“My choice” technology in pedagogical support of moral development in older preschool children: A study of choice strategies and their justification
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Abstract
Background. In older preschool age, children actively acquire moral norms, rules of peer interaction, and ways of resolving conflicts. However, knowledge of a rule does not always develop into the ability to act in accordance with it in an emotionally significant situation. Educational practice should create conditions in which a child can not only reproduce a socially approved answer but also reflect on the conflict, articulate personal boundaries, take another person’s perspective, consider the consequences of possible actions, and verbally formulate a constructive way of interacting.
Objective. To identify the characteristics of pedagogically mediated selection and justification of behavioural strategies by older preschool children in simulated interpersonal-conflict situations using the “My Choice” technology.
Sample. The study involved 24 older preschool children aged 5 to 6 years; the mean age was M=5.8 years.
Methods. The study employed a qualitative pilot design. The material comprised 40 video recordings of individual play-based sessions using the “My Choice” technology. During the sessions, children were presented with simulated interpersonal-conflict situations and a visual play field with three roads symbolizing confrontation, avoidance, and cooperation. The pedagogically organized dialogue involved discussing possible consequences of actions, participants’ feelings, and constructive modes of interaction. Qualitative analysis of video recordings and transcripts, thematic analysis of children’s utterances, and analysis of the teacher’s prompts aimed at expanding the child’s moral reasoning were employed.
Results. The “My Choice” technology was found to function not as a neutral procedure for recording spontaneous moral choice but as a setting for pedagogically mediated discussion of alternative modes of action. Children’s utterances revealed relational-normative, boundary-oriented normative, and pragmatic-cooperative modes of decision justification. Of particular importance were episodes of pedagogically supported transformation of the child’s initial response, in which a child moved from an uncertain, impulsive, or insufficiently elaborated reaction to verbal expression of emotion, personal boundaries, circumstances of the peer’s action, and a possible constructive solution.
Conclusions. The “My Choice” technology has potential as a pedagogical tool for supporting the moral development of older preschool children. Its value lies not in directing a child toward a predetermined “correct” strategy but in organizing a dialogue that promotes self-regulation, decentration, verbal formulation of a moral position, and the ability to assert personal boundaries nonviolently. The findings are preliminary and require further investigation in a larger sample using a standardized protocol and external criteria for assessing moral development.
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