AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
perspectives, aimed at gaining the phenomenon. Constant
Comparative Method (CCM) - application of systematic
comparison of codifications and classifications.
The degree of generalization - the creation of a terrain-based
structure. Presentation of the process - imaginary transfer of the
audience to the research field. Process evaluation and quality
control - implemented through reliability and credibility. The
presentation of the research results consists in designing research
findings (emerging questions) and discussions, (questions on the
substance of the text, what to do to support the development of
educational principles in the education of children and others)
by constructing consensus in dialogue (discourse) and
intersubjectivity.
3.1 Interpretation of research results
Institutional education for early childhood in Slovakia, takes
place in ECEC facilities. We solved the project of our research at
the time when the so-called "Act of the day nursery centres" of
the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs was being solved, and
met with senior executives of the Department of Labor, Social
Affairs and Family in Bratislava, to whom we wanted to
presented our project. We did not agree on cooperation, but we
met with them at the last discussion seminar. The research was
conducted in ECEC centers and state-run facilities, providing
care up to the third year of the child's age in Bratislava. These
are family-type facilities with permanent staff. Caring for the
child is of the responsibility of the caregiver. We have identified
that, in the state facilities the majority of employees have the
qualification of a nurse (currently the study program is disabled).
Graduates of this program have knowledge at the level of the
school-leaving exam in psychology, paediatrics and are prepared
for the work with children. They have many years of experience
and many have been in the facility for over 30 years, where they
carry out their work at a high professional level. Their
professional activity is not supported by methodological
manuals; they draw on the literature written before 1999. We
conclude that good, well-proven elements of the past in the
process of education, persist until now. However, some of the
caregivers said that in addition to not being supported in
methodological manuals, speech therapists, psychologists and
paediatricians do not come to their facilities, as they had in the
past. They consider current state nurseries to be of a high
standard. They even see the way how nurseries used to work in
the past as an amateur approach. They consider it unsuitable for
a child to have a precisely defined educational component at the
exact time of day. It is desirable for the caregiver to have
thoughtful and planned activities, together with bearing in mind
that the educating should take place throughout the whole day.
The approach of the caregiver should be individual and the
caregiver should respond to the current physical and
psychological disposition of the child (for example, it may be
teething). We identified targeted educational activities in a set of
activities, implemented almost throughout the whole child's stay
in the facility. The child's cultural literacy is developed by
education. Based on research data, we identified 7 areas of
education: communication culture, safety and care culture,
culture of getting to know (cognitive), culture of coexistance,
behavioral culture - emotions, attitudes and their balance, culture
of interpretation - art.
Educational activities for children are prepared by the caregivers.
It is an artistic, movement, intellectual, musical field of
education, and self-help skills activities. The day of the child in
the institution has a well-defined timetable and precise rules are
set for all participants, to determine the direction of the facility
(D. Kostrub et al. 2018).
Significant critical points in the process of educating a child in a
ECEC facility for children up to 3 years of age, and educating in
the family are: promoting independence, love, and cooperation
between family and institution.
It is important to point out the individual dimension in
promoting the child's autonomy and competence done by the
parents. There are parents supporting independence and on the
contrary, parents leaving the development of independence to the
child itself. "Let him be, he'll learn". Caregivers respect the
reservations and needs of parents. It's as if there were two poles,
because on the one hand, the caregiver knows what to do with
this particular child, but the parent is the one who refuses.
Carergivers are also encouraged to communicate with a parent
who is not interested in how the child thrives during the day. The
stay in the facility is considered by the parents to be essential in
the educating and support of the child in self-management,
whereas in the home environment the child is just sent to bed.
On the contrary, there are parents who want to teach the child
everything themselves, and parents who cooperate. A significant
breakthrough for successful cooperation seems to lie in the
success of the child.
Independence, competence, gives the child freedom. This way it
is happy because it becomes independent in its actions,
independent of adult help. It doesn't have to be in a dirty diaper
anymore, it doesn't have to be dirty, it doesn't have to wait for
someone to wash it, because it can do it by itself. We think
communication with the child is beneficial. The child has to get
used to self-help skills activities, gradually. It should gradually
learn and be given time to try to dress, wash, eat with a spoon,
etc. We note that children in ECEC facilities have enough
opportunities to progressively improve their autonomy.
Caregivers consider the development of autonomy and
competence a priority.
The basic and immediate phenomenon we have identified in
ECEC centres, as well as in the family, is love. Love has
different forms in the family. We identify that love is the
foundation of education and we conclude that how parents
understand and apply it in education, has a definite impact on
parents' constructs in education. Rejecting an authoritarian
approach to education, and seeking for respect for the child, is a
phenomenon on which parents clearly agree. Their opinions
differ in what behaviour they still respect from the child and
what they can not, or in no case, will.
We assume that, parents' opinions differ in the following:
Whether a child should be raised/educated within the boundaries
of set rules, or not. Whether, or not, the child should respect the
specified rules. Whether only the child should respect these
rules, or the same goes for the parent too. Whether a parent has
enough will and energy to be consistent. Whether he/she tries to
evaluate - to "guard" the behavior of the child, or is able and
willing to be attentive to him/herself (in the role of parent and
human being). Whether he / she can identify errors only in the
child's behaviour, or also in his / her own. Whether he/she can
admit the mistakes and stand up to them, as an opportunity to
rectify (behaviour) or failure (M. Tománková, D. Kostrub 2018).
From a rigorous analysis of research data, we have found a clear
match between the interpretations of caregivers and other
professionals which tells us that the basic feature of a good
caregiver is to love children, have a positive attitude towards
them. The caregivers simply said, they like children, have the
will to make a child happy, as well as a parent in the question of
raising/educating a child. A parent understands love differently,
compared to a caregiver. The caregiver makes the child happy
through educational activities during the day, by teaching it to be
relatively independent. “The child is then proud and in fact, the
educator this way manifests love”. A parent can only understand
love towards the child from that emotional side, and on this
basis, he/she forms educational implications, or (sometimes) not
at all.
We identify that communication is an essential critical
phenomenon in family and facility collaboration until the third
year of the child's age. Parents approach the collaboration
differently. Some are interested in how their child thrived during
their time in the facility, others not as much. But still, caregivers'
superiors require active communication and collaboration with
parents. The most effective strategy is to highlight the success of
the child. Parents are surprised how come the child is doing
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