What are the expectations of parents from preschool education institutions: Why do they choose? What are they waiting for?

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate the expectations of the parents with a child enrolled at a preschool education institution from preschool education institutions. This research was designed as a survey study. The sample of this study consisted of 326 children, enrolled at preschool education institutions in the center of Usak province, and their parents. "Parents' Expectations from Preschool Institutions Questionnaire" developed by Simsek and Ivrendi (2014), and "Demographics Information Form" were used as data collection tools to determine the expectations of parents from preschool education institutions. It was concluded as a result of the study that the parents had a "low level" expectation related to the sub-scales of (teacher, education-family, school policy, informing) of the Parents' Expectations from Preschool Institutions Questionnaire. A significant difference in favor of males was found out in the informing sub-scale according to the t-test results carried out related to parents' expectations in line with the gender of children. The expectations of parents from preschool institutions showed a significant difference according to income status. It was found out that the expectations of families with low income level from preschool institutions were higher compared to the expectations of families with middle- and high-income levels regarding the sub-scales of teacher and education-family.