Parents’ view of quality in early childhood services in Portugal

Folque, Maria Assunção; Siraj‐Blatchford, Iram

doi:10.1007/bf03174501

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A more detailed analysis at the ITERS-R item level allowed for the recognition that, besides items related to interactions and language, some items related to personal care routines (i.e., diapering/ toileting, safety practices, health practices) are also among the items most valued by parents and teachers. Several studies developed in Portugal and other countries (e.g., Folque 1995;Cryer and Burchinal 1997;Pierrehumbert et al 2002), following the same or different methodologies, have obtained similar results: interactions between teachers and children as well as healthrelated practices are highly valued by parents. Although all the ITERS-R items were considered important, sand and water play and promoting acceptance of diversity were among the items with lower mean scores for both parents and teachers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…In Portugal, in the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement Pre-Primary Project, the majority of families were very satisfied or satisfied with the services they had chosen, and parents seemed to find few problems in their children's programs (Ojala and Opper 1994). One year later, Folque (1995) also found that, in general, parents were very satisfied with the services attended by their children, although they were critical about some specific aspects of quality, including the activities, contact with the community, individualized attention, and monitoring of child development and progress. More recently, in the abovementioned study by Nunes and Melo (2006), and following the same tendency, parents generally gave high-quality scores to their children's preschools.…”

Section: Parents' and Teachers' Assessments Of Ece Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Portugal, however, few studies have explored this subject. Folque (1995), in a research with parents of children between 2 and 6 years old, found the following most important characteristics in childcare and preschool (out of a given list of 18): healthy environment, intellectual stimulation, promoting sociability, staff training, safety, and human quality of adults. Also in Portugal, Nunes and Melo (2006) followed the same procedure as the above-mentioned studies (e.g., Cryer and Burchinal 1997) with the aim of understanding how parents of children attending preschool in the district of Évora valued ECERS' items.…”

Section: Parents' and Teachers' Perceptions Of Ece Quality Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of quality in Portuguese childcare classrooms

Barros

Leal²

2014

Eur J Psychol Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The main goal of this study was to examine parents' and teachers' perceptions of quality in early childhood education for toddlers in Portugal. A total of 110 parents and 110 teachers participated in the study, rating the importance of specific quality criteria and assessing childcare classrooms, based on the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale Parent Questionnaire (ITERS-RPQ) and on the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale Teacher Questionnaire (ITERS-RTQ), respectively. The same quality items were used by external observers to evaluate the same classrooms with the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS-R; . Results suggest that parents and teachers give high importance scores to the quality criteria included in the ITERS-R, substantiating the use of this instrument in Portugal. Although correlations were found between observers' and parents' ratings of quality, and between observers' and teachers' ratings of quality, results suggest that teachers and parents consider education and care in toddler classrooms to be substantially more adequate than the researchers observed. KeywordsChildcare quality. Early childhood education . Parents' perceptions. Teachers' perceptions.Portugal Research has been showing the importance of quality of early childhood education (ECE) for children's short-term and long-term outcomes (e.g., Vandell et al. 2010). In Portugal, in the last decades, a public investment has been made in order to increase the coverage rate of childcare services for infants and toddlers, dependent on the Ministry of Solidarity, Employment and Social Security, and the coverage rate of preschools (children between 3 and 6 years old), dependent on the Ministry of Education (Abreu-Lima et al. 2013;Pinto et al. 2013). However, research projects on ECE services for infants and toddlers, and initiatives to improve their quality, are still necessary (Barros and Aguiar 2010). Furthermore, quality of ECE has been considered a relative concept (e.g., Dahlberg et al. 1999), differing from country to country and depending on individual and/or group priorities, expectations, values, beliefs, social perceptions, and culture (e.g., Dahlberg et al. 1999; European Commission Childcare Network 1990). In this context, Bairrão (1998) highlighted that quality is related to objective criteria (associated with physical, material, and social well-being) but also related to subjective aspects, such as representations people have about quality. Therefore, parents' and teachers' perceptions should be considered in research and policies, as they often differ from official priorities and objectives. Fifteen years ago, Katz (1998) argued that the concept of quality should be considered from several perspectives: (a) top-down perspective on quality, (b) bottom-up perspective, (c) outside-inside perspective, (d) inside perspective, and (e) outside perspective. The top-down approach is more prevalent in research, consisting in identifying features of the program related to licensing guidelines and including aspects s...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Section: Parents' and Teachers' Assessments Of Ece Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Parents' and Teachers' Perceptions Of Ece Quality Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of quality in Portuguese childcare classrooms

Barros

Leal²

2014

Eur J Psychol Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In understanding the quality of PPE, Katz (1993) identified five perspectives of which Ceglowski and Bacigalupa (2002) observe that the "top-down" perspective has dominated educational policies and practices around the world with minimal attention being paid to the perspectives mainly of the stakeholders' views. Paying attention to stakeholders' perspectives is essential to policy initiatives (Folque, Ulrich & Siraj-Blatchford, 1995) as Shelley (1982) regards construction of the quality of PPE would adequately alleviate the danger caused by experts' or the 'top-down' perspectives on community educational values. Mtahabwa (2007), Doherty (1999), National Association for the Education of Young Children-NAEYC (1986), and Myers (2004) demonstrate that key stakeholders hold different views on educational quality.…”

Section: Flourishing Creativity and Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Stakeholders’ Construction on the Quality of Pre-primary Education in Tanzania

Basil¹

2015

IJELS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study explored the stakeholders' construction of quality of Pre-primary Education (PPE) based on the various dimensions of PPE in Tanzania with special attention being paid to policy as discourse. The study involved a total of 129 informants sampled differently. The study sampled parents through convenience sampling technique, while teachers and experts were sampled through maximum variation technique. The study used descriptive cross-sectional design underpinned by interpretive paradigm. It generated data through semi-structured interviews employed to primary school inspectors, public PPE teachers, curriculum developer and policymakers. Meanwhile, FGDs were conducted to parents on the quality of PPE. Furthermore, documentary analysis was conducted to determine the extent to which stakeholders' construction on the quality of PPE was reflected in the TETP of 1995 as well as other related curricular documents. The findings indicate that stakeholders viewed the quality of PPE in three perspectives: i) quality as expectations; ii) quality as process or practice; and iii) quality as programme structure. Overall, stakeholders viewed PPE as an important early childhood provision for the future school life and participation in all walks of life. Although PPE seemed to be important, the study findings suggest that, the quality of public PPE in Tanzania is poor. Specifically, stakeholders identified important indicators constituting the quality of PPE as: i) furnished and safe learning environment; ii) wellqualified, committed and loving teachers; iii) smaller class-size; iv) provision of nutrition services; and v) good relationship among teachers, the teacher and parents, and with the head teacher. The study concluded that physical visits by primary school supervisors and making PPE independent are essential for quick and close monitoring for solving problems hindering provision of quality services in PPE in Tanzania.

show abstract

An exploration of parental perceptions surrounding the influence of the Montessori ethos towards education on aspects of children's development

Allen

2024

Education 3-13

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Parents’ view of quality in early childhood services in Portugal

Cited by 4 publications

References 15 publications

Parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of quality in Portuguese childcare classrooms

Parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of quality in Portuguese childcare classrooms

Stakeholders’ Construction on the Quality of Pre-primary Education in Tanzania

An exploration of parental perceptions surrounding the influence of the Montessori ethos towards education on aspects of children's development

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About