The Study Of Kindergarten Teachers’ Informal Assessment On Ethical Views

The British philosopher Peters once proposed two educational standards, one is teaching valuable things, the other is by a moral way. Kindergarten teachers’ informal assessment to young children is undoubtedly an important way of implementing pre-school education. Teachers’ assessment will affect children’s self-concept and self-identity. Therefore the research about kindergarten teachers’ assessment is moral or not is significant. During the daily life in kindergarten, there are many unforeseen situations; teachers’ verbal and nonverbal feedback to children on the unprepared state can reflect teachers’ views towards children, the education and value concept, the accumulation of education foundation as well as kindergarten teachers’ ethical level. This paper devoted to hold the ethical views to study kindergarten teachers’ informal assessment. At the beginning I analyzed the meaning, characteristics and its basic theories of informal assessment. Then I explained the ethical implications of informal assessment and presented the wrong behaviors as well as its damage. Later I digged the reasons behind the existed cases. Lastly, I put forward the promotion of kindergarten teachers’ informal assessment. The specific research paths are as follows:The first part is introduction. It mainly presents the specific issues and backgrounds of the research, both the domestic and foreign relevant research, the theoretical and practical significance of the research and the detailed research path and methods. Holding the ethical perspective to study kindergarten teachers’ assessment actions can reflect the teacher’s professional ethics, influence early child development and the reality of ethical anomy also drives me to do the research.The second part is the specific introduction of the kindergarten teachers’ informal assessment; it is about its connotation, the distinction to the formal assessment, the detailed characteristics and the basic theories about the teacher’s informal assessment: children’s characteristics of psychological development theories, Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, anthropology orientation assessment theory and related ethical theories. The main purpose is to make the assessment method widely known and applied.The third part is about the ethical implication towards the kindergarten teacher’s informal assessment. It is about the explanation of why kindergarten teacher’s informal assessment can be viewed and analyzed from an ethical perspective, there are three reasons:it reflects the teacher-child relationship, it embodies the teacher ethical accomplishments, and it has a consistent goal of Ethics.The fourth part presents several typical cases of kindergarten teachers’informal assessment which have ethics issues. These cases reveal the problems existed in the process of teachers’ assessment, they are:unreasonable concept of assessment towards children’s good and bad behavior; neglect children’s physical and mental needs; ignore children’s right and freedom; being lack of impartiality assessment; being too harsh to children. And these behaviors will have damage on the children. It may lead to children’s dislocated values, bring about deviation of children’s self-recognition and cause children’s deficiency of trust.The fifth part analyses the reasons behind these problems:teachers do not have a complete perception of informal assessments’ negative effect; conservative views of children’s development; teacher’s "discourse hegemony" to children and being lack of sensitivity to the professional ethics. Meanwhile kindergarten’s ignorance of humanity care and being lack of professional ethics atmosphere are also important reasons.The sixth part proposes the strategy to improve the kindergarten teacher’s informal assessment according to the reason analysis. Firstly, it is the practice conception based on ethical views:caring, respect, justice and mercy, they are author’s ethical expectations to kindergarten teachers’ when it comes to the informal assessment. Secondly, teachers should strengthen their own reflection of the assessment behavior, set up child-centered view of development and education concept, create an equal-dialogue mechanism between teacher and children and acquire professional ethics. Thirdly kindergarten should spare no efforts to create an ethical concerned atmosphere, and take actions to ensure kindergarten teachers’ stable psychological state.