Joseph Tobin Knihy

The book explores the development of teaching expertise across Japan, China, and the United States, examining how cultural contexts shape educators' experiences over fifteen years. Through reflections from six teachers and interviews with 120 childhood educators, it reveals significant cultural differences in teaching styles and professional trajectories. While experienced teachers across all cultures reported becoming quieter and more attuned to their students, their approaches varied, with Chinese teachers embracing innovation, Japanese educators favoring tradition, and American teachers navigating strict guidelines.

Discovers how two decades of globalization and sweeping social transformation have affected the way three cultures educate and care for their youngest pupils. This title illustrates the surprising, illuminating, and at times entertaining experiences of four-year-olds - and their teachers - on both sides of the Pacific.

Taking you inside the classrooms of Japanese preschools, this book explores the everyday, implicit behaviors that form a crucially important but grossly understudied-aspect of educational practice. It examines how teachers act, think, and talk. And how they use the tone of their voice to communicate empathy, frustration, or enthusiasm.