Kremen School of Education and Human Development

Feiyan Chen

Professor

Department of Teacher Preparation | 559.278.0222 | Office: ED 267

fchen@mail.fresnostate.edu

Education

Ph.D. in Teacher Education
Specializing in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, and Cultural-Historical Psychology, Monash University, Australia 

Courses Taught

CI 162
CI 285
CI 171
LEE 235
LEE 171
LEE 153
LEE 180T 
LEE 241
LEE 298 
EHD 170
Dr. Chen’s education and professional experience in early childhood education and child development began in 1997 and have spanned China, Australia, and the United States, with additional international experience as a visiting scholar in Brazil. Her background as a kindergarten teacher, early childhood educator, teacher educator, researcher, and university faculty member gives her a distinctive cross-cultural perspective on children’s learning and development. At Fresno State, she primarily teaches courses in early childhood education, child development, and educational psychology within credential and graduate programs.

Dr. Chen’s research interests span early childhood education, child development, and teacher education. Grounded in cultural-historical psychology, her work examines children’s learning and development, particularly their social-emotional development and emotion regulation through everyday adult-child interactions in both family and school settings, including play as an important context for interaction and development.  

She connects theory, research, and practice by translating scholarly knowledge and her own research findings into practical approaches for educators and families. Her recent work also incorporates trauma-responsive teaching practices into teacher education. Informed by cross-cultural perspectives, her research draws on visual methodology and experimental-genetic methods to closely examine how interactions and developmental processes unfold over time.

Selected publications

Chen, F., & Goulart, D. M. (2026). Parents’ subjectivity and emotion regulation in everyday life: Insights from a cultural-historical approach. Journal of Research in Childhood Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2025.2587618

Chen, F., & Disney, L. (2025). Antecedent collective play and perezhivanie in preschoolers’ emotion regulation during drop-off transitions. Journal of Research in Childhood Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2025.2488435

Chen, F. (2022). 抓狂两三岁 [Everyday conflicts: Promoting social-emotional development in young children]. Writers Publishing House.

Chen, F. (2022). Co-development of emotion regulation: Shifting from self-focused to child-focused perezhivanie in everyday parent–toddler dramatic collisions. Early Child Development and Care, 192(3), 370–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2020.1762586

Chen, F. (2020). Interactive imaginations support toddlers’ emotion regulation: A cultural-historical case study in a Chinese-American family. International Research in Early Childhood Education, 10(1).

Chen, F. (2017). Everyday family routine formation: A source of the development of emotion regulation in young children. In M. Fleer, F. González Rey, and N. Veresov (Eds.), Perezhivanie, emotions and subjectivity: Advancing Vygotsky’s legacy (pp. 129–143). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4534-9_7

Fleer, M., Chen, F., & van Oers, B. (2017). New directions in early childhood education practice: International developments and practice gaps. In M. Fleer & B. van Oers (Eds.), International handbook of early childhood education (pp. 955–966). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0927-7_49

Chen, F., & Fleer, M. (2016). A cultural-historical reading of how play is used in families as a tool for supporting children’s emotional development in everyday life. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 24(2), 305–319. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2016.1143268

Chen, F. (2015). Parents’ and children’s emotion regulation strategies in emotionally situated zones: A cultural-historical perspective. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 40(2), 107–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/183693911504000213

Chen, F., & Fleer, M. (2015). Re-signing: A cultural-historical study of signs for supporting young children’s development of emotion regulation. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 22(3), 233–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2015.1048370

Chen, F. (2014). Parents’ perezhivanie supports children’s development of emotion regulation: A holistic view. Early Child Development and Care, 185(6), 851–867. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2014.961445

Li, L., & Chen, F. (2013). Early childhood education in China. In Oxford bibliographies in education. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780199756810-0080

Chen, F. (2012). A preliminary exploration of Vygotsky’s works on emotions. International Journal of Early Childhood Education, 20, 51–58. https://doi.org/10.34567/iaece.20.0_051

Chen, F., & Agbenyega, J. S. (2012). Chinese parents’ perspectives on home–kindergarten partnership: A narrative research. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 37(2), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/183693911203700213