Uniting oppositions for staff members in kindergarten

Abstract

Interviews with skilled teaching practice supervisors in education of kindergarten teachers describe several situations in kindergartens where staff members have to choose between opposite actions, and where there are good reasons to follow each of them. Such an opposition, humility – authority, is mentioned in a Norwegian textbook about applied ethics for kindergarten teachers. The Danish philosopher Løgstrup names such oppositions as uniting oppositions. They should be kept as distinct oppositions because they keep one another from becoming caricatures of themselves. Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean is relevant in order to find which of the two oppositions that should have preference in a specific situation. The relevance of this doctrine in such oppositions is however, discussed compared to ordinary ethical evaluations of ethical dilemmas.
Keywords: Aristotle, ethics, Kindergarten teacher, Løgstrup