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Free Play and “Loving Care”: A Qualitative Inquiry of Chinese Kindergarten Teachers’ Professional Ethics - Jie Zhang (张婕), Mollie R. Clark, Yeh Hsueh, 2022 (sagepub.com)
Article Information
Manuscript received: August 9, 2021
Revision received: December 18, 2021
Manuscript accepted: June 10, 2022
Published online: September 1, 2022
Issue published: December 2022
Author
Jie Zhang (张婕)
East China Normal University
Mollie R. Clark
The University of Memphis
Yeh Hsueh
The University of Memphis
Abstract
Purpose: Chinese kindergarten teachers commonly held “loving and caring for young children” as a core professional ethic, but many reported fatigue and burnout because of this ethical practice. This study presents a unique account of how children’s free play has helped transform teachers’ professional ethics and increased their professional satisfaction.
Design/Approach/Methods: Following a purposive sampling, we interviewed eight Chinese teachers who actively promoted children’s free play. The analysis of the interview transcripts led to an in-depth interpretation of the teachers’ experiences through a dialogue with various concepts and theories.
Findings: A major finding was that children’s free play facilitated the change in teachers’ understandings of their professional ethics. Their observation and support of children’s free play brought them the unprecedented joy of teaching, which helped them redefine loving and caring for children and gave rise to a new code of professional ethics.
Originality/Value: This study was the first to assess the Chinese kindergarten teachers’ ethics in the free play movement in China. It reveals, in the teachers’ own words, how their growing commitment to supporting children’s free play has transformed their beliefs and understandings of what a loving and caring teacher means.
Keywords
Free play, kindergarten teachers’ professional development, professional ethics, the ethic of loving care