Chinese Children's Understanding of Death

Wong, Mun

The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Department of Early Childhood Education, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR. Email: [email protected]

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood 35(2):p 63-71, June 2010. | DOI: 10.1177/183693911003500209

THIS PAPER INVESTIGATES YOUNG children's understanding of death. Research on this topic among preschool children is limited, especially in the context of Chinese culture. A total of 26 young children aged five to six years, drawn from two classes at a preschool in Hong Kong, participated in the study. In documenting children's views on death, this study contributes to an understanding of death education in a preschool context, and explores possible ways of helping children to cope with the associated emotions. Through the use of open-ended measures, the children were asked to describe their experiences and views related to death. The children's conceptions could be grouped into four themes:

1. causality

2. emotional reaction

3. death-related sociocultural practices

4. character status.

Finally, the various factors that contribute to children's understanding of death and use of coping strategies are discussed.