14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Paper
The Importance of Kindergarten Choice and Early Foreign Language Learning Among Parents and Kindergarten Teachers
Réka Mándoki
University of Debrecen, Hungary
Presenting Author: Mándoki, Réka
In the 21st century, knowing a foreign language is almost essential requirement, because we need to use it in countless places in our everyday lives. The National Curriculum stipulates that pupils learn a foreign language(s) from the fourth grade of primary school, but many pupils also learn a foreign language earlier (even in a specialised course). Pupils must have a school-leaving certificate in one of the languages, and in higher education a state-accredited language examination is required for graduation (Sominé 2011, Kovács-Czachesz 2021).
As of 2015, kindergarten education is compulsory for children between the ages of three and six/seven in Hungary (Act CXC of 2011 on National Public Education). All kindergartens must have their own or adapted pedagogical programme, with the main focus on Hungarian culture and traditions, and mother tongue education. (Kovács& Czachesz 2021).
It has become extremely important for parents to ensure that their children receive the best from pre-school onwards, so there is also a big struggle to get into the best institution. Education plays a crucial role in the acquisition of cultural goods, and parents are well aware of this. Parents have become more aware and more determined to meet children's needs as best as possible. A study by Golnhofer and Szabolcs (2005) shows that children's schooling is taking place earlier and earlier as the years go by (Golnhofer& Szabolcs 2005).
Choosing kindergarten is an important issue for parents, because the proper development of their child is the most essential thing for them. That is why they want to opt for a kindergarten that is suitable to give their child the best, but in smaller settlements parents do not have much choice (Fűrész-Mayernik, 2018, Teszenyi & Hevey, 2015, Kampichler, 2018).In the European Union, the importance of quality pre-primary education has been a priority for years, as it is essential to ensure that children start school well prepared. Not only has more emphasis been placed on quality pre-school education, but also on introducing children to a foreign language at this stage of life (United Nations 2015). In a study by Kovács and Czachesz, researchers show that early foreign language learning has become more important in OECD countries over the years. According to a 2011 survey, 5% of these countries put more emphasis on the 'development' of a foreign language in pre-school, but four years later, in 2015, this figure had risen to 40% (OECD 2017). Early childhood is a crucial period in a child's life, as half of cognitive development is completed by the age of four, another 30% between four and eight and a fifth between eight and 17 (Poyraz& Dere, 2001, Heckman 2011).
The quality and quantity of stimuli in early life is also essential, and it is therefore more likely that early childhood is a critical period (Yilmaz et al. 2022). Views on early language acquisition vary widely, so it is not possible to state unequivocally whether early language learning has a positive or negative effect on the child (Vildomec, 1963, Babinszky 1983, Navracsics 1999, Bialystok & Poarch 2014)
In our research, we want to explore the factors that help parents decide which kindergarten to choose for their children. Based on our literature review, we formulate the hypotheses we want to test in this research.
1. Urban parents are more careful in choosing a nursery school for their child, taking into account a number of factors.
2. Parents with a higher level of education are more likely to choose a foreign language activity/foreign language kindergarten for their child.
3. Family and friends' opinions are a determining factor in the choice of nursery school.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedDuring our research, data were collected in three different counties of Hungary (Hajdú-Bihar, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg). The Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county is located in the North-Hungarian region, with 675,000 inhabitants, 60% of the population living in cities. It has a high level of income poverty, a high number of disadvantaged children and low social mobility. Hajdú-Bihar county is located in the Northern Great Plain region of Hungary, with a population of about half a million, 80% of them living in cities. It has a lower number of disadvantaged children than Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén. Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, also in the Northern Great Plain region, is experiencing a population decline. This county also has a very high proportion of disadvantaged children.
Our questionnaire survey was carried out with the participation of kindergarten teachers and parents. The data collection process took place both online and on paper, resulting in a total of 336 pre-school teachers and 1,004 parents' responses. The questionnaire mainly included questions on children's foreign language learning and parents' motivations for choosing kindergarten. Our extensive sample was representative of the types of municipalities, providers and counties. This allows our results to provide a comprehensive picture of the study areas and the kindergarten environment in these areas.
We used the statistical software SPSS to analyse the data and used various statistical methods, including ANOVA and cross-tabulation analysis. This allowed us to identify correlations and differences between different variables that contribute to answering the aims and questions of our research. Based on the statistical results, we hope to provide new and valuable information to increase our knowledge about kindergarten choice.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsIn the analysis, a K-means cluster analysis was performed, where three groups of parents were separated according to the information on the relevance of the factors influencing their choice of kindergarten. This resulted in a cluster of parents who were most interested in the most important factors, such as the educational programme, the possibility of extra activities or the kindergarten facilities. A cluster of parents who also care about most of the factors but have a much more moderate interest (thinkers) emerged, and finally a cluster of parents who do not care about most of the factors (uninterested cluster).
In the following, we have examined how people are distributed between the three cluster analysis groups according to their educational attainment and place of residence. The results were obtained by cross tabulation. The analysis concluded that people with a higher level of education are more careful in choosing a kindergarten for their children, thus confirming our second hypothesis. As far as place of residence is concerned, our hypothesis also seems to be confirmed, as the results show that people living in towns or in county seats take more into account when choosing a kindergarten, but it is important to point out that people living in villages may not have as many options as their parents living in towns.
We also assumed that the opinion of family and friends may be relevant when choosing a kindergarten. This hypothesis was also confirmed, as the results showed that the highest values were observed for these influencing factors.
In conclusion, our hypotheses have been confirmed, but further analysis is needed to get a more comprehensive picture of the motivations that drive parents to choose the right kindergarten for their child.
ReferencesBabinszky, P. (1983). Az idegennyelv-tanulás és az életkor kapcsolatáról. Módszertani közlemények, 5(23) pp. 295–299.
Bialystok, E.& Poarch, G. J. (2014). Language experience changes language and cognitive ability. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 17(3) pp. 433–446. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-014-0491-8
Fűrész-Mayernik, M. (2018). Angolozik a család – Kétnyelvű nevelés a gyakorlatban. Alto Nyomda Kft. Mór.
Golnhofer, E.& Szabolcs, É. (2005). Gyermekkor: nézőpontok, narratívák. Eötvös József Könyvkiadó, Budapest
Heckman, J. J. (2011). The economics of inequality: The value of early childhood education. American Educator, 35(1), 31.
Kampichler, M., Dvořáčková, J., & Jarkovská, L. (2018). Choosing the right kindergarten: parents’ reasoning about their ECEC choices in the context of the diversification of ECEC programs. Journal of Pedagogy, 9(2), 9-32. DOI: 10.2478/jped-2018-0009
Kovács, I. J., & Czachesz, E. (2021). Mit szeretnének a szülők? Korai nyelvtanulás az óvodában. Iskolakultúra, 31(10), 16–37. https://doi.org/10.14232/ISKKULT.2021.10.16
Navracsics, J. (1999). A kétnyelvű gyermek. Corvina. Budapest.
OECD (2017). Starting Strong 2017. Key OECD Indicators on Early Childhood Education and Care. Starting Strong, OECD Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264276116-en
Poyraz, H.& Hale, D. (2001). Principles and Methods in Preschool Education (2nd Edition). Ankara: Anı Publications
Sominé, H. O. (2011). Az anyanyelv-elsajátítás és az idegennyelvtanulás összefüggéseinek megközelítései – egy közös értelmezési keret lehetősége. Magyar Pedagógia, 111(1): pp. 53–77.
Teszenyi, E., & Hevey, D. (2015). Age group, location or pedagogue: Factors affecting parental choice of kindergartens in Hungary. Early Child Development and Care, 185(11-12), 1961-1977. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2015.1028391
United Nations General Assembly (2015). Trans-forming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A/RES/70/1. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda Letöltés dátuma: 2022.11.16.
Vildomec, V. (1963). Multilingualism. General Linguistics and Psychology of Speech. Leyden. Sythoff.
Yilmaz, R. M., Topu, F. B., & Takkaç Tulgar, A. (2022). An examination of the studies on foreign language teaching in pre-school education: A bibliometric mapping analysis. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(3), 270-293.
14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Paper
Evaluation Impact in Four European Countries Co-creating Processes and Training for Effective School/parent Engagement in Primary Schools and Kindergartens
Ruth Hudson, Gill Forrester, Jim Pugh
Staffordshire University, United Kingdom
Presenting Author: Hudson, Ruth;
Forrester, Gill
The DIGItal innovative Strategies for PArental and Civic Engagement (DIGI-S.PA.C.E) was a three-year (August 2019-August 2022) Erasmus+ funded project involving partners in the United Kingdom (UK), Portugal, Italy and Lithuania. The project (Grant Agreement Number: 2019-1-UK01-KA201-061451) developed innovative ways to engage parents in the education life of their child/children with the general objectives of preventing early school leaving, social exclusion and poor learning outcomes through proactive parental engagement. Four Intellectual Outputs (IOs) were delivered by the partners as follows:
- A training kit for school staff and Parent Support Advisors
- A protocol for parental engagement
- A training kit to enhance parenting skills
- A DIGI-S.PA.C.E. App to facilitate teacher-parent communication
Research surrounding parental engagement, also referred to as parental involvement, parental participation and parent-teacher partnerships, has gained increased interest worldwide (e.g. Garvis et al. 2022; Phillipson and Garvis, 2019) and how best this activity can be nurtured to improve children’s educational outcomes. It is generally acknowledged that teacher-parent collaboration has a positive influence on children’s learning (Stroetinga et al., 2019). Fulltime teachers in the 2018 TALIS survey reported 2.9% of their time was spent communicating with parents and guardians and 36.3% of teachers considered addressing parent or guardians as a source of ‘quite a bit’ or ‘a lot’ of stress (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2021:143). Reasons contributing towards the lack of monitoring and strategy towards parental/carer participation includes a lack of clarity into how to conceptually define parental involvement and engagement. Goodall and Montgomery (2014) propose and develop a continuum between parental involvement with schools, at one end, and parental engagement with children’s learning at the other. Research undertaken by Harris and Goodall (2008) and Sime and Sheridan (2014) suggests parents’ engagement in their child’s education is significant in terms of their learning and levels of attainment. The debates are ongoing into what constitutes parental/carer participation and whether it is being undertaken to improve scholarly outcomes or a child’s overall experience of school life (Education Endowment Foundation, 2022). The experiences of staff and parents/carers involved in parent/carer co-creation participation initiatives is not so widely reported.
Using Goodall and Montgomery’s (2014) concepts of involvement as “the act of taking part in an activity or event, or situation” (ibid., p399) and engagement as “the feeling of being involved in a particular activity or a formal arrangement to meet someone or to do something, especially as part of your public duties” (ibid. p400), DIGI S.P.A.C.E piloted co-creation as a process to re-imagine how parents/carers, school staff and communities could work together to co-create both training, strategy and parental/ carer participation projects.
A Parent Support Advisor (PSA) was identified as part of the project (IO1) in each school/kindergarten to facilitate more effective engagement between parents, teachers, and the wider community. A training kit (IO3), designed by teacher participants, resulted in 9 training modules. The PSA and participating teachers were trained using 4 of the modules to facilitate further training in their respective schools/kindergartens.
Drawing upon the experiences of teachers and education professionals participating in the DIGI S.P.A.C.E Parental/ Carer Participation project, this presentation evaluates the value and impact of co-creating processes and training to support the development of effective parental/carer engagement in schools one year on after project completion.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedUsing a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, the project involved each country developing an area of parental participation which was identified as a specific need in each partner primary school or kindergarten, and which was developed through a process of co-creation within their own school community and their families but also with educators from partner countries. Creating new approaches through the lens of an action research project (Tossavainen, 2017), mobilised DIGI S.P.A.C.E partners to reconsider the training and supervision needs of those involved.
Ethical approval for the research was gained from Staffordshire University, UK, in 2019. The research which was underpinned by BERA’s (2018) ethical principles and adhered to by all participating countries. An initial needs analysis was carried out in 2019 with schoolteachers, parents and stakeholders in the four countries. This informed the protocol for parental engagement and development of the training modules based on parent, teacher and school needs (Pugh et al. 2020). Thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2022) of the needs analysis data led to the project design of a series of training modules, 9 in total, for parents and teachers. The Kirkpatrick model of evaluation (Kirkpatrick and Kayser- Kirkpatrick 2014) was modified for the analysis of the training modules and the impact of the training modules on teachers and parents. Level descriptors used in the model were; Reaction, Learning, Behaviour, and Results to determine participant reactions, knowledge, individual enrichment, and impact on the organisation. The focus of these levels centred around participant self-assessment of learning and experiences. Data were collated in a focus group using a semi-structured interview for the focus group was designed to give an opportunity to elaborate on individual and collective experiences (Kara, 2015). Questionnaires were conducted one year after the project formal completion to garner additional reflections associated with the ongoing impact of the project in each country. Additional ethical approval was sought and granted in 2023 for the follow up questionnaires. Qualitative data from the focus group and questionnaire a year later were analysed using Braun and Clarke (2022) thematic framework to draw together themes of interest across all countries. It was also used to highlight areas of individual country difference to celebrate and respect cultural identities, and how collectively schools and communities came together to enhance education for primary aged children.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsFindings from the teacher focus group interviews revealed that by having an opportunity to learn more about the principles of co-creation and participation, partner schools began to appreciate the civic value in parental participation activities and began to identify the wider community benefits of such approaches. Teachers and PSAs also reported that increased awareness of the range of parental participation activities around Europe and hearing about the experiences first-hand from an educator’s perspective made them more aware of the need for bespoke training and support for school staff working in this field.
The follow-up study a year later revealed how well established some schools had become in implementing training for parents and teachers utilising the PSA relationship. A communication channel between the school, teachers and parents was established through the PSA and has been successful in reducing barriers to parental engagement. This was noted through reflection from teachers and parents on how a greater understanding and respect for each other and the roles they held facilitated closer working relationships and a greater collaboration for the child’s learning and educational progress.
The DIGI- S.PA.CE project’s findings are of interest to those involved in teacher training and teacher Continuing Professional Development (CPD). However, they also show how primary schools/kindergartens could benefit from learning more about family involvement and engagement in other sectors and how parent/ carer participation projects should be identified as part of community-wide civic engagement strategies.
References•Arnstein, S.R. (1969) A Ladder of Citizen Participation, Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35:4, 216-224, DOI: 10.1080/01944366908977225
•BERA (2018) Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research, (4th Edn.). London: British Educational Research Association.
•Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2022) Thematic Thematic Analysis. A Practical Guide, London: Sage
•Education Endowment Foundation (2022) Moving forwards, making a difference. [Online] Available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/support-for-schools/school-planning-support accessed 10.11.22
•European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, (2021) Teachers in Europe: Careers, Development and Well-being. Eurydice report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
•Garvis, S., Phillipson, S., Harju-Luukkainen, H., and Sadownik, A.R (Eds.) (2022) Parental Engagement and Early Childhood Education Around the World. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
•Goodall, J. and Montgomery, C. (2014) Parental involvement to parental engagement: a continuum, Educational Review, 66(4), 399-410.
•Harris, A. and Goodall, J. (2008) Do parents know they matter? Engaging all parents in learning, Educational Review, 50(3), 277-89.
•Kara, H. (2015) Creative Research Methods in the Social Sciences. A Practical Guide. Bristol: Policy Press.
•Kirkpatrick, J. and Kayser-Kirkpatrick, W. (2014) The Kirkpatrick Four Levels: A Fresh Look after 55 years. Ocean City: Kirkpatrick Partners.
•Phillipson, S. and Garvis, S. (Eds) (2019) Teachers' and Families' Perspectives in Early Childhood Education and Care: Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century Vol. II. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge
•Pugh, J., Forrester, G. and Hudson, R. A. (2020) DIGI-S.PA.C.E. Needs Analysis Research Report, April. Staffordshire University, UK.
•Sime, D. and Sheridan, M. (2014) ‘You want the best for your kids’: improving educational outcomes for children living in poverty through parental engagement, Educational Research, 56(3), 327-342.
•Stroetinga, M., Leeman, Y. and Veugelers, W. (2019) Primary school teachers’ collaboration with parents on upbringing: a review of the empirical literature, Educational Review, 71(5), 650-667. DOI: 10.1080/00131911.2018.1459478
•Tossavainen, P.J. (2017) Co-create with stakeholders: Action research approach in service development. Action Research, 15(3), 276-293.
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