Several problems in the evaluation of kindergarten education quality.
Paying attention to the quality of kindergarten education has become a new trend in the development of contemporary preschool education. Early childhood educators in some countries try to compile a set of evaluation tools or standard system as a relatively unified scale to evaluate the educational quality of different types of child care institutions. For example, 1984, the American Association for Early Childhood Education (MAEYC) issued the certification standard of high-quality child care institutions, and this standard and the development of appropriate education (DAP), as the core concept of this standard, have a wide range of influences all over the world. In China, since the end of 1980s, some local governments have formulated and promulgated the grading acceptance standards of child care institutions, and organized and planned the grading acceptance of local child care institutions from top to bottom, which has created a precedent for the quality evaluation of early childhood education in China.
The quality evaluation of preschool education is a bridge from theory to practice and from idea to action. It not only plays a strong guiding role in the practice and future development of early childhood education, but also reflects the theoretical tendency and research level of a country's dominant early childhood education values. Therefore, we should not only regard it as a management tool, but also pay enough attention to it and carry out corresponding research work.
First, the reasons for the rise of kindergarten education quality evaluation
The reasons for the rise of kindergarten education quality evaluation in different countries are different. Now take the United States and China as examples to illustrate. The attention and research on the quality of kindergarten education in the United States began in the 1960s. Since the 1960s, due to the social, political and economic development, the increase in the number of working mothers and single-parent families, the emergence of various theories emphasizing the importance of early education, and the large-scale implementation of the "early start plan" for poor children by the American government, the number of child care institutions has been unprecedented. Traditionally, children of middle-class families are mainly educated at home, and their mothers are regarded as the first teachers of infants and young children, advocating "fireside education"; Childcare institutions have always been established mainly for the children of the poor, and the nature of charity and poverty alleviation, emphasizing protection and neglecting education is quite obvious. The expansion of the number of child care institutions and the massive investment of government funds will inevitably lead to different opinions in American society dominated by middle class values. It not only brings the evaluation of educational investment benefit, but also brings the problem of how to treat and evaluate the value of collective care system to children's development. Therefore, until the 1970s, American preschool education circles were still keen to discuss "outside the family".
What are the adverse effects of group care on children? This debate urges people to study the effect and value of kindergarten education.
With the increasing demand for kindergartens and the "knowledge explosion" brought by the arrival of the information age, social competition has intensified and academic pressure has gradually expanded to the pre-school education stage. In order to meet the requirements of parents, some kindergartens provide early academic skills training for children, and direct teaching and training characterized by using pens and exercise papers make early childhood education primary and adult. This situation makes preschool educators have to face up to the reality that, as a social demand, the development of nursery institutions has become a reality that is independent of people's subjective will, and it has become meaningless to continue to discuss "what impact collective care outside the family will have on children". What is important is what kind of education we should provide for infants and what kind of high-quality preschool education they need. Therefore, in the early 1980s, the research and discussion on the evaluation standard of preschool education quality with the development of suitability education as the symbol and core concept began.
In China, the evaluation of kindergarten education quality is the product of the dual reform of preschool education concept and system. The development of preschool education in China in the past 20 years of reform and opening up can basically be divided into two stages, with the end of 1980s as the boundary and 10 as the first stage. From the 1970s to the end of 1980s, the main contradiction in the development of child care in China was to solve the problem of "difficulty in entering kindergartens". Through the efforts of governments at all levels to mobilize all sectors of society to run parks, the problem of "difficulty in entering kindergartens" has been gradually alleviated. With the parents' attention to preschool education, the problem of "difficulty in getting into kindergarten" gradually evolved into "difficulty in getting into a good garden" in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Some children who have always been regarded as "good gardens", especially the demonstration parks run by the education department, are overcrowded, which can't meet the requirements of parents in pursuing the quality of preschool education. At the same time, with the transition of China's economic system from planned economy to market economy, the nature of preschool education has also changed, the original welfare nature has gradually faded, and kindergartens have gradually been pushed to the market, which will inevitably lead to the problem of "pricing according to quality" and acting according to the law of market supply and demand. Under the background of market economy, seeking survival and development has become a new challenge for kindergartens in China. Survival and development by quality have become the conscious consciousness and behavior of kindergartens. Opening the charging standards of kindergartens with different quality has become the voice and demand of preschool education practitioners. On the other hand, with the reform and opening up and the introduction of western management theory, people realize the importance of standardization and scientificity in management. Therefore, in order to ensure the healthy development of child care institutions, standardize their work and improve the quality of education, some places have begun to formulate and implement the classification standards of child care institutions, and the employees of child care institutions have gradually understood the significance of acceptance work.
From the above analysis, it can be seen that the reasons for the rise of education quality evaluation in kindergartens in China and the United States are different, and the concerns are also different. The special background of kindergarten education quality evaluation in China leads to the characteristics and existing problems of kindergarten education quality evaluation in China.
Second, the evaluation model and standard of kindergarten education quality
The evaluation of kindergarten education quality is an activity process of scientific investigation and value judgment on kindergarten education under the guidance of certain educational values and according to certain standards and procedures. This evaluation activity basically adopts the gap evaluation model, that is, first, under the guidance of certain educational values, a set of evaluation standards is set to reflect people's unanimous views on the ideal or high-quality educational work model of kindergartens. Then, according to this set of standards, we will examine the work of each park and measure or judge the degree to which they meet or deviate from this set of standards. Therefore, the so-called "high-quality kindergarten education" is an ideal kindergarten education model, which reflects the objective law of preschool education and is recognized by people. This concept has become an absolute standard, as a basis or measure to judge the quality of education in different kindergartens. It can be seen that formulating a set of correct and reasonable evaluation standards is the key to ensure the scientific evaluation of kindergarten education quality.
The evaluation standard of kindergarten education quality usually consists of the following four categories:
(1) Staff quality standards. The quality of staff in preschool institutions is one of the important factors that determine the quality of kindergarten education. The quality standard of employees is the condition for employees to undertake or complete the task of kindergarten education, which usually includes qualification and professional experience.
(2) Employee's responsibility standard. The staff of preschool education institutions undertake different tasks in kindergarten education. The responsibility standard of employees is the requirement for employees to perform the tasks they undertake. For example, what teachers should do and how to do it in all aspects of life. This responsibility standard is the norm of the educational behavior of the staff in preschool institutions, which directly affects the development of children in all aspects and is the key factor affecting the quality of education in preschool institutions.
(3) Efficiency standard. Efficiency standard is the basis of evaluating kindergarten performance based on input-output ratio. For example, the utilization rate, rational utilization and maintenance of venues, equipment and instruments.
(4) effect standard. The effect standard is used to check the educational results of kindergartens. Because the child care institutions themselves undertake the tasks of educating children, promoting their physical and mental health, preparing children for school, serving parents and cultivating the younger generation for society, people often examine the educational achievements of child care institutions with the standards of children's development, serving parents and children's adaptation to school.
Among the evaluation standards of kindergarten education quality formulated by different people or groups, the application degree of the above four evaluation standards is different. For example, the certification standard of NAEYC in the United States and the kindergarten environmental assessment scale (ECERS) of Harms/Clifford mainly adopt the responsibility standard and efficiency standard, not the effect standard. The classification and grading standards in some places in China use the effect standard, taking "children's development" as the effect standard to evaluate the quality of kindergarten education.
A set of good evaluation standards of kindergarten education quality should have high validity and reliability. Validity refers to the correctness of measurement, which is the basic requirement of kindergarten education quality evaluation standard. The effectiveness of kindergarten education quality evaluation activities depends on the effectiveness of evaluation tools, that is, whether evaluation tools or evaluation standards can reflect the objective laws of early childhood education, represent the development direction of early childhood education, reflect the times and advanced quality standards, and are practical and suitable for the specific situation of the kindergarten or the region. Reliability refers to the stability of measurement. A good set of evaluation criteria should be specific indicators, not general and abstract, which is easy for people to understand and master, and is operable, and will not cause ambiguity in understanding, or will not cause different people to use it, which may produce completely different evaluation results.
To compile a set of correct and reasonable evaluation standards of kindergarten education quality, we first require the compilers to have correct educational values, such as the relationship between conservation and education, the position and role of teachers and children in the educational process, the reasonable way of interaction between teachers and students, the role of environment and materials, the relationship between games and classes, the relationship between kindergartens and families, etc., because the evaluation standards of kindergarten education quality are the embodiment of educational values. Different educational values and views on "quality" will lead to different quality evaluation standards. For example, the certification standards formulated by NAEYC in the United States pay attention to children's initiative in the learning process, do not advocate too much direct teaching, and oppose the use of paper and pencil for academic skills training in primary schools. Teachers' task is to create a suitable learning environment and guide and promote the benign interaction between children and the environment. Harms/Clifford's Kindergarten Environment Scale pays more attention to teachers' pre-design and structure of children's learning activities and teachers' direct teaching and guidance, so it is considered as an evaluation scale based on behaviorism philosophy.
Due to China's national conditions, the acceptance criteria for the classification and grading of child care institutions in China are generally based on national documents and regulations. In this case, it is a key issue to truly grasp and understand the significance of educational principles outlined in documents and regulations and the educational values conveyed by these educational principles, which directly affects the effectiveness and reliability of evaluation standards.
Three, the steps and requirements of the kindergarten education quality evaluation standard.
The compilation process of kindergarten education quality evaluation standard is the process of describing what a good or high-quality kindergarten should do in the basic aspects of education and establishing a set of "* * * agreement standards". This process can be divided into the following basic steps:
1. Find out the factors that affect the quality of education in lower institutions and their relationships.
There are many factors that affect the quality of kindergarten education, such as interpersonal relationships (including adults, adults and children, children's relationships, etc. ), the interaction mode between adults and children in the education process, curriculum, material environment, work and rest system, nutrition and diet, medical care, management, family relations and so on. On the basis of enumerating various influencing factors, the relationship between these factors is further clarified: which factors are the supporting factors affecting the quality of kindergarten education. A clear understanding of the role and relationship of these factors can provide a basis for determining the focus and weight of evaluation. For example, kindergarten management is one of the important factors that affect the quality of kindergarten education, and effective management can create a high-quality kindergarten education environment. However, management itself is only a supporting factor of high-quality kindergarten education, not a structural factor. Effective management should be reflected in structural factors, such as interpersonal relationship and teachers' educational behavior. The relationship analysis of influencing factors of kindergarten education quality directly restricts that kindergarten or class is the basic evaluation unit to evaluate kindergarten education quality. Should the evaluation of garden management focus on the garden or the class?
Pay attention to the evaluation of educational work. Generally speaking, the education based on the interaction between adults and children in kindergarten is the main content of kindergarten work and the core factor reflecting the quality of kindergarten education. Therefore, classes should be the basic unit of kindergarten education quality evaluation, and teachers' educational behavior is the central content of evaluation.
2. Determine the quality standards for evaluating various factors.
On the basis of clarifying various factors affecting the quality of kindergarten education and their relationships, the quality standards for evaluating these factors are further determined. For example, in the process of education, what kind of teacher-student interaction mode is "good", which is what we expect to see. This quality standard directly reflects the educational values of the standard setters.
3. Analysis conditions (including personnel, equipment, site, etc.). ) requirements to achieve the established quality standards, and further develop the corresponding evaluation standards, such as the standard of teacher-student ratio.
Here, we should consider the actual situation of kindergarten resources in this respect, so that the standards formulated are feasible. Here, quality standards and efficiency standards are mainly used as evaluation standards.
4. Analyze the activities required for employees to reach the established quality standards, and formulate corresponding evaluation standards. For example, in order to ensure the safety and health of young children, what should the staff do and how to do it. Here, the responsibility standard is mainly used as the evaluation standard.
5. Analyze the possible results of educational work under the guidance of established quality standards, and choose the appropriate evaluation standards.
The main problem here is to choose an appropriate effect index consistent with the values as the guiding ideology as the evaluation standard. For example, if we take promoting children's creative development instead of memorizing certain knowledge and concepts as the evaluation index, then there will be contradictions, which will affect the validity and internal consistency of quality evaluation standards.
Finally, the various evaluation criteria are technically processed and the structural evaluation scale is constructed.
The evaluation of kindergarten education quality includes determining evaluation standards and procedures, collecting data, forming judgments and feedback adjustment. To ensure the scientificity, rationality and impartiality of the evaluation work, it is also necessary to evaluate the evaluation work to ensure the scientificity, rationality and impartiality of the evaluation work in every link. For example, it is necessary to test the reliability and validity of the established evaluation criteria themselves; Establish coordination and supervision institutions to coordinate different opinions that may arise in the evaluation process.
Four, the classification and acceptance of kindergartens in China.
Since the late 1980s, China has classified, graded and accepted kindergartens, which not only makes the management of kindergartens more standardized, but also promotes the improvement of kindergarten education quality. At the same time, the quality evaluation of preschool education in China has gradually developed from scratch, accumulating valuable experience and making positive contributions to the development of preschool education in China. However, judging from the times, advanced evaluation standards and scientific and reasonable evaluation work, there are still many places to be improved.
Because the establishment of the grading acceptance standard of kindergartens in China mainly comes from the needs of management and the survival and development of kindergartens at that time, there has not been a clear, full and extensive discussion on what is the real "quality" of kindergarten education, which educational behaviors are appropriate and which educational behaviors are inappropriate. This special background of the times has caused some special problems in the evaluation of kindergarten education quality in China.
1. The evaluation criteria are too abstract and general, and the operability is poor.
In some places, the classification and acceptance criteria simply take the educational principles in the Regulations on Kindergarten Work as the criteria for evaluating kindergarten education, without transforming the educational principles into observable educational behaviors or evaluable standards. In essence, this practice of simply applying and devouring "documents" reflects the significance of educational values as a guiding ideology and the performance of educational behavior corresponding to these values, which has not been truly understood and mastered. This abstract and general evaluation standard is easy to lead to ambiguity in the actual evaluation process, resulting in the result of "everything is fair and everything is reasonable", which affects the reliability, effectiveness and objectivity of evaluation work.
2. Pay more attention to the evaluation of park management than the evaluation of class education.
In the acceptance criteria formulated by some places, the evaluation of the park management part occupies a considerable proportion. At the same time, the evaluation of park management focuses on the inspection of documents, files, records and rules and regulations, ignoring the actual effect of park management in class work, which tends to be bureaucratic. The existence of this tendency shows that the factors affecting the quality of kindergarten education and their relationship are not analyzed and grasped enough.
3. In terms of the conditions for running a garden, we often don't pay attention to the use efficiency standard, only list what we should have, and don't pay attention to actual use.
4. Lack of supervision and supervision mechanism for evaluation.
5. Lack of parents' participation in kindergarten education quality evaluation.
These problems should attract the attention of management departments and researchers. In order to ensure the further development and improve the quality of early childhood education evaluation in China, it is necessary to carry out research on the quality evaluation of early childhood education.
Facing the 2 1 century, the quality evaluation of early childhood education in China should be further improved, scientific and reasonable, so as to further improve the quality of early childhood education in China.