Socio-Moral Development of Preschool Children: Aspects of Theory and Practice

Abstract

This article deals with issues relating to the social and moral education and development of preschool children. The theoretical understanding of the current state of this field is reflected in the modern normative documents “On education in the Russian Federation”, the state educational standards. The analysis of theoretical and practice-oriented research in this area shows that the phrase “moral education” today is gradually being replaced by “social and moral education” and “social and moral development”. This trend is found in preschool pedagogy. It is the study of social and moral representations of preschool children that many relevant diagnostic methods are aimed at: to explain the actions of children and their relationships with each other and adults, and to assess these actions (i.e., to correlate the situation with the moral norm). The presented research was based on the method of research of moral representations of children of senior preschool age. The analysis of the results showed that children of senior preschool age willingly include themselves in the retelling of the actions described in situations but find it difficult to assess what is happening from a moral point of view. It is obvious that psychological and pedagogical work is necessary in this direction, taking into account the age characteristics of the children, as well as the social and moral guidelines relevant to the current situation in regard to the development of society.