Education--a joint task for parents, kindergarten teachers and kindergarten student teachers

Abstract

The aim of this research was to find out what kindergarten teachers, parents and kindergarten student teachers think about education and about themselves as educators. The basic question was: what kind of similarities and differences are there between these groups of educators? The sample consisted of 21 parents, 28 kindergarten teachers and 37 kindergarten student teachers voluntarily taking part in the study. The data were collected using thematic interviews and an open-ended questionnaire. The approach used to analyse the material was phenomenography. The results show that the groups of educators between themselves had quite similar conceptions of education and of being educators of small children. However, some differences were also found. The division of the conceptions of education was: education as a societal function or socialization, education as a way of supporting a child's development, education as care, and education as work and action. All groups, but especially parents, regarded education primarily as a societal function. All three groups paid rather little attention to education as a function of becoming a human being. Education as a function of care occurred in the conceptions of some educators. The conceptions of being an educator were linked to characteristic features of educators, to working with children, to commitment and self-confidence at work and to demands on and responsibility of an educator. In particular, parents paid attention to the demands and responsibility of being an educator. Kindergarten teachers and kindergarten student teachers emphasized working with children and commitment to education.