On The Generation Of Kindergarten Teachers' Practical Wisdom

Practical wisdom is an indispensable trait of high-qualified education practice as well as core and scale of teachers' professional development.Teachers' practical wisdom refers to a comprehensive quality,status and state that teachers can achieve including their teaching idea as well as teacher's professional ethics,practical knowledge and practical ability.Practical wisdom of a kindergarten teacher is mainly manifested his/her integrated capability to judge "what to do" with value adequacy and to know "how to do" with rationality in education context.Educational philosophy,teacher's professional ethics,teaching practical knowledge and teaching practical ability constitute teachers' practical wisdom in the pursuit of kindness,truth,and beauty.The generation of kindergarten teachers' practical wisdom is a long-term process of accumulation,developed with the logic of educational practice on the basis of cognition,evaluation and decision-making."Guidelines for 3-6 Year-old Children 's Learning and Development " in China puts forward reasonable expectations,that is"what to do,what can do,what level can be reached as well as the specific direction of children's learning and development" included.Currently one prominent problem existing in the theory and practice field of early childhood education in China is how to present accurate individual evaluation on the basis of understanding the Guidelines and to conduct an effective organization and guidance of children learning games and activities according to the results of observation and evaluation with the purpose of developing children's wisdom and improving their ability of practice wisdom."Learning Stories" is a narrative evaluation method to assess children's learning capacity by teachers' narrative.Hence it has attracted great concern in the theory and practice field of early childhood education in China,which has been popularized in many preschool educational institutions in different parts of China since 2014.This qualitative research based on "Learning Stories" explores the development of kindergarten teachers' practical wisdom with adopting various research methods such as literature law,action research observation,case law,etc.Applying collaborative action research methods,an action study lasting for three cycles was performed.The research reveals that the logical structure of narrative"learning stories" is strictly combined with the kindergarten teachers' action logical structure."Notice,recognize and respond",the three elements of "learning stories",are consistent with "cognition,evaluation and decision-making",the logical clues of generating teachers' practical wisdom.This agreement has enabled teachers to combine general educational theories with specific education situations.Consequently,the combination has contributed to the quick development and effective improvement of teachers' practical wisdom.A depth interview with 8 young and middle-aged outstanding teachers from M kindergarten involved in this study is conducted by using purposive sample,and thoroughly analyzed with the application of grounded theory,probing into the generation process of kindergarten teachers'practical wisdom in the learning community context of "learning stories".The research reveals that "learning stories" is an essential approach in generation of kindergarten teachers' practical wisdom;action research based on "learning stories" will be helpful for teachers to update their educational ideas,enrich their knowledge and improve their educational practices and capabilities,promote their integration capability of educational theory and practice so as to enhance their practical wisdom.Both similarity and dissimilarity exist in the kindergarten teachers' practical wisdom.Three participants involved in the case research have three similar characteristics:1)to possess growth mentality,professional ideals and development plans as well as noble ethics,who are beloved and convinced by both children and parents;2)to be able to provide children with well-prepared environment,proper support and response to meet children's development needs and satisfy their interests with good understanding of children's psychological characteristics,cognitive laws and development demand,meanwhile to be able to train,enrich and improve themselves in the study;3)to have healthy personality,calm mood and enjoy their own professional lives.They perform different types of practical wisdom:Zhu Hong,a bachelor majoring in preschool education,is an enthusiastic type teacher belonging to Red Character;Huang Min,a bachelor majoring in preschool education,is a rational type teacher who is good at providing children with broader imaginative space belonging to Yellow Character;Lan Jin,a bachelor majoring in English,is a creative type teacher belonging to Blue Character.There are three stages in the generation of kindergarten teachers' practical wisdom:1)firstly,germination stage,in which the teachers "go by the book";2)secondly,development stage,in which the teachers "play it by ear";3)finally,formation stage,in which the teachers "handle a butcher's cleaver skillfully",that mean they can combine the practical teaching wisdom with educational practice freely and effectively.Hence,interpreting RLA kindergarten teachers' practical wisdom cycling and interacting generation system based on "reflection,learning and action" according to common learning situation.Eventually the changeable cycle system generates practical wisdom.The generation of teachers' practical wisdom not only depends on teachers'individual professional accomplishment such as educational philosophy and ethics,knowledge and ability of education practice,etc.;but also on individual characteristics including teachers' personality traits,thinking patterns and will qualities,etc.Meanwhile,it is affected by factors of external environmental supporting system including organizational culture,social environment,etc.The generating strategy of kindergarten teachers' practical wisdom focuses on individual teacher and is partly assissted by external environmental supporting system.Thus,some suggestions are provided for teachers as the followings:1)to adopt action research as?approach to form their individual educational logic;2)to update their educational ideas and construct individual practical philosophy;3)to enrich their educational practical knowledge and consolidate professional theory;4)to improve their educational practical capabilities to convert them into wisdom.Moreover,there are some suggestions proposed for external environmental supporting factors:1)to construct a professional learning community to form learning organization culture;2)to establish a democratic administrative mechanism to pursue the educational cultural order;3)to create supportive organization atmosphere in which managers can play a leading role;4)to engage all parties of the whole society concerned to improve teachers' professional image.This doctoral dissertation consists of seven chapters.Chapter ?,embarking from the current challenges and problems faced by the kindergarten teachers,presents the main objective and significance of the research and introduces the research ideas,methods and contents.Chapter ? clarifies the core concepts,identifies theoretical basis and expounds the structure and representations of kindergarten teachers' practical wisdom.Chapter ? a collaborative action research is conducted to explore and analyze the generation process of teachers,practical wisdom based on "learning stories".Chapter 4 reveals the commonness and difference of the generation and representations of teachers' practical wisdom by using case study in narrative context of action research of "learning stories".Chapter V analyzes the generation mechanism and the influencing factors of kindergarten teachers' practical wisdom.Chapter VI puts forward some strategies and suggestions to promote the generation of the kindergarten teachers practical wisdom.Chapter VII concludes and reflects on the research and also looks to the future.