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Doctoral Dissertation Defense
of
Dongmei Qian 

For the degree of

Doctor of Education
Interprofessional Leadership – Curriculum & Instruction

Integrating Cultural Heritage into Preschool Pre-Writing Instruction: An Educational Intervention Study

March 26, 2026
7:00 p.m.

Integrating Cultural Heritage into Preschool Pre-Writing Instruction: An Educational Intervention Study

The purpose of the current study was to examine how culturally informed curriculum design can enhance preschool children’s interest, engagement, and skill development in pre-writing, while also investigating the role of educational leadership in supporting teacher–researcher collaboration during curriculum reform. Research suggests that integrating cultural heritage into early childhood instruction can provide meaningful learning experiences and increase children’s motivation and participation in learning tasks. However, traditional worksheetbased pre-writing activities often result in limited engagement.

Participants were senior kindergarten children and their teachers at Starbright Kindergarten in Hangzhou, China. Through a collaborative design process, teachers and researchers co-developed a pre-writing curriculum centered on traditional festivals, folk crafts, and cultural storytelling. Data were collected through classroom observations, teacher interviews, and analysis of children’s work. In Vivo and descriptive coding followed by constant comparative analysis were used to identify patterns across instructional practices, teacher reflection, and children’s learning experiences.

Dependent analyses suggest that culturally integrated pre-writing activities increased children’s engagement, motivation, and participation, while supporting observable development in pre-writing skills. Analyses also indicated that leadership-driven collaboration between teachers and researchers facilitated curriculum design, implementation, and ongoing refinement. Overall, the results suggest that culturally grounded curriculum design, when supported by reflective leadership, can effectively enrich preschool pre-writing experiences and offers practical insights for early educators and school leaders.