Markmið rannsóknarinnar var að varpa ljósi á mat foreldra á gæðum leikskólastarfs í
samhengi við menningarbundin viðhorf sem birtast í opinberri stefnu leikskóla. Jafnframt að skoða hvort marka mætti breytingar á viðhorfum foreldra á einum áratug.
Einstaklings- og hópaviðtöl voru tekin við foreldra barna sem voru að ljúka leikskólagöngu sinni í þremur leikskólum í Reykjavík. Tíu árum áður höfðu sambærileg
viðtöl verið tekin við foreldra í þeim sömu leikskólum. Viðhorf og gildi foreldranna
eins og þau birtust í umræðum og frásögnum þeirra voru skoðuð í félags- og menningarlegu samhengi (Rogoff, 2003). Niðurstöðurnar sýna að viðhorf foreldranna til
gæða leikskólastarfs eru í samræmi við opinbera stefnu leikskóla hér á landi og annars
staðar á Norðurlöndum. Þeir lögðu fyrst og fremst áherslu á að börnin lærðu samskipti
og félagslega hæfni í leikskólanum. Leikur, óformlegt nám, umhyggja og persónuleg
hæfni voru þeir þættir sem foreldrarnir töldu mikilvæga. Hugmyndafræði norrænnar
leikskólahefðar hefur átt undir högg að sækja á undanförnum áratugum og hefur sums
staðar mátt víkja fyrir bóknámsreki og áherslum á mælanlegan árangur. Þau sjónarmið
virtust ekki hafa haft áhrif á viðhorf foreldranna.
The aim of this study was to shed light on the quality of preschool education from the
perspective of Icelandic parents in light of Icelandic public preschool policy. The study
also explored whether parents’ views had changed over a period of ten years. That
ten-year period of time was characterized by enormous change in Icelandic society as
it transitioned from being largely homogenous to diverse. During this same period,
early childhood education internationally has also been confronted with challenges
such as accountability and the pressure of academics.
Lilian Katz has proposed that the quality of preschool programs can be assessed from
different perspectives (Katz,1993). In the top-down perspective, quality is assessed from
the views of adults who run the preschools. Inside perspective focuses on quality from
the perspective of preschool educators. The bottom-up perspective depends primarily
on how the program is experienced by the participating children. The focus of this
study is on what Katz calls the outside-inside perspective, which is how the program
is experienced by the families it serves.
The study was inspired by socio-cultural perspectives and assumes that human life
and values are culturally and historically situated and inseparable from the context and
activities in which they are situated (Vygotsky, 1978). Barbara Rogoff (2003) focuses
on people’s participation in their communities’ cultural practices and traditions. In
her studies, she has shown that people develop as they participate in and contribute
to cultural activities. She states, “Interpreting the activity of people without regard
for their meaning system and goals renders observations meaningless” (p. 17). This
study examines parents’ narratives and values in their social and cultural contexts. The
following research questions led this inquiry: • What aspects of preschool education do parents find important?
• Have parents’ views changed from 2006 to 2016?
• How do parents’ perspectives conform with cultural views presented in public policy
documents?
As the study focuses on the outside-inside perspective, qualitative interviews were
conducted with 26 parents of children in three preschools. Ten years earlier, focus
group interviews were conducted with parents of children in the same preschools. Still
located in various neighborhoods in the city of Reykjavik, all three preschools experienced changes in the 10 years that had passed since the previous study. Specifically,
all became more diverse and one of the three saw an increase in the number of children
attending, due to merging with another preschool (Jóhanna Einarsdóttir, 2010b). The
original intention was to conduct focus group interviews with the 26 parents, but this
had to be changed in order to accommodate the parents’ availabilities. Therefore, only
one group interview with four participants was conducted. In addition, three interviews with three parents, five interviews with two participants, and three individual
interviews were conducted.
The findings showed that parents’ views towards the pedagogy of the preschool were
in harmony with the Nordic social-pedagogical model and the preschool policies of the
Nordic countries. The parents were satisfied with the preschools’ holistic approaches
and their emphasis on child-centered orientation and play. Interpersonal relationships,
social competency, friendship, and respect for other people were stressed. Personal
issues such as independence, safety, self-reliance, well-being, and personal strength
were also emphasized. In spite of much change in Icelandic society and children’s realities during the last two decades, parental views on preschool pedagogy were almost
identical to the views of parents a decade ago (Jóhanna Einarsdóttir, 2019).
