Caring for Young Children: Philosophical Ethics in Early Childhood
Location
2073
Format Type
Paper
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
14-1-2017 10:30 AM
End Date
14-1-2017 10:50 AM
Abstract
In this paper, I will discuss a qualitative research and education project with pre-kindergarten children (3-5 years) entitled “Philosophical Ethics in Early Childhood” (PEECh). The focus of the PEECh project is to better understand young children's ethical concerns and convictions, and, in turn, to develop best practices for fostering ethical, caring discussions with children. I will discuss the methods I have developed with my research team and with participating children and pre-kindergarten teachers for this purpose - artwork activities, story reading with puppets, child-centered games, and others. In addition, I will discuss the dimensions of caring that informed the project design, including the exploration of active listening techniques, constructivist education practices, and advance classroom observation in order to make the project participatory for young children still grasping verbal communication. Finally, I will discuss the intended benefits of this project for children and participating teachers, which includes a curriculum of activities and stories that can be used in pre-kindergarten classrooms. This curriculum focuses on identifying and working from the ethical interests of children, based on the feedback of children participating in this project and on best practices for listening to and creating (verbal and non-verbal) dialogue with young children. My hope is that this project and its outcomes will increase the recognition of ethical concerns and convictions possessed by young children and help to facilitate respectful learning practices based on these concerns and convictions. Feedback from the project has already been useful to develop teacher education workshops at participating schools.
Caring for Young Children: Philosophical Ethics in Early Childhood
2073
In this paper, I will discuss a qualitative research and education project with pre-kindergarten children (3-5 years) entitled “Philosophical Ethics in Early Childhood” (PEECh). The focus of the PEECh project is to better understand young children's ethical concerns and convictions, and, in turn, to develop best practices for fostering ethical, caring discussions with children. I will discuss the methods I have developed with my research team and with participating children and pre-kindergarten teachers for this purpose - artwork activities, story reading with puppets, child-centered games, and others. In addition, I will discuss the dimensions of caring that informed the project design, including the exploration of active listening techniques, constructivist education practices, and advance classroom observation in order to make the project participatory for young children still grasping verbal communication. Finally, I will discuss the intended benefits of this project for children and participating teachers, which includes a curriculum of activities and stories that can be used in pre-kindergarten classrooms. This curriculum focuses on identifying and working from the ethical interests of children, based on the feedback of children participating in this project and on best practices for listening to and creating (verbal and non-verbal) dialogue with young children. My hope is that this project and its outcomes will increase the recognition of ethical concerns and convictions possessed by young children and help to facilitate respectful learning practices based on these concerns and convictions. Feedback from the project has already been useful to develop teacher education workshops at participating schools.
Comments
Breakout Session G