PARENTS' PERSPECTIVE ON THE QUALITY OF KINDERGARTEN
PARENTS' PERSPECTIVE ON THE QUALITY OF KINDERGARTEN

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents the research conducted with parents of preschoolchildren on quality of preschool education practice. Preschool education is, asidefrom practice, made of elements such as the preschool education system, legal andprogrammatic framework, cultural framework, etc., but practice is what parents seeand understand, and that is why we discussed this topic with them. In this paperpreschool education practice will be scrutinized through the analysis of variousfunctioning aspects of kindergarten. We understand the quality of the preschooleducation practice as a complex and multifaceted phenomenon and as such weanalyze it from the perspective of socio-cultural theory and postmodernist approachto scientific research. The complexity of this phenomenon is reflected in the fact thatit is possible to identify various levels and aspects of quality, which are intertwinedwith each other. Multiplicity is reflected in the fact that the preschool educationpractice quality changes its meaning depending on the approach and perspectivesfrom which it is viewed. In this paper, the focus is on understanding parent’sperspective on the kindergarten practice quality because we consider thatunderstanding parent’s perspective is the first step in the process of allocatingresponsibility for preschool education and respecting the rights of parents toparticipate in all aspects of educating their children. These processes arefundamental for establishing and developing the quality of preschool educationpractice. The socio-cultural approach to the study of chosen phenomenon implies theunderstanding that language is not a stable system of meaning, but meaning iscreated in context, while knowledge is socially constructed and contextual. Thepostmodernist paradigmatic framework and qualitative character of the researchprocess have directed this research towards the field of accomplishing mutualunderstanding by creating common meanings. This research tends to establish adialogue between researchers and participants which will open the space for(co)construction of meanings and the common understanding of numerous aspectsof the preschool education practice quality.

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