Exploring ethical decision-making in Chinese early childhood teachers

Abstract

ABSTRACT With the advancement of Chinese teacher ethics, the significance of professional ethics among kindergarten teachers has gained prominence. Early childhood professional practice encompasses intricate ethical dilemmas that teachers must promptly identify and address. Consequently, the ability to make ethical decisions has become a crucial skill in teachers’ professional ethical practice. This study investigates the ethical dilemmas and decision-making of Chinese kindergarten teachers (N = 19) through semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation in a specific kindergarten setting. The findings reveal that Chinese kindergarten teachers face ethical dilemmas that revolve around four main themes: matters related to teacher’s work, matters related to parental expectations and requirements, matters related staff’s behaviour, conflicts between common rules. Chinese kindergarten teachers’ ethical decision-making can be categorised into four main types: inadvertently ignoring or giving less consideration, avoiding, delegating, and dialogue. Given China’s current focus on strengthening teacher ethics at the policy level, the results of this research hold significant reference value for enhancing the quality of teacher-child interaction and teachers’ ethical standards.