PARENTS' PERSPECTIVE ON THE QUALITY OF KINDERGARTEN

This paper presents the research conducted with parents of preschool children on quality of preschool education practice. Preschool education is, aside from practice, made of elements such as the preschool education system, legal and programmatic framework, cultural framework, etc., but practice is what parents see and understand, and that is why we discussed this topic with them. In this paper preschool education practice will be scrutinized through the analysis of various functioning aspects of kindergarten. We understand the quality of the preschool education practice as a complex and multifaceted phenomenon and as such we analyze it from the perspective of socio-cultural theory and postmodernist approach to scientific research. The complexity of this phenomenon is reflected in the fact that it is possible to identify various levels and aspects of quality, which are intertwined with each other. Multiplicity is reflected in the fact that the preschool education practice quality changes its meaning depending on the approach and perspectives from which it is viewed. In this paper, the focus is on understanding parent's perspective on the kindergarten practice quality because we consider that understanding parent's perspective is the first step in the process of allocating responsibility for preschool education and respecting the rights of parents to participate in all aspects of educating their children. These processes are fundamental for establishing and developing the quality of preschool education practice. The socio-cultural approach to the study of chosen phenomenon implies the understanding that language is not a stable system of meaning, but meaning is created in context, while knowledge is socially constructed and contextual. The postmodernist paradigmatic framework and qualitative character of the research process have directed this research towards the field of accomplishing mutual understanding by creating common meanings. This research tends to establish a dialogue between researchers and participants which will open the space for (co)construction of meanings and the common understanding of numerous aspects of the preschool education practice quality.