Learning Aspirations for Children in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

The crucial nature of partnership between teachers and parents in achieving positive learning outcomes for children provided the rationale for this study (Arndt & McGuire-Schwartz, 2008; Cottle & Alexander, 2014; Hughes & Mac Naughton, 2000). This study sought to investigate the aspirations of three parties to children’s learning outcomes: parents, early childhood teachers and institutions key to early childhood education policy. An interpretive qualitative case study was designed for this research, employing both document analysis and focus groups. References to the ecological systems model were woven throughout the thesis, as a framework for understanding the stakeholders, the factors which influence the stakeholders’ aspirations, and the implications for positive outcomes for children (Bronfenbrenner & Bronfenbrenner, 2009). This study found that learning aspirations are complex. Some aspirations are shared, others were not. Those not shared by the stakeholder groups appeared to be related to the role the stakeholder plays in ECE. Whilst the roles and aspirations of the stakeholders differ, the study found that they are complementary, with a clear theme related to the importance of human interrelationships throughout the findings. Some of the complexity found within the aspirations was interpreted as being due to historical, social and cultural factors, which influence the way teachers and parents think about how learning should occur in ECE. However, the findings also showed that teachers form a bridge between the parents and the principles of the curriculum, and that this may be why parents identified aspirations such as empathy as a priority for their children’s learning, even though they were also concerned about preparedness for school.