Bryndis Garðarsdottir Johanna Einarsdottir Iceland University of European Early Childhood Education Research Association, Prague August 29 – September 1, 2007 Parent Cooperation in Icelandic Playschools

Playschool  For children up to 6 years old, prior to the age of compulsory education.  First level of schooling.  Today approximately 30% of one year olds attend playschools, 90% of two year olds, 94% of children ages three to five.  Local authorities supervise the building and operation of most playschools and bear the expenses involved. Parents’ contributions cover roughly 30% of the costs of operation.  The Ministry of Education formulates the educational policy for playschools and publishes the Playschool National Curriculum Guidelines.

National Curriculum - objectives  provide parents with information on the playschool’s activities  provide parents with information on their child’s development and the child’s situation at the playschool  gather information on the circumstances and educational views of parents  encourage parental participation in playschool activities  foster cooperation and exchange between the playschool and the home  create a forum for exchanging views on children’s education

 Cooperation and participation with parents are regarded as important components of the playschool’s responsibility today. However this has not always been so. Icelandic schools have a scarce tradition of parental participation.  Knowledge is limited about parental cooperation in Icelandic playschools today. This study examined playschool teachers’ views and methods of cooperation with parents in times when most Icelandic parents of playschool children work outside the home, and most children attend full-day playschool from the age of two.

Research Questions  What methods do the playschool teachers use in interacting with parents?  What are the difficulties, concerns, and barriers that playschool teachers see in cooperation with parents?

Method  Questionnaire was sent to all playschools in Iceland  Playschool teachers in approximately 72% of Icelandic playschools answered  The questions were mostly open-ended questions, but there were also questions where the participants could choose one of five options on a spectrum ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”

Figure 1. Methods of parent involvement*

Figure 2. How do parents participate?*

Figure 3. The most common topics discussed with parents*

Figure 4. Discussions concerning learning and care

Figure 5. Difficulties in cooperation with parents*

Figure 6. Barriers to parental involvement and participation*

Discussion  Teachers’ beliefs about their work are influenced by current and past contextual cultural elements (Bruner, 1996; Kagitchibasi, 1996; Kitayama & Markus, 1999b; Barbara Rogoff, 1993; Shweder et al., 1998)  Parent participation does not have a long tradition in the Icelandic school system and has not been a prominent part of early childhood teacher education. These are influential contexts currently shaping how the participating playschool teachers think about and construct family involvement and cooperation.

Discussion  The methods the teachers use in communicating with parents are congruent with the recommendations of the National Curriculum Guidelines, although the emphasis seems to be more on providing the parents with information rather than getting information from the parents and exchanging views on children’s education.

Discussion  Parent-teacher communication occurred most frequently through daily chat  The results indicate that Icelandic early childhood educators find most parents interested in their children and easy to communicate with, but have problems reaching out to others.  It is important that playschool teachers continue to reflect and evaluate this important part of their work and try to find methods to communicate with all parents and be ready for them during times of their preference