6.4. ATTITUDES ABOUT PRESCHOOLS Attitudes about preschool staff as well as those about conditions in preschools surely influence the decision on whether to enrol children in these facilities. Every parent surely wants his or her child to be looked after and cared for by professional, dedicated and caring staff, in clean, safe and wellequipped facilities. However, it is important to note that positive attitudes about preschools are not always a decisive factor when deciding on whether to enrol children in preschool. In many cases, obstacles such as financial difficulties or large distance are certain to outweigh the benefits, while in other cases such obstacles will be irrelevant due to the lack of alternative child care options. Parents’ attitudes towards personnel working in preschools were measured on a scale of attitudes which consists of 10 items, that is measures 10 different aspects of the characteristics of preschool staff. Attitudes were measured on a scale of 1 to 3, where 1 means “does not apply to them at all”, and 3 means “fully applies to them”. Analyses have shown that the reliability of the scale is satisfactory and that all items measure the same construct – satisfaction with preschool staff. Most parents have a clearly formed opinion about staff working in preschools, mostly positive. More than half of the respondents see preschool staff as professional, competent, creative, and helpful. The most frequently cited shortcoming of preschool teachers is that they do not devote enough time to each child individually. However, in most cases this is not the fault of teachers themselves but rather the preschool management who do not employ enough teachers to enable better care for each child. However, it is uncertain whether parents are aware of it, or if it plays any role in their decision-making about enrolling their child in preschool. Figure 19: How professional do you think preschool teachers are? – Percentage distribution
Very competent Have sufficient knowledge about children’s abilities I have confidence in them They know what’s best for children of that age They can be aggressive towards children They respect children’s diversity They don’t devote enough attention to each child individually They are creative in their educational work They enable acquirement of desirable behaviours They are helpful in their interactions with parents
Does not apply to them at all
Partly applies to them
Fully applies to them
Don’t know
3.7 3.2 3.2 4.1 53.3 7.4 31.2 2.7 3.2 2.3
24.6 27.0 24.9 23.9 16.1 27.3 25.6 24.8 25.4 20.3
60.1 57.9 60.1 60.2 13.1 48.0 25.6 57.7 54.8 61.9
11.6 11.9 11.9 11.8 17.4 17.4 17.6 14.8 16.6 15.5