Dr Yuwei Xu
“the process of empowerment”
I graduated in 2018, having completed my thesis A cross-cultural analysis of gender and practitioner-child interactions in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings in Scotland, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. My supervisors were Dr Barbara Read and Professor Michele Schweisfurth. I have many wonderful memories of my time at University of Glasgow.
I secured a permanent lectureship at the University of Portsmouth in 2016 and have worked there for three years both during and after my PhD (2016-2019). I took up my current role as a Research Fellow at the UCL Institute of Education in August 2019. I am a core member of the Centre for Teacher and Early Years Education (CTEY), working on research projects that aim to improve quality in early years teacher education in China. I am co-editor of Children and Society and Membership Lead and Executive Member of the Gender and Education Association.
My PhD, on the topic of challenging gender stereotypes that perpetuate in our societies, has ‘reconstructed’ myself with a strong theoretical framework that I developed. The framework not only underpins my current and future research, but is also one that I live within. I experienced lots of bullying in my childhood due to being regarded as ‘sissy’ in the strongly gendered Chinese society. By pursuing this PhD, I become more confident to be myself and to challenge gendered norms. I am also in the process of ‘empowerment’ so as to support others in similar marginalised positions - and this life goal started from Glasgow.
I miss Glasgow very much in every aspect: my supervisors and other colleagues in the School of Education, friendly strangers that I met on the road, the frequent rainbows, travelling to the Scottish Highlands, and many more! I do not have a particular ‘outstanding memory’ as the everyday life there was just enjoyable. Well, if there has to be one, the wind and cold does make Glasgow ‘outstanding’ - as well as the warmth from its people.
Dr Yuwei Xu
Publications
Sullivan, V., Coles, L., Xu, Y., Perales, F., & Thorpe, K. (2020). Beliefs and attributions: Insider accounts of men’s place in early childhood education and care. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 21 (2), 126-137
Xu, Y., Warin, J., & Robb, M. (2020). Beyond gender binaries: pedagogies and practices in early childhood education and care (ECEC). EARLY YEARS, 40 (1), 1-4.
Xu, Y. (2020). Does the gender of a practitioner matter in early childhood education and care? Perspectives from Scottish and Chinese young children. CHILDREN & SOCIETY, 34 (5), 354-370.
Xu, Y., Brooks, C., Gao, J., & Kitto, E. (2020). From Global to Local: How Can International 0-3 Curriculum Frameworks Inform the Development of 0-3 Care and Education Guidelines in China? London, UK: UCL Institute of Education, Centre for Teacher and Early Years Education.
Xu, Y. (2020). Gender-diverse practitioners in early years education and care (EYEC): a cross-cultural study of Scotland, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. Early Years, 40 (1), 109-124.
Bhana, D., Xu, Y., & Emilsen, K. (2020). Masculinity, sexuality and resistance. In D. Brody, K. Emilsen, T. Rohrmann, J. Warin (Eds.), Exploring Career Trajectories of Men in the Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce: Why They Leave and Why They Stay. London: Routledge.
Xu, Y., & Woodyer, T. (2020). One child policy, China. In D. T. Cook (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies (pp. 1156-1157). London, UK: SAGE Publications Inc.
Xu, Y., Warin, J., Thorpe, K., & Rohrmann, T. (2020). Researching men’s career trajectories in ECEC: A cross-cultural inter-researcher approach. In D. Brody, K. Emilsen, T. Rohrmann, J. Warin (Eds.), Exploring Career Trajectories of Men in the Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce: Why They Leave and Why They Stay. London: Routledge.
Xu, Y., & Waniganayake, M. (2018). An exploratory study of gender and male teachers in early childhood education and care centres in China. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 48 (4), 518-534.