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The article is devoted to the study of creativity of a teacher of preschool education. The aim of the research was to study the influence of motivating factors on the professional creativity of teachers. The developing subject-spatial environment was considered as the main indicator of the manifestation of creativity in the work of the teacher. Particular attention is paid to the influence of the transformation of the subject space

of the group on the creative development and change in the attitude of the teacher to professional activities. The developing subject-spatial environment of the kindergarten is viewed from several sides: as a product of the teacher’s creativity, as a place of interaction between the teacher and children, as an application area of ​​the teacher’s creative abilities.

The article was prepared on the basis of experimental research using questionnaires for teachers and monitoring their work. The study was conducted on the basis of two preschool institutions in the city of Ivanovo, Ivanovo Region. 16 teachers took part in the study. As a toolkit, scales for assessing the conditions of creative activity of children in independent activities and art classes were used. To study the changes in the sources of professional motivation of teachers, a questionnaire developed by D. Barbuto and R. Skoll was used. The study consisted of two stages, at each of which a new motivating factor was introduced. After each stage, the sources of teachers’ professional motivation were measured, the state of the group’s developing environment was assessed, and the interaction in the art class was chosen as the most creative type of educational activity. As motivating factors, a professional competition and the involvement of teachers in the work on the dissemination of experience were used.

The results of our study showed that the use of the mentioned motivating factors contributed to the launch of the creative cycle among teachers, which resulted in creative changes in the organization of the subject space of groups, improving the interaction of the teacher and children in the arts classes. Creative manifestations in the subject space and interaction with children were reflected in the motivational sphere of teachers.

This paper represents the views of academics of the St. Petersburg scientific school on the place and role of the object environment in the development of preschoolers from the moment of the foundation of the Early Childhood Education Department of the Institute for Childhood of the A.I. Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia to the present day.

The purpose of this paper is the study of tendencies in the development of the idea of arrangement of the kindergarten during the last century on the basis of comparison of the ideas of famous scientific figures who were at the origins of the Early Childhood Education Department and academics of the Early Childhood Education Department who represent contemporary preschool pedagogical science.

The main method of research is a comparative analysis of scientific research of academics of the St. Petersburg scientific school in historical retrospective. The study topic is the phenomenon of object and space environment, assessment of its significance and content for the development of children of early and preschool age in different historical periods.

As a result of the study, the tendencies of changes in the understanding of the object and space environment as a condition and means of development of children before the school have been defined, the sustainable approaches in the organization of the environment in different historical periods have been revealed, the interrelations between the method of transformation of pedagogical reality dominating in a certain historical period and the character of the created environment in the kindergarten have been established.

The article describes the tools used to measure preschool educational environment – the ECERS Scales (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales). The authors address the following questions: What are the ideas of quality education underpinning the ECERS Scales, and Are they suitable to us? Is it generally acceptable to use tools developed in another country to assess education quality in your own? Does the scale measure conditions for the child’s future socialization and development at school? How does it work, what are its parameters for measuring quality? How reliable is it? Can this tool be used in different educational practices (e.g. the Montessori system, Waldorf kindergartens, etc.)? Or does it focus solely on specific program? It is noted that the fact that the ECERS scale is used in countries focused on child’s cognitive development is of great importance for Russian education, which has traditionally placed high value on “school readiness”. The authors come to the conclusion that the ECERS Scales fully meet the Federal State Educational Standard requirements and possess distinctiveness and therefore can be used to assess the quality of education in Russian preschool children. The ECERS Scales are highly promising in cross-cultural research that compares the quality of Russian and foreign pre-school education.

The issue of pre-school education quality has a long history in Russia as its system of preschool education has traditionally been in existence for a long time. On the strength of international practice the author shows that quality assessment of preschool education programs is applicable to different objects and based on different perceptions of quality. The article describes the ECERS (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale), an integrated assessment of education quality in preschool educational establishments, in particular, its latest version – the ECERS-R Scale, which has been translated, adapted and tested in different regions of Russia. The author notes that the ECERS scales present a very interesting tool for studying the quality of preschool programs, especially in view of global comparative research since they are indisputable leaders in the amount of countries in which they are used. In addition to high reliability and validity, the Scales have a high level of quality development tools in terms of their reliance on the humanistic pedagogy of early childhood development. This experience proves to be highly beneficial in the Russian context because the Federal State Educational Standard for pre-school education introduced five educational areas which are almost identical to those on the list of subscales and indicators contained in these tools.

In the context of the implementation of the Federal State Educational Standard of preschool education study of the theory and practice of humanistic concepts of preschool education in which there is a wealth of experience of practical implementation of the central provisions of the standard preschool education, such as support for children’s initiative, free games, work on the development of educational content areas within the types of children activities, creation of favorable social conditions and environment conducive to development, becomes very important. This article examines the theoretical bases of free games, psychology of play - the views of Piaget and Vygotsky, pedagogy of free play in Waldorf kindergarten and developmental effects of free games. It is shown that in the free play there is not only a support of children’s initiatives, but play also can be realized in the work of five learning areas in the context of children’s daily lives. Elements of Waldorf pedagogy can be used in the practice of Russian kindergartens in the context of the implementation of the Federal State Educational Standard of preschool education.