Parents’ perspective on a children’s learning

Adrijana  Višnjić-Jevtić

doi:10.37291/2717638X.20212266

Authors

Adrijana Višnjić-Jevtić University of Zagreb https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3812-7472

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37291/2717638X.20212266

Keywords:

Compentence, Early years, Image of the child, Learning, Play

Abstract

Contemporary curricula of early childhood education were founded on perspective of playing learning child. Although that approach leads to children’s well-being, research by Yahya (2006) has shown that parents do not want their children to learn through play, rather to focus on early and preschool education and teaching academic skills. If parents expect professionals to deliver the knowledge necessary for the development of academic skills to their children, research has been conducted on parental experience of a child’s learning. The aim of the research was to find out how parents understand their children's learning and approach to the contemporary concepts of child learning as well as children’s competence. The research was conducted in the period from November 2017 to May 2019. Parents involved in the study, documented how their children learn in a family environment, assessing their children’s competencies. Results show that parents see learning through everyday situations whereas learning was related to the academic mode (direct teaching of letters), has only appeared in one example. At the end of the research, parents participated in a group interview, discussing their expectations of the institution towards educating children. The results showed that parents expect the institution to encourage the development of a child's social knowledge and skills, while academic knowledge and skills are ranked lower.

References

Aistear: The Early Childhood Curriculum Framework (2009). National council for curriculum and assessment. Dublin.

Babić, N. (2014). Suvremeno djetinjstvo: teorijski pristupi, prakse i istraživanja. Osijek: Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera, Filozofski fakultet.

Bašić, S. (2011). (Nova) slika djeteta u pedagogiji djetinjstva [(New) image of a child in pedagogy of the childhood]. U: D. Maleš (Ed.) Nove paradigme ranoga odgoja (pp. 19-37). Zagreb: Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zavod za pedagogiju.

Baumer, S. (2013). Play pedagogy and playworlds. Encyclopedia of early childhood development. Retrieved 2 September 2019 from http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/documents/BaumerANGxp1.pdf

Bernstein, G., & Triger, Z. H. (2011). Over-Parenting. UC Davis Law Review. Seton Hall Public Law Research Paper No 1588246. Retrieved 1 October 2019 from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1588246.

Bogatic, K., Visnjic Jevtic, A., Campbell Barr, V., & Georgeson, J. (2018). Initial literature review - interpreting child-centredness to support quality and diversity in early childhood education and care. Project report. Plymouth: Plymouth University.

Bridges, K., & Hoff, E. (2014). Older sibling influences on the language environment and language development of toddlers in bilingual homes. Journal of Applied Psycholinguistics, 35(2), 225-241. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716412000379

Bruner, J. S. (1961). The act of discovery. Harvard Educational Review, 31(1), 21-32.

Campbell-Barr, V. (2019). Professional knowledge and skills in the early years. London: SAGE

Carter, M. A., & Roe, N. D. (2013). Our image of the child. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 93, 1704-1709. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.10.103

Chaplin, E. (2011). The photo diary as an autoethnographic method. In E. Margolis and L. Pauwels (Eds.) The Sage handbook of visual research methods (pp. 241-262). London: SAGE. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446268278.n13

Chung, S., & Walsh, D. J. (2000). Unpacking child centredness: A history of meanings. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 32(2), 215-234. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/002202700182727

Cline, F. W., & Fay, J. (1990). Parenting with love and logic: Teaching children responsibility. Colorado Springs: Pinon Press.

Clouder, C. (2014). Education for the unexpected. In M. Matthes, L. Pulkkinen, L. M. Pinto and C. Clouder (Eds.) Improving the quality of children in Europe (pp. 4-81). Brussels: Alliance for Childhood European Network Foundation.

Coates, J. K., & Pimlott‐Wilson, H. (2019). Learning while playing: Children's forest school experiences in the UK. British Educational Research Journal, 45(1), 21-40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3491

Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., & Pence, A. (1999). Beyond quality in early childhood education and care: Postmodern perspectives. London: Falmer Press.

De Vries, P. (2013). Parent involvement 3.0: From informing to collaboration. Retrieved 3 March 2018 from https://www.openschools.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/eBook_Parent_involvement-OSOS.pdf.

Department for Education (2017). Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework. London: United Kingdom

Dobrotić, I., Matković, T., & Menger, V. (2018). Analiza pristupačnosti, kvalitete, kapaciteta i financiranja sustava ranoga i predškolskog odgoja i obrazovanja u Republici Hrvatskoj. Zagreb: Ministarstvo za demografiju, obitelj, mlade i socijalnu politiku.

Gopnik, A., Meltzoff, A. N., & Kuhl, P. K. (2003). Znanstvenik u kolijevci: Što nam rano učenje kazuje o umu. Zagreb: Alinea.

Hardyment, C. (2007). Dream babies: Childcare advice from John Locke to Gina Ford. London: Francis Lincoln.

Hedegaard, M. (2012). Analyzing children's learning and development in everyday settings from a Cultural-Historical wholeness approach. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 19(2), 127-138. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2012.665560

Hougaard, B. (2004). Curlingföräldrar och servicebarn- en handbok i barnuppfostran. Stockholm: Prisma.

Kehily, M. J. (2013). Childhood in crisis? An introduction to contemporary Western childhood. In M. J. Kehily (Ed.), Understanding childhood: A cross disciplinary approach (pp. 1-52). Bristol: The Policy Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1t89f1h.6

Kluczniok, K., Anders, Y., Sechtig, J., & Rosebach, H.-G. (2016). Influences of an academically oriented preschool curriculum on the development of children-are there negative consequences for the children's socio-emotional competencies?. Early Child Development and Care, 186(1), 117-139. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2014.924512

McDowal Clark, R. (2017). Exploring the contexts for early learning. Oxon, New York, NY: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315676036

McInnes, K., Howard, J., Miles, G., & Crowley, K. (2011) Differences in practitioners' understanding of play and how this influences pedagogy and children's perceptions of play. Early Years, 31(2), 121-133. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2011.572870

Ministarstvo znanosti, obrazovanja i sporta. [MZOS]. (2015). Nacionalni kurikulum za rani i predškolski odgoj i obrazovanje. (Narodne novine 05/2015). Zagreb: Republika Hrvatska

Ministry of Education (2017). Te Whāriki: Early Childhood Curriculum. Wellington: Ministry of Education.

Moss, P., & Petrie, P. (2002). From children's services to children's spaces: Public policy, children and childhood. London, New York, NY: Routledge Falmer.

Nikiforidou, Z. (2017). The cotton wool child. In A. Owen (Ed.), Childhood today (pp.11-22). London: SAGE. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526437334.n2

O'Gorman, L., & Ailwood, J. (2012). 'They Get Fed Up with Playing': Parents' views on play-based learning in the Preparatory Year. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 13(4), 266-275. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2012.13.4.266

Papatheodorou, T., & Moyles, J. (2009). Introduction. In T. Papatheodorou & J. Moyles (Eds.), Learning together in the early years exploring relational pedagogy (pp. 1-3). London, New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203894163

Pramling Samuelsson, I., & Asplund Carlsson, M. (2008) The playing learning child: Towards a pedagogy of early childhood. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 52(6), 623-641. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00313830802497265

Pramling, N., Wallerstedt, C., Lagerlöf, P., Björklund, C., Kultti, A., Palmer, H., Magnusson, M., … Pramling Samuelsson, I. (2019). Play-responsive teaching in early childhood education. New York: Springer Open. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15958-0

Republic of Croatia. (2019). Family Law. (Narodne novine 98/19). Zagreb: Republika Hrvatska

Rodger, R. (2012). Planning an appropriate curriculum in the early years: A guide for early years practitioners and leaders, students and parents. London: David Fulton. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203148013

Shumow, L. (2001). Parents' educational beliefs: Implications for parent participation in school reforms. In S. Redding & L. G. Thomas (Eds.), The community of the school (pp. 205-211). Lincoln, IL: Academic Development Institute

Sommer, D., Pramling Samuelsson, I., & Hundeide, K. (2010). Child perspectives and children's perspectives in theory and practice. Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London, New York: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3316-1

Swedish National Agency for Education. (2010). Curriculum for the pre-school, Lpfö 98. Stockholm: Swedish National Agency for Education.

Sylva, K. (2010). Foreword. In D. Sommer, I. Pramling Samuelsson i K. Hundeide (Auths.) Child Perspectives and Children's Perspectives in Theory and Practice (pp. v-viii). Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London, New York: Springer.

Toros, K., Tiko, A., & Saia, K (2013). Child-centered Approach in the Context of the Assessment of Children in Need: Reflections of child protection workers in Estonia. Children and Youth Services Review, 35(6), 1015-1022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.03.011

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. (1989). Geneva: United Nations. Retrieved 19 May 2018 from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx.

van Oers, B. (2003). Learning resources in the context of play. Promoting effective learning in early childhood. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 11(1), 7-26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13502930385209031

Visković, I., & Višnjić Jevtić, A. (2019). Je li važnije putovati ili stići!?Prijelazi djece rane i predškolske dobi iz obitelji u odgojno-obrazovne institucije. Zagreb: Alfa

Višnjić Jevtić, A. (2021). Collaborative relationships between preschool teachers and parents as a prerequisite for the development of culture of communities of upbringing. In A. Višnjić Jevtić & I. Visković (Eds.), Challenges of collaboration - development of teachers' professional competencies for collaboration and partnership with parents (pp. 77-112). Zagreb: Alfa.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/11193-000

Widmer, E. D. (2016). Family configurations: A structural approach to family diversity. London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315581903

Yahya, R. (2016). Bridging home and school: Understanding immigrant mothers' cultural capital and concerns about play-based learning. Early Years, 36(4), 340-352. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2015.1110786