在東方與西方文化熏陶下的幼師如何透過探究「哲學與幼兒」評價幼兒創意之表現?

It is often said that young children in the Western Tradition have an innate desire to investigate and make sense of the world. Philosophy is about asking these important questions and trying to justify our answers. In the process of looking for an answer for their teachers, young children’s creative thoughts are enhanced, which in turn has kept in line with the prevailing global trend of educational practise. By engaging themselves in applying the questioning and scaffolding techniques, teachers would be able to gain a deeper understanding of how philosophical thinking would enhance their understanding of the meaning of learning and teaching and the nature of knowledge. Correspondingly, by engaging young children with Philosophy, young children’s creative mind could be enhanced. This paper reports a research study conducted in a child-care centre in Hong Kong which aimed at exploring how far have the preschool teachers gained in understanding that young children’s expression of creative thoughts could be enhanced through their use of questioning techniques. The findings suggest that teachers in the Eastern Tradition differ ideologically with those in the West on how creativity is viewed and expressed through philosophy generated by the young children.