THE SPECIFICS OF PARENT-TEACHER INTERACTION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Introduction. Early school education as a beginning stage of an individual’s educational trajectory fosters an enabling environment for a child’s personal, physical, intellectual and moral development. A productive interaction between pre-school educational organizations and parents is known to play the key role in the mentioned process.

Aim. Based on the empirical-sociological materials of the research, this paper is aimed to identify specific features of interaction between parents and teachers as subjects of the system of early childhood education in large industrial cities.

Methodology and research methods. The empirical basis of the research was a questionnaire survey conducted among parents (n=220), whose children attended pre-school institutions in Yekaterinburg, and semi-structured interviews with early school teachers (n=30). The teachers were interviewed using the method of systematic sampling.

Results and scientific novelty. A serious divergence was identified with regard to how parents and teachers understand the goal of early school education. The social demand of parents consists in preservation and strengthening of physical health of the child, and teachers consider the development of pupils’ abilities as 

their main task. The research revealed the main topic for discussion between parents and teachers to be organizational issues (due payments, leaving children in the morning, etc.). The conclusion is drawn that passive acceptance of the current situation prevails in teacher-parent interaction, rather than an active attitude to realization of the principles of partnership and cooperation. Parents’ tight schedules become an impediment for building of partner relationship with their children’s teachers and eventually prevent collaborative interaction between the two sides. Nevertheless, parents are shown to trust teachers and recognize the teachers’ professionalism. This circumstance is seen as a founding principle for formation, reproduction and development of partner interaction of the subjects of preschool education.

Practical significance. The obtained results can be applied when planning directions to advance the quality and performance of preschool education institutions. Thus, first to be considered is the organization of complex system work on acculturation of pedagogical culture of parents as well as development of special competences of the teachers, enabling them to successfully realize the principles of constructive cooperation with parental community for the purpose of full, prosperous and harmonious education of younger generation.

interaction, teachers, parents, early childhood education, partnership

1. Merenkov A. V. Roditeli i pedagogi: rastim rebenka vmeste = Parents and teachers: We bring up a child together. Yekaterinburg: Publishing House Dom Uchitelja; 2005. 144 p. (In Russ.)

2. Sazonova N. P. Doshkol'naja pedagogika = Pre-school pedagogy. St.-Petersburg: Publishing House Detstvo-press; 2010. 273 p. (In Russ.)

3. Nance R. The importance of early childhood education: Roles of play, language, socialization, formation of values. Quest Paper [Internet]. 2009 [cited 2018 Jan 12]. p. 2–19. Available from: http://www.fwquestclub.com/welcome_files/papers/childhood_education.pdf

4. Christian L. G. Understanding families: Applying family systems theory to early childhood practice. Young Children. 2006; 61 (1): 12–20.

5. Ot rozhdenija do shkoly. Primernaja obshheobrazovatel’naja programma doshkol’nogo obrazovanija = From the birth to school: Approximate general education program of preschool education. Ed. by N. E. Veraksa, T. S. Komarova, M. A. Vasil'eva. Moscow: Publishing House Mozaika-sintez; 2014. 368 p. (In Russ.)

6. Gradskova Ju. When to send a child to kindergarten and whether to pay the tutor? Parenthood, a gender and institutions of preschool education on Internet forums. Laboratorium. 2010; 3: 44–57. (In Russ.)

7. Schweizer A., Niedlich S., Adamczyk J., Bormann I. Approaching trust and control in parental relationships with educational institutions. Studia Paedagogica. 2017; 22 (2): 97–115. DOI: 10.5817/SP2017–2-6

8. Arnautova E. P. Socio-pedagogical practice of family-kindergarten interaction in modern conditions. Detskij sad ot A do Ja = Kindergarden from A to Z. 2004; 4: 30–37. (In Russ.)

9. Kulikova T. A. Semejnaja pedagogika i domashnee vospitanie = Family pedagogics and house education. 2nd ed. Moscow: Publishing House Akademija; 2000. 232 p. (In Russ.)

10. Eldridge D. Parent involvement: It’s worth the effort. Young Children. 2001; 56 (4): 65–69.

11. Buell M. J., Hallam R. A., Beck H. L. Early Head Start and child care partnerships: Working together to serve infants, toddlers, and their families. Young Children. 2001; 56 (3): 7–12.

12. McMillan D. J. Close encounters: Issues in pre-school parental involvement in Northern Ireland. Child Care in Practice. 2005; 11 (2): 119–134. DOI: 10.1080/13575270500053068

13. Epstein J. L. School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools (2nd ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press; 2011.

14. Kopytova A. V. System approach in personally focused interaction between teachers of preschool educational institutions and parents. Vestnik Cheljabinskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta = Bulletin of the Chelyabinsk State University. 2009; 14 (152): 51–53. (In Russ.)

15. Baum A. C., McMurray-Schwarz P. Preservice teachers’ beliefs about family involvement: Implications for teacher education. Early Childhood Education Journal. 2004; 32 (1): 57–61. DOI: 10.1023/B: ECEJ.0000039645.97144.02

16. Koshhienko I. V. Interaction of teachers and parents as social and psycho-pedagogical problem. Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie = Knowledge. Understanding. Ability. 2011; 1: 209–212 (In Russ.)

17. Shtompka P. Doverie – osnova obshhestva = Trust – a basis of the society. Transl. from Polish by N. V. Morozova. Moscow: Publishing House Logos;

18. 445 p. (In Russ.)

19. Markarjan I. A. Interaction of kindergarten and family – the priority direction in activity of the preschool educational organization. Naukovedenie = Scientology [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2018 Jan. 20]; 6 (25). Available from: http://naukovedenie.ru/PDF/69PVN614.pdf (In Russ.)

20. Endsley R. C., Minish P. A. Parent-staff communication in day care centers during morning and afternoon transitions. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 1991; 6: (2): 119–135. DOI: 10.1016/0885–2006(91)90002–3

21. Savinskaja O. B. Parental assessment of services of kindergarten: The value of education and training (on the example of Moscow). Zhurnal sociologii i social'noj antropologii = Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology. 2015; 18 (2): 115–129. (In Russ.)

22. Sobkin V. S., Halutina Ju.  A. The relation of parents of preschool aged children to educational process in kindergarten: Satisfaction, assessment of quality and learning efficiency. Sovremennoe doshkol'noe obrazovanie = Modern Preschool Education. 2018; 1: 6–18. (In Russ.)

23. Westergаrd E. Teacher Competencies and Parental Cooperation. International Journal about Parents in Education. 2013; 7 (2): 91–99.