Anastasia K. Belolutskaya

Recently, the area of use of projecting method was sufficiently widened. Being used in scholar and early college education today this method is gaining increasing interest among preschool teachers. However, as practice shows, what is considered to be “project” activity in preschool educational establishments is often confused with research, productive or even educational activity. The article describes basic aspects for preschool teachers to consider at their organization of project work with children of 5-7 years of age.

The article presents an analytical review of the systems of external independent evaluation of preschool education quality in the United States and Singapore. Special attention is given to the specifics of National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) as well as programs like STARS (Pennsylvania, USA) and SPARK (Singapore). The key characteristics of external quality assessment in these countries include voluntary participation, the presence of a PR component (so that parents understand how to navigate in a variety of kindergartens), support of leadership qualities and training managers within organizations, the use of standardized rating scales (e.g., ECERS-R), which have been recognized by the international community and focus more on evaluating environmental performance rather than children’s results. So the review of the foreign practices of organizing pre-school education quality assessment helps us to better understand how to form our national system of independent expert examination of pre-school education in the most productive way. This is all the more relevant now that Russia is engaged in laying down a new regulatory framework and elaborating a social mandate for high quality educational services.

The article provides an analytic review of the Swedish and German independent preschool education quality assessment systems. Special attention is paid to the role of the founder of a kindergarten in organizing expert examination of the work and training of managers and educators, as well as the use of standardized assessment scales (KESR and KRIPSR, which are modified ECERS scale versions). Despite their specific educational conditions such as decentralized control over nurseries, the Swedish and German systems of independent preschool education quality assessment may serve as an interesting example for local specialists. International experience shows that the external quality assessment by the founders can be combined with both independent evaluation carried out by a special expert community, and with the self-assessment of organizations involved. If the expert community has developed substantive priorities and quality perceptions, including those based on analyzing the standardized international assessment scales, the head of a kindergarten may apply a monitoring procedure which is the most convenient at the moment in order to obtain a wide range of opportunities to improve the educational environment in the daycare center.

The article presents the results of an empirical study about the correlation between such problem solving components as dialectic thinking, problematization, and (adaptive situational problem solving in) meta-situation-transformative solutions of preschool children. The methodological basis for the study is the structural-dialectic approach (N. E.Veraksa) as well as work on dialectic and post-formal thinking (P. Arlin, M. Basseches). The paper describes for the first time the author’s technique for the diagnosis of dialectic thinking “What could the other way around be?” and the results of testing the method “Questions about picture with objects” (Bernice Lai-Ting Yan; P. Arlin) with preschoolers. We also used V. T. Kudryavtsev’s method “Bunny”, which is aimed at measuring the ability of a preschooler to turn a selection task into a transformation task. The study involved 83 children of preschool age (4-6 years) from the following kindergartens in Moscow: «Lesovichok» (34 respondents; program “From Birth to School”); “Fox” (33 respondents; the experimental program “Transformation”); kindergarten №1511 (16 respondents; the program “Development”). The key results were that we found significant positive correlation between such parameters as the dialectical thinking actions “Transformation” and “Shift Alternatives”, questioning, and (adaptive solutions to problematic) meta-situation-transformative solutions of situations. The article also describes in detail the results of diagnosis by each of the methods, which indicate children’s significant difficulties when making oppositions between objects and events, and asking questions that allow them to make a conclusion about the necessity of paying attention to the aforementioned components of the mechanism of creative thinking within the educational process.

Introduction. The article presents the results of empirical research of teacher’s interaction with children at preschool age within the resolution of ethically controversial situations. To identify typical problems in the resolving of such conflicts we made the investigation with specially elaborated questionnaire and observation in six educational organisations of Moscow (in the survey 30 respondents participated: educators and managers).

Methods of the survey. To conduct the survey we developed the questionnaire based on the Code of Ethics of Singapore and the Handbook for Early Childhood Professionals, translated and adapted by the authors. In the process of questioning participants were requested to analyze 14 problem situations, and were asked to give examples of ethical dilemmas from their own working practice in kindergartens. In total we obtained the description of 25 situations.

Methods of observation. The observation was conducted in 8 preschool groups of different educational organisations using Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-R) taking into account the parameters for the interaction.

Key results and conclusion. General characteristics of problem ethical situations were identified and described. Namely: analyzing the proposed ethical dilemmas respondents rather defend the correctness of one of the conflicting parties than offer a solution that takes into account boath conflicting interests; offering solutions to problem situations, respondents do not appeal to professional values; the surveyed teachers are dominated by the desire to settle the conflict here and now in authoritarian way, but not to arrange dialogue of different points of view; negative attitude to conflicts dominates. The conflict is not perceived as a natural component of the educational process, but as an evidence of the error of a teacher, a parent or a child. Consequently, the predominant setting “to avoid conflict anyway” or to suppress existing ones rather increases conflict interaction than the productivity of communication.

The article is devoted to the results of a pilot study of the relationship between the quality of the educational environment in preschool groups and the level of development of creative thinking of preschool children and the study of the development of creative thinking of teachers in solving pedagogical problems.

The study is based on the idea of the quality of education inherent in the Federal State Educational Standard of Preschool Education, the cultural and historical concept of L.S. Vygotsky’s and structural-dialectical approach, describing dialectical thinking as the ability to creatively transform objects and situations. The study was aimed at studying the possible relationships between the quality of the educational environment in preschool groups and the level of development of the dialectical thinking of children, as well as the ability of adults (teachers) to use creative thinking tools to solve professional problems: designing an educational action and developing dialogue with a child.

The study was conducted on a random sample of preschool departments of educational complexes in Moscow (a total of 103 children from 5 to 6.5 years old and 35 teachers). To assess the quality of the educational environment, we used the ECERS scale and the pilot version of the scale “Stimulating dialectical thinking”. To assess the creative thinking of preschoolers, a block of techniques was used to measure the level of dialectical thinking, and for adults, a methodology was developed and tested for studying mental strategies in solving professional pedagogical problems.

The relevance of the topic of the article. For the wide educational practice of kindergartens, the question of the psychological mechanisms of creative thinking is fundamental, since their formation begins precisely at the age of three to five years. If during this period of a person’s life the educational process is structured in such a way that the child’s creative thinking is not supported or even suppressed, then it will be very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to compensate for gaps in cognitive development at later life stages. It should be emphasized that, as a rule, teachers do not support creative thinking or even act to the detriment of it precisely because of a lack of understanding of the key principles of its development, which, in particular, are related to ensuring a balance of activities that actualize formal-logical, dialectical and symbolic structures of thinking.

The aim of the study. The work is aimed at identifying the features of the structure of cognitive abilities that make up the complex mechanism of creative thinking, which is one of the basic problems of psychology of cognitive development today. The question is posed of how dialectical thinking, formal logic and the ability to symbolize are related in preschool age. The assumption is verified that the use of Piaget’s tools, focused on fixing reversibility relations and the formation of the phenomenon of preservation, will reveal new aspects of the relationship between formal-logical and dialectical thought structures.

Description of the research progress. 272 preschoolers from Moscow and other regions of the Russian Federation were individually diagnosed. For data processing, methods of correlation analysis and verification of the independence of parameters according to the Pearson’s chi-squared criterion were applied.

Research results. The results of the study showed that the connection between the three lines of cognitive development of preschoolers is traced more consistently in relation to formal and dialectical thinking. With regard to symbolization, the connections are less consistent. The article concludes that normative, transformative and symbolic abilities are relatively independent lines in the cognitive development of preschoolers.

Conclusion. The data obtained indicate the complexity and heterogeneity of the mechanism of creative thinking and the heterogeneous structure of relationships between formal-logical and dialectical structures, as well as the ability to symbolize. Therefore, the program for the development of creative thinking for preschoolers should have a balanced character: by influencing one type of structures, we cannot expect that the rest will also develop as a result of this influence. To actualize the complex mechanism of a child’s creative thinking in the pedagogical terms, it is necessary to design problem situations together with the children, the resolution of which requires both the use of formal and dialectical logic and the ability to invent symbols, images, metaphors.

The relevance of the topic of the article. The level of emotional competence in early and preschool age has a significant impact on the formation of personal characteristics (self-esteem, empathy, level of destructive aggression), success of social interaction (ability to cooperate, conflict, tendency to deceit, envy, etc.), as well as the child’s involvement in the educational process and academic achievements in kindergarten and school.

The aim of the study. Based on the research review, we describe the factors of the family and educational environment that determine the development of the ability to regulate and recognize emotions in preschool age.

Description of the research progress. The article presents a review of 57 studies concerning the problem of emotional development of preschool and primary school children. Special attention is paid to such aspects as: the influence of family characteristics and the characteristics of the home environment, the relationship with speech and physical development, the influence of educational environment factors and the relationship with future school success.

The results of the study. The following positions are formulated: the age of children in the preschool period of life is a significant factor in increasing the level of emotional competence. In primary school, the role of age decreases and then has a significant impact already in adolescence; the determining role in the formation of emotional competence is played by the family and the characteristics of the home environment, where the child’s early and preschool childhood takes place; the level of emotional competence of preschool and primary school children is significantly related to the level of speech development, both in terms of the ability to regulate and recognize emotions.

Conclusion. The level of emotional regulation, expressiveness and the ability to recognize emotions, in preschool and primary school age, respond well to targeted pedagogical influence. An important factor in emotional development is the strategy of the teacher’s co-regulation of emotions, especially in kindergarten; the ability to recognize and regulate emotions in kindergarten is a significant predictor of school success, involvement in the educational process, adaptation to school life, and academic performance.

The article describes the results of the development and testing of a scale for evaluating conditions for the development of creative abilities in kindergarten. The review part discusses the process of “democratizing the concept of creativity” and changing ideas about the importance of developing creative abilities in preschool childhood as a significant trend in modern psychology and education. The methodological basis of the work is: structural-dialectical approach (N. Veraksa), where the construct of “dialectical thinking” is used to describe intellectual creativity, which is understood as a system of mental actions that allows solving paradoxical situations, transforming contradictory situations in such a way that a new solution to the problem appears; the concept of imagination, which is understood as the ability to “grasp” the whole before the parts and transfer the features of one object of reality to another (Ilyenkov, 1984; Dyachenko, 1996); an approach to the development of ECERS quality assessment scales.

The scale for assessing the conditions for the development of creative abilities in kindergarten presented in the article includes four indicators: understanding of development processes, questioning, invention and transformation of contradictions, imagination.

32 preschool groups took part in the approbation. The validity of the instrument was assessed by the method of contrasting groups identified on the basis of expert assessments. Reliability was determined by the method of consistency of expert assessments: in each group, experts carried out the assessment in pairs and independently of each other. The focus of the observations was: working with imagination, quality questions addressed to children, to allow easy experimentation, supportive emotional atmosphere, sensitivity to children new and original solutions and inventions emphasis is on working with thinking as a process, reflecting the processes of change and transformation, capable to resolve conflicts.

The analysis showed that the assessment tool makes it possible to distinguish between contrasting groups for all four indicators at a significance level not lower than 0.05, which indicates its validity. Also, a high consistency of expert assessments was found both at the level of indicators and at the level of individual indicators, which indicates its reliability. The Alpha-Cronbach coefficient is 0.87, which indicates a good level of internal consistency of the instrument. The tool allows to identify and analyze the parameters of the quality of preschool education, attention to which is not emphasized in other scales, for example, in the ECERS-3 scales for a comprehensive assessment of the quality of preschool education.

The obtained data on the reliability and validity of the developed tool allow us to conclude that it can be used to assess the conditions for supporting and developing the creative abilities of children in preschool groups.

The article analyzes articles on the development of creative thinking of preschool children. Conducted categorization allowed to formulate five modern approaches, which are the most common among researchers and teachers: work through art, educational environment, creativity training, problem solving, children’s narratives.

The author emphasizes that: a) when working with objects of the aesthetic cycle for the development of creative thinking, it is important to pay attention not so much to the beauty of the product, but to the quality of interaction with the teacher, the ability to act on children’s own ideas and the availability of materials, providing children with independence in making decisions about how and what to do most of the day; b) when organizing the educational environment, it is necessary to focus on dialogue and discussion practices, open tasks, the personal significance of the proposed activity for the child, a soft schedule with long periods when the child can be immersed in one lesson, professional freedom of the teacher; c) integration of problem situations that require experimental activities and the development of “science-based” ways to answer controversial questions is an effective way to stimulate curiosity in preschool age.