Specific Of Parent’s Attitude In Preschool Education

Abstract

The features of parents’ attitudes in preschool education are determined: there is a change of parental views on the role of preschool education, parents’ educational functions, opportunities and prospects for child development and the mission of childhood. The characteristics of the family, the specificity of its culture, intra-group relationships and intergenerational relations largely determine the parents’ attitude to children, the processes of their upbringing and development. For example, most parents believe that the childhood period ends by 10-12 years of a child's life. This fact determines the general attitude in the family to the traditions and technologies of children upbringing. The article states that the development of the family as a social institution reflects global trends in society development. This affects the educational mission of the modern family and the evaluative attitude of parents towards the education that preschool-age children receive in specialized organizations. The study analyzed the values of the family in the process of children upbringing. Parents point out that the main goals of upbringing in the family are concerned with ensuring the health, family well-being and development of a child. Parental assessments of the quality of pre-school education have been collected and analyzed. The assessments relate to the external signs of an organization's activity - improvement, functionality, safety. In the second place, parents identify teachers’ attitude to a child and his relationship with other children. In the third place, parents determine the importance of staffing and the creation of conditions for high-quality pre-school education.

Keywords: Preschool educationparents’ attitudephilosophy of family upbringingfamily assessmentsquality of education

Introduction

Modernization of preschool education in a new way places accents in the definition and realization of the role of parents in the education of children up to 7 years of age. The success of the implementation of the federal state educational standard for preschool education presupposes the presence of a conscious family position in the choice of organization, preschool education program and strategy of child upbringing. Federal laws provide support of parents who bring up a child to provide psychological and pedagogical assistance to a family.

Problem Statement

Changes in the educational and demographic policy of recent years indicate that preschool education aims enlarging the quantity and quality of preschool education services for children from 2 months to 3 years as well as for children from 3 to 7 years of age. This situation determines the actuality of quality in preschool education. In order to analyze these questions, we should discuss parental attitude to the process of bringing up children and the activities of public educational institutions in supporting education of a child in the family (Doronova, 2013).

Research Questions

In recent years, procedures for independent assessment of the quality of preschool education, public examination of the process and results of education have only been formed. The more urgent and more significant is the study of the issues of individual and group perception by parents. We consider it to be the best way to improve parents’ attitudes towards the goals and values of family upbringing (Sobkin, Skobeltsina, Ivanova, & Veryasova, 2013).

The solution of these problems is hampered in the practice of preschool education by the fact that the majority of teachers, according to their confession, experience difficulties in interacting with the families of their pupils (Haberlyaytner, 2011).

Purpose of the Study

The study of the presented factors is most effective when taking into account the psychology of parental attitudes toward preschool education, often expressed in the evaluative judgments and opinions of parent community regarding the quality of education of children. Certainly, the socio-demographic characteristics of the family, the specificity of its culture, intra-group relationships and intergenerational ties largely determine the attitude of parents to children, the process of their education and development (Yamnitskaya, 2008).

In modern conditions, as the researchers note, the life and educational values of a family are changing. Sociological data indicate that over the past 20 years the value structure of priorities for parents has been preserved. The leading positions belong to such indicators as “child success”, “happy married life”, “good health”. The next dominant are “professional development” and “material well-being”. The prevailing duties of parents today are “taking care of the physical health of the child", "teaching him independence", "material support for the child." Such duties as "playing with the child", "transferring one's knowledge and practical skills", " inculcating discipline" are at the end of the value list (Sobkin & Halutina, 2017).

In addition to the transformation of value attitudes, researchers note the polarization of stylistic characteristics in bringing up children in the family. In particular, one can distinguish two opposing attitudes characteristic of families — hyper-care, “dissolving in a child” and unwillingness to accept the responsibility for child’s development. Surprisingly, confrontation with kindergartens is typical for representatives of both extremes.

Slobodchikov (2006) notes that the complete separation of the family from educational institutions has already led to the replacement of public education with private-family, on the one hand, and formal-state, on the other. We believe that in the absence of a scientifically based model of social and family education, which projects the optimal lines of interaction between these institutions, both of the considered types of parenting are ineffective. The consequences of these contradictions lead to differences in evaluation by parents of the process and results of child development.

We believe that the prevailing parental attitude towards child development is due to some reasons. Among them, leading, in our opinion, is the confusion and displacement of the rights and obligations of the family and educational organizations in matters of the education, upbringing and development of children. If, in relation to a child, the participants of educational relations have relatively recently been defined with the term “child can”, then their own competences (teachers and parents) in terms of “have to” and “must” still do gain a clear understanding and distinction. We can explain this fact by a legislative trend, according to which parents cease to be the first educators but have a preferential right to bring up their children.

Assigning competencies to teachers at the “must” level (due to official duties and instructions), and to parents at the “required” level (due to status and parental authority), as we see it, could significantly reduce the level of misunderstanding between the participants of educational relations.

It should be noted that parents psychologically change their attitudes towards children. Studies of foreign and Russian scientists contain facts confirming certain contradictions in the parents’ expectations and views.

According to parents, the boundary between childhood and youth of modern children falls on 11 years (Yamnitskaya, 2008). Modern children have received so many rights and freedoms that they almost forgot about childhood. This conclusion was made by British scientists. It turned out that for many teenagers childhood ends from the first step of secondary school where they get access to activities and practice freed from parents’ control (such as alcohol and other doubtful pleasures). But the rules of modern society are such that the distinction between the guilt of children and parents becomes almost imperceptible. Not everyone likes the new order. As the newspaper notes, the majority of adults believe that the behavior of parents does not deserve respect, and children, in turn, grow up too early. This view is shared by the well-known children's author D.J. Wilson.

The results of a survey of more than 1,100 parents with children under the age of 18 showed that the blame for “reducing” childhood lies with adults who are unable to create a rational system of restraint and balances regarding their children. These figures demonstrate a significant difference in approaches to education against the background of the generation change. About a half of the interviewed parents agree that childhood ends at about 11 years of age - at the time of the child’s transition from the initial stage of the educational system to the secondary (Yamnitskaya, 2008).

In addition to these features in the perception and attitude of parents to the phenomena of childhood, child development and upbringing, there are also objective factors affecting the psychology of parents’ attitude to child education. The main statement is the priority of parents’ rights for child upbringing and complimentary supporting role of teachers.

Accordingly, in the development of the family as a social institution, the global trends in social development are reflected, which in turn affect the educational mission of the modern family and the estimated attitude of parents to education which children of preschool age receive in specialized organizations.

In particular, with the emancipation of children in society and narrowing of the boundaries of childhood there is observed a dynamic entry of children into the world of adults, while parents are more and more often forced to stay in childhood both in time frames and in social terms (Eriksson, 1996). This requires a special public attention to the formation of parental culture, improving the quality of upbringing in the family which can be achieved by solving the problems of a conscious parenthood and competent parent in the process of child and adult education.

Research Methods

In our studies of factors of evaluative perception and psychology of parents' public assessment of the quality of preschool education, we proceeded from the criteria used in the framework of social and psychological family research and family education philosophy. We present the main indicators and criteria underlying the current research.

Criterion I. Status dispositions in the family (authority, power, democracy, control, trust, etc.).

Criterion II. The system of rules in the family. From the point of view of influence on the process of upbringing, this value criterion performs in the family a function close to parental control, but in some cases, its action goes beyond the “educator- learner” relationship and applies to all members of the family group.

Criterion III. The index of personalization of a child in the family in the process of forming the independence of judgments and actions in the ideological sphere and behavior.

Criterion IV. The index of masculinity in the family (a differentiated approach to children of the opposite sex and the actions of family members to provide mutual support, protection and assistance).

Based on the presented criteria (Dementieva, 2018), we modeled for parents the main directions of their activity in the child’s life in educational organization based on awareness of the needs, goals and values (Table 01 ). These points as main subjects of education are the basis of parents ’evaluative behavior (Grishina et al., 2016).

We analyzed parents' answers in order to define their ideas about the purpose and values of family upbringing, about the place and role of the child in the family and made out the following conclusions.

Parents conclude that the family is not necessarily a marriage-based, small group of people who are united, and often, on the contrary, divided by the community of life, mutual assistance and moral responsibility. Parents believe that mutual assistance is an important factor in family development. Moral responsibility is no less significant as parents consider. Parents believe that the community of life is the basis for future development. We should emphasize the unconditional priority of goals and values that arise in marriage in the process of the birth and upbringing of children.

We conducted a monitoring to identify the educational needs of the modern family in the framework of a study of the Moscow Regional Center for Preschool Education in the Moscow Region in 2014. The survey was conducted in 43 municipalities of the Moscow region. A total of 5125 questionnaires were received and processed.

Questionnaires for parents were designed in such a way that allowed us to obtain information about the structure of the family and the level of education of the parents. A number of questions were aimed at identifying a child’s attitude to kindergarten, parents’ need in helping teachers, parents’ awareness of the educational activities, parents ’opinions and views about preschool education.

Findings

According to the study, we noted that only a third part of parents (32%) are well acquainted with the educational programs of kindergartens. "In general terms" 53% of parents have an idea of the educational program.

Parents consider that the comprehensive development of a child (68%), child care (40%), preparing a child for school (35%) are the primary aims of the kindergarten.

The focus on interaction with teachers is typical for 53% of parents. However, 23% of respondents answered that they do not need the help offered by teachers.

The study showed that the overwhelming majority of parents are more satisfied with the work of preschool educational organizations. 90 % of parents indicated that their child goes to the kindergarten with pleasure.

The survey in 2018 was focused on studying the assessments of parents and had the aim to improve the work of kindergartens in the Moscow Region.

2317 respondents took part in the study. About 50% of parents are satisfied with the quality of preschool education at the formal (“everything suits”, “no wishes”) and positively evaluative (“completely suits”, “good”, “satisfied”) levels.

Conclusion

According to the results of the study, we compiled a rating of parents’ aims for improving the work of kindergartens in the Moscow region:

1. To reduce the number of children and increase the space of groups.

2. To increase the number of skilled specialists in helping child speech and communication development as well as medical care and psychological support.

3. To enlarge the possibilities for children’s additional activities (such as foreign languages, physical activity and creative work).

4. To organize feedback and operational communication with parents, to make the websites of organizations more open and informative.

The presented data allows to specify the development of indicators and criteria aimed at clarifying and deepening the parental attitude to pre-school education which will further contribute to the qualitative assessment and analysis of the changes occurring in the education of preschool children.

References

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