From structural division to integration: reforming curriculum and teacher development for China’s early childhood education and care system

Abstract Efforts to advance an integrated early childhood education and care (ECEC) system in China are constrained by a persistent age-phase division: childcare for children aged 0–3 and preschool education for ages 3–6. This structural divide limits curriculum continuity and constrains the implementation of integrated ECEC policies. Drawing on domestic and selected international scholarship, this study examines how the 0–3/3–6 division is reproduced in curriculum implementation and teacher development. It further proposes culturally grounded strategies to promote curriculum coherence across the 0–6 continuum and to reconfigure teacher development pathways supporting integrated care-education practice.