,001–HKD20,000	1	4	Female	2	HKD1001–HKD2000
G	3	49	Bachelor’s	HKD40,001–HKD60,000	2	6	Female	4	HKD2001–HKD3000
H	3	45	Master’s or above	HKD40,001–HKD60,000	2	4	Male	1	Less than HKD500
I	3	36	Master’s or above	HKD30,001–HKD40,000	2	5	Male	3	HKD1001–HKD2000

HKD: Hong Kong Dollars.

Procedure

We contacted the principals of the selected kindergartens to seek their consent to participate in the study. The parents involved in Study 1 were instructed to complete and return their surveys to their children’s teachers within a week, using the return envelope provided. The survey comprised questions about the respondents’ demographic characteristics, along with six questions related directly to their children’s participation in extra curricular activities. Approximately 2 months after the completion of Study 1, we conducted individual interviews with a smaller set of parents to explore in person their perceptions of their children’s extra curricular activities. One kindergarten from each of the three districts in Hong Kong was selected from the kindergartens involved in Study 1 to take part in the follow-up study. From each of the resulting three kindergartens, we randomly selected one child belonging to each of the three kindergarten levels and invited their parents to participate in the individual interviews in Study 2. We conducted a total of nine individual interviews, all of which took place in the kindergarten setting. The interviews were carried out by the first author and a senior research assistant (SRA) using a semi-structured interview protocol. The interview protocol was designed to provide the interviews with structure and to ensure that the key themes were addressed. All interviews were conducted in Cantonese (the predominant spoken language in Hong Kong). Each interview lasted for about 30 minutes. Three major questions were asked, as follows. (1) In which extra curricular activities is your child currently enrolled? (2) What factors influenced your decision to enrol or not to enrol your child in extra curricular activities? (3) What are some of the benefits of children’s participation in extra curricular activities? All of the interviews were audio-taped for later transcription and analysis. We grouped similar responses through constant comparison of the interview transcripts. The two authors (E.Y.H.L. and D.P.W.C.) and the SRA engaged in ongoing discussion to ensure that the emerging findings and the participants’ responses were congruent. The excerpts provided in the ‘Results’ section below are translations of the transcripts.

Results

Study 1: survey of parents’ perceptions of children’s extra curricular participation

The mean of the ideal number of extra curricular activities reported by the parents was 2.15 (SD = 1.01), with the majority of the parents indicating that kindergarten-aged children should ideally be enrolled in two extra curricular activities (45%). However, when asked about the actual number of extra curricular activities in which their children are currently enrolled, the parents responded with an average of 1.75 activities (SD = 1.42). More specifically, most of the parents reported that their children are currently enrolled in zero, one or two extra curricular activities (22.8%, 25.1% and 24.1%, respectively). The majority of the parents reported spending HKD500 or less per month on their children’s extra curricular activities. The second largest group (24.1%) spent between HKD501 and HKD1000 per month on their children’s extra curricular participation, and the remainder (16.5%) spent HKD1001 to HKD2000. Most of the parents reported that their children were enrolled at the time of the study in English language-related activities (48.8%), drawing (39.4%), dancing (24.4%), music (24.4%), physical activities (15.2%) or Putonghua (14.2%). While 60.6 per cent of the parents suggested that their ‘children’s interest’ was the major factor influencing their decisions regarding extra curricular participation, several other motivations were described, such as the desire ‘to enhance [their] children’s all-round development’ (42.6%), ‘to cultivate [their] children’s talent’ (41.4%), ‘to strengthen [their] children’s areas of weakness’ (22.7%), ‘to prepare for the transition to primary school’ (18.4%) and ‘to provide opportunities for social interaction’ (18.4%) (see Table 3). The parents were also asked to rank from 1 to 6 the six key learning areas identified in The Guide to the Pre-Primary Curriculum (Curriculum Development Council, 2006), which has been fully implemented in all pre-primary institutions in Hong Kong since 2007. ‘Physical fitness and health’ received the highest ranking (1) from most of the parents (54.9%), followed by ‘language’ (25.8%), ‘self and society’ (21.1%), ‘arts’ (1.7%), ‘early mathematics’ (1.3%) and ‘science and technology’ (0.2%) (see Table 4).

Table 3.

Participants’ responses regarding children’s extra curricular activities.

Ideal number of extra curricular activities (n = 1235)
0	51 (4.1%)
1	239 (19.4%)
2	556 (45%)
3	285 (23.1%)
4	74 (6.0%)
5 or more	30 (2.4%)
Actual number of extra curricular activities (n = 1238)
0	282 (22.8%)
1	311 (25.1%)
2	298 (24.1%)
3	191 (15.4%)
4	90 (7.3%)
5 or more	66 (5.3%)
Monthly expenditure on extra curricular classes (HKD) (n = 1158)
HKD500 or below	488 (42.1%)
HKD501–HKD1000	279 (24.1%)
HKD1001–HKD2000	191 (16.5%)
HKD2001–HKD3000	87 (7.5%)
HKD3001–HKD4000	52 (4.5%)
HKD4001–HKD5000	26 (2.2%)
HKD5001–HKD10,000	25 (2.2%)
HKD10,001 or more	10 (0.9%)
Types of extra curricular participation (may choose more than one) (n = 1207)
Story-telling	37 (3.1%)
Putonghua	171 (14.2%)
English	589 (48.8%)
Other foreign languages	18 (1.5%)
Physical activities	183 (15.2%)
Drawing	475 (39.4%)
Mathematics	89 (7.4%)
Dancing	294 (24.4%)
Chess	25 (2.1%)
Drama	40 (3.3%)
Play group	49 (4.1%)
Music	294 (24.4%)
Emotional management	39 (3.2%)
School-transition preparation	30 (2.5%)
Other	183 (15.2%)
Reason for enrolment (may choose more than one) (n = 1226)
Children’s interest	743 (60.6%)
To enhance children’s all-round development	522 (42.6%)
To cultivate children’s skills	507 (41.4%)
To strengthen children’s areas of weakness	278 (22.7%)
To prepare for the transition to primary school	226 (18.4%)
To provide opportunities for social interaction	225 (18.4%)
To increase children’s competitiveness in application for desired primary school	116 (9.5%)
Pressure of societal expectations	20 (1.6%)
Other	93 (7.6%)

HKD: Hong Kong Dollars.

Table 4.

Ranking of developmental aspects in early childhood.

	Rank 1	Rank 2	Rank 3	Rank 4	Rank 5	Rank 6
Physical fitness and health	54.9%	20.0%	15.8%	5.3%	2.8%	1.3%
Language	25.8%	28.6%	33.0%	9.3%	2.7%	0.6%
Self and society	21.1%	38.5%	22.3%	10.3%	5.4%	2.5%
Early mathematics	1.3%	6.6%	16.2%	37.9%	25.5%	12.4%
Science and technology	0.2%	1.1%	3.2%	11.6%	38.4%	45.5%
Arts	1.7%	3.7%	8.3%	24.8%	24.5%	36.9%

Next, we conducted correlational analyses to examine the relationships between each child’s class level, the total number of children in his/her family, the ideal number of extra curricular activities reported by his/her parents and the actual number of extra curricular activities reported by his/her parents. The correlation patterns suggested that a child’s class level was significantly correlated with both the ideal number of extra curricular activities (.18, p < .001) and the actual number of extra curricular activities (.29, p < .001) reported by his/her parent, but that the total number of children in a family was significantly correlated only with the actual number of extra curricular activities reported by the parent of that family (–.06, p < .05). Finally, the ideal number of extra curricular activities and the actual number of extra curricular activities were found to be significantly correlated with each other (.70, p < .001).

We used several sets of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to assess the differences between family income and parent education in parents’ reports of the ideal number of extra curricular activities and the actual number of extra curricular activities. The results suggested that there were significant family-income and parent-education differences in parents’ reports of both the ideal number (family income: F(4, 1205) = 49.02, p < .001; parent education: F(4, 1222) = 27.76, p < .001) and the actual number of extra curricular activities (family income: F(4, 1207) = 73.51, p < .001; parent education: F(4, 1225) = 42.38, p < .001). Post-hoc least significant difference tests revealed significant differences between most of the parent-education groups and the family-income groups. However, no significant differences were found to exist between the family-income groups labelled ‘less than HKD10,000’ and ‘HKD20,000–HKD30,000’, or the parent-education groups labelled ‘primary school or below’ and ‘junior high school’, on the ideal number of extra curricular activities. Neither did the ‘senior high school’ and ‘associate degree’ categories show significant differences on the actual number of extra curricular activities. For the groups with significant differences, the results suggested that parents with higher education levels and family incomes were more likely to report both a higher ideal number and a higher actual number of extra curricular activities.

Study 2: parents’ perceptions of children’s extra curricular activities

During the interviews, only one parent indicated that her child was not enrolled in any extra curricular activities at the time of the study. The remaining parents described a variety of extra curricular activities in which their children were engaged. Some of these activities were more academically oriented (e.g. English and Putonghua), while others were related to sports (e.g. swimming), music (e.g. piano lessons) and art (e.g. drawing). We also made the unsurprising discovery that many children in Hong Kong are involved in more than one after-school or weekend activity. For instance, the first parent quoted below indicated that her child was enrolled in four extra curricular activities by the end of his second year at kindergarten. Although the parents expressed a general willingness to commit their time, effort and resources to facilitating their children’s participation in such activities, many also described the stress involved in arranging and managing their children’s daily schedules to enable them to participate in extra curricular activities. The second parent quoted below explained the difficulty of coordinating her children’s different extra curricular activities:

As he was still adapting to kindergarten in the first year, I encouraged him to sign up for extra curricular activities in the second term of his second kindergarten year, after he had had some time to adjust. At first, I only signed him up for an English phonics class. By July of the same year, I had signed him up for three other extra curricular activities. (School 1, Parent 1)

I have two children, each of whom participates in three extra curricular activities. It is difficult for me to coordinate taking them to six different places. (School 3, Parent 3)

The parents involved in the study shared the belief that engagement in extra curricular activities can help to enhance children’s learning and cultivate their abilities in different domains. In general, the parents viewed extra curricular activities as means of improving and diversifying their children’s skill-sets. They suggested that participating in extra curricular activities outside school hours helps children to develop competencies that are beyond the scope of the training provided in schools. The parents thus identified extra curricular participation as an important part of children’s early learning. As illustrated in the first excerpt below. The respondent expressed her desire for her child to acquire new skills through extra curricular participation outside school hours, rather than spending time in play. The parent quoted in the second excerpt believed that participating in extra curricular activities would help her child to acquire the necessary skills to secure a good job in the future:

She likes going to school. There is nothing to do during the holidays, so I want to find some activities on which for her to spend her time. You cannot let her go to the games arcade or the park. Playing is not good. I want to give her the chance to learn something. (School 1, Parent 3)

Children face very intense and stressful competition these days. Most parents have only one child, and if you do not give your child the opportunity to learn, you will worry that the child lacks knowledge and will be unable to find a good job in the future. (School 1, Parent 2)

As the results of the survey show, more than half of the parents reported that their children were enrolled at the time of the study in extra curricular activities that involve training in a second language, namely English or Putonghua. Similarly, many of the parents interviewed in the follow-up study described extra curricular activities as a tool to enhance their children’s language proficiency, indicating that extra curricular participation is considered more than merely a leisure activity for Hong Kong children today. The parents believed that acquiring a second language at an early age will help their children to build a stronger linguistic foundation, which will in turn be vital to their later academic and professional development. For this reason, many of the parents described having enrolled their children in English-language classes at a very young age. As clear from the excerpts below, the parents who were not proficient in foreign languages considered it particularly important for their children to participate in extra curricular language classes and thereby to obtain language-learning opportunities:

I am not good at English, and as we cannot teach him ourselves, we thought we should sign him up for some English classes to see whether they pique his interest in learning the language. As learning English is given such a high priority in society, a lack of English skills will inhibit him in the future. Therefore, I have signed him up for learning English. (School 1, Parent 2)

She is taking an English class because I do not know English. In Hong Kong, I understand that it is unacceptable for children not to know English. As her father does not have time to teach her, I encouraged her to sign up for the class to see whether it is helpful to her. (School 1, Parent 3)

Although the majority of the parents described selecting their children’s extra curricular activities to enhance particular skills, they also expressed the opinion that participation in these activities gives their children a sense of accomplishment and helps them to develop self-esteem. Some of the parents also linked extra curricular participation with the development of social skills, describing their belief that extra curricular experience increases children’s social competence by requiring them to engage more interactively with their peers. The parents explained that as most Hong Kong families have only one or two children, children often lack opportunities to interact with others of a similar age. The parents involved in this study, therefore, used extra curricular activities to prepare and socialize their children. The following excerpts illustrate the parents’ aim to foster their children’s self-confidence and interpersonal skills by encouraging them to engage in extra curricular activities:

I do not think participating in many extra curricular activities is a big problem if those activities enhance your child’s skills and help him to gain satisfaction, interest and self-confidence. We are very willing to let our son learn. (School 1, Parent 1)

Regardless of the nature of the activity, it will teach my child to interact with the other children involved, and to follow the teacher’s instructions. These are important milestones in the development of interpersonal relationships. I thus encourage my child to experience and adjust to environments with which he is unfamiliar. (School 3, Parent 2)

Interestingly, some of the parents also described encouraging their children to participate in extra curricular activities to increase their competitiveness in the primary-school admissions process. Many of the parents suggested that extra curricular involvement would make their children more likely to be accepted by their desired primary schools, due to their development of a range of skills. In short, they conceptualized extra curricular participation as advantageous to their children’s primary-school applications. They added that obtaining numerous certificates of achievement in these activities would be of added value during primary-school admissions interviews. Despite reporting that her child was not enrolled in any extra curricular activities at the time of the study, the parent quoted in the first excerpt below indicated her awareness of the common belief that extra curricular activities play a significant role in the primary-school admissions process, increasing the likelihood of admission to the desired school. However, many of the parents also suggested that they expect their children to take part in fewer extra curricular activities after entering primary school. These parents explained that compared with primary-school students, kindergarten students have a shorter school day and less homework, which leaves them more time in which to participate in extra curricular activities outside school. In contrast, most primary schools in Hong Kong offer a full-day curriculum and set a heavy homework load, thereby limiting the time available for extra curricular participation. The second parent quoted below explained that she expects her child to reduce the number of extra curricular activities in which she participates after entering primary school:

In the current education system, you have a better chance of getting into your desired primary school if you have been involved in more extra curricular activities. Most parents agree that participating in more extra curricular activities would be a helpful strategy because you can present all of the certificates that you have been awarded. The principal and teachers at the primary school may be more likely to admit you when they see how many certificates you have. (School 2, Parent 2)

She will spend a full day at primary school. Then she will have to do her homework, and she will be very tired after this. Therefore, she will have at most one or two extra curricular activities, unless she really wants to do another. (School 2, Parent 3)

The responses in interview showed that the parents also considered their children’s interests when selecting extra curricular activities. The respondents suggested that it is important to take children’s interests into account when making decision about enrolment in extra curricular activities. For instance, the first parent quoted below indicated that her child asked to be involved in two of the four extra curricular activities in which she is currently enrolled. Although her other two activities – English classes – were chosen by the child’s parents, the classes are conducted in a dynamic and interactive way that motivates young learners and makes learning a second language an enjoyable experience. Although the parents consistently expressed their belief that extra curricular participation benefits their children in important ways, including increasing their competitiveness in interviews, a few parents explained that they would rather teach their children at home than allow them to take part in too many extra curricular activities. The latter parents expressed the concern that forcing children to take part in formal learning at an early age inhibits their intrinsic motivation and interest. The parent quoted in the second excerpt below indicated that her role as a full-time mother allows her to spend more time interacting with her own child, rather than sending her to spend time with unfamiliar adults in extra curricular programmes:

Actually, she chose most of her activities. Except for English, which I encouraged her to choose because I think she needs it. Fortunately, the English class is play-based, and she has fun while learning lots of things. I also had to give her some encouragement to sign up for the Norway International class, again because I think she needs it. After attending the class, she felt happy. Besides these activities, she asked to join dancing and music classes. (School 3, Parent 1)

As I do not need to work, I have more time to spend with my daughter. I would prefer to play with her than leave her with people she doesn’t know. If I were to leave her with unfamiliar people, I would have fewer memories of her childhood. But if you need to work, you have no choice but to leave your child with unfamiliar people. (School 2, Parent 1)

Discussion

Extra curricular participation has been identified in the literature as an important part of children’s learning (Barnett and Weber, 2008; Kremer-Sadlik et al., 2010; Larson, 2000). Similarly, the Hong Kong parents who participated in the current study expressed the general belief that the participation of their kindergarten-aged children in extra curricular activities enables them to develop skills vital to their present and future success. The participating parents also viewed extra curricular activities as developmental opportunities for children to cultivate positive characteristics and attitudes to life that are not taught in schools. Specifically, this study revealed that many kindergarten-aged children in Hong Kong are extensively involved in extra curricular activities, and that Hong Kong parents tend to enrol their children in more extra curricular activities as the children move through the three levels of kindergarten. Although most of the parents ranked ‘physical health and fitness’ as the most important area of development during early childhood, extra curricular activities involving English teaching were most popular among the children who participated in the study. In Hong Kong, some prestigious schools have adopted English as a medium of instruction, and Putonghua has been used in other schools to teach Chinese literacy. Indeed, almost all university courses in Hong Kong are delivered in English (Lo and Macaro, 2012). Therefore, Hong Kong parents are, in general, concerned about the disadvantages of poor language skills, which often leads them to encourage their children to learn a second language at an early age.

However, little is known about the consequences of such a high level of involvement in academic-oriented activities during early childhood. For instance, concerns have been raised that children are ‘over-scheduled’, leaving them with little opportunity to play or to conduct other informal social interactions. The best use of after-school hours for young children is a controversial topic. In particular, Powell et al. (2002) suggested that the ‘more is better’ principle may not apply to young children who are still developing their ability to accommodate the multiple task demands of the kindergarten setting. Their findings suggested that the relationship between frequency of extra curricular participation and school achievement is curvilinear among children at an early stage of their education, and that it may be wise, therefore, to adopt a policy of moderation towards extra curricular activities at this age (Powell et al., 2002). Halpern (2002) also suggested that today’s high expectations of children’s extra curricular involvement are likely to reduce their opportunity for unstructured and non-supervised play, which has already been disappearing steadily from children’s lives. Specifically, play has been suggested to be the primary tool through which children develop their skills in all aspects of development (Ginsburg et al., 2007; Hofferth and Sandberg, 2004; Lindsey and Colwell, 2013; Russ et al., 1999). Researchers suggested that children need both unstructured free play and playful learning to best prepare them for entrance into formal school. However, Hong Kong kindergartens have traditionally emphasized pre-academic learning (Ng and Rao, 2008). A recent study has also found that Hong Kong preschoolers displayed less cognitive play behaviour than their German counterparts (Wu, 2014). In fact, many Hong Kong families with elementary or high school-aged children place their children in extra curricular programmes specifically designed to enhance their academic performance (e.g. structured activities and homework centres), which may further limit children’s free play during childhood. A similar situation has been observed among families in other non-Chinese cultures (Glazer and Williams, 2001). Brown et al. (2011) has argued that greater participation in extra curricular activities increases children’s activity-related stress. It is thus necessary to prevent more families from adopting similar extra curricular arrangements for academic learning and causing their children unnecessary stress.

Researchers have supplied evidence of gaps in achievement due to differences in SES even before students enter formal schooling (Entwisle et al., 1997; Farkas, 2003). The financial cost to parents of ensuring their children’s sustained participation in extra curricular activities may place an additional strain on families. Therefore, the availability of economic resources in the household has been identified as an important factor influencing parents’ decisions regarding their children’s extra curricular activities (Elder and Conger, 2000). The results of Elder and Conger’s (2000) study also suggested that extra curricular activities are more likely to be affordable for families with fewer children, better-educated parents and a higher family income. Many families in Hong Kong are dual-worker households, with parents who work long hours every day. Although these families may have greater financial resources with which to support their children’s extra curricular participation, the parents’ work puts a certain pressure on their time and thus their availability to teach their children after work. This in turn increases the likelihood that they will enrol their children in extra curricular activities to learn extra skills. Although the findings of the current study have contributed to the literature on the SES gap by examining inequalities in the context of extra curricular activities, it is also important for schools and society at large to offer support to low-income families to ensure that children are provided with equal opportunities for extra curricular participation.

Implications and limitations of the study

The findings of the current study have important implications for both parent education and the policy in Hong Kong of subsidizing kindergarten. As discussed earlier, we found a discrepancy between what the parents valued (e.g. ‘physical fitness and health’) and the actions they took with regard to their children’s extra curricular participation (e.g. encouraging their children to take up English classes). We also observed a tendency among older children and children from families with higher SES backgrounds to participate in more extra curricular activities than their younger and low-SES counterparts, respectively. The above findings call for improvements to parent education at an early stage of their children’s lives. Regardless of their SES backgrounds, not all parents have the experience and expertise to identify developmentally appropriate activities for their children. Support should thus be provided to parents to enhance their parenting skills. For example, parents should be encouraged to take children’s developmental needs and interests into consideration when selecting the type(s) and number of extra curricular activities to offer their children. Parents should also encourage their children to become involved in this decision-making process, giving them the opportunity to engage voluntarily in enjoyable and developmentally appropriate activities.

The findings also have important implications for the kindergarten-subsidization policy in Hong Kong. Since 2008, the government of Hong Kong has invested HKD2 billion per year in the Pre-Primary Education Voucher Scheme, which helps parents to provide their children with early-childhood schooling. The education-voucher scheme applies Friedman’s (1962) conceptualization of a market-driven economy to education. Friedman argued that when markets are allowed to run freely, with minimal government intervention, both service efficiency and product quality are maximized. By privatizing the region’s kindergartens, the Hong Kong government hoped to gain the autonomy to make its own pedagogical decisions in response to parental expectations and market demand, and thereby to upscale the quality of kindergarten education (Fung and Lam, 2009). As discussed earlier, the findings of this study have vividly revealed the persistence of the traditional Chinese emphasis on children’s academic success (Chao, 1994; Mok et al., 2008; Sun and Rao, 2012). Parents’ preoccupation with their children’s academic achievement may problematize the current education-voucher system, which intentionally enhances parental influence on the school curriculum and pedagogy. This parental influence may have an adverse effect on the professionalism and quality of education provision in kindergartens if schools are forced to respond primarily to the needs of their customers to ensure their own survival (Fung and Cheng, 2011; Fung and Lam, 2009). It is then the mission of a responsible government to help its citizens to become lifelong learners while at the same time safeguarding those who are not yet able to follow educational trends due to a lack of preparation for the government’s policy innovations. For this reason, local research providing insights into the demographics of citizens is of utmost importance when a new policy is about to be launched.

Although this mixed-methods research has provided important information on the extra curricular participation of kindergarten-aged children in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong parents’ perceptions of young children’s extra curricular activities, it is not without limitations. First, we only asked the parents involved in the study to provide an ideal number and the actual number of their children’s extra curricular activities; we did not investigate the intensity and content of these activities. Second, we did not collect data on children’s perceptions of extra curricular activities. The failure to do so has limited the insights offered by this study into the consequences of extra curricular activities during early childhood. Future studies should be carefully designed to address the above limitations by obtaining more information about the nature of each activity and by including children as a major category of informants.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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