ABSTRACT

Parents play a vital role in identifying children’s needs for support and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) features that support children’s well-being. This study examined parental perspectives on features of ECEC that foster young children’s well-being under and above the age of 3 years by interviewing 359 parents across nine European countries (England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Portugal). Results revealed that parental perspectives largely converged with quality features discussed in ECEC research. Process quality features were mentioned more frequently than structural features for all children 0- to 6-years-old in almost all countries. However, care-oriented features were mentioned more frequently for under 3 years, and educational-oriented features were mentioned more frequently for the older group. Regarding structural features, patterns of responses across the two age groups were similar in most countries. Age differences were not more pronounced in countries with a split governance system.

摘要

家长在确定儿童的支持需求以及支持儿童福祉的幼儿教育和保育 (ECEC) 功能方面发挥着至关重要的作用。本研究通过采访 9 个欧洲国家（英国、芬兰、德国、希腊、意大利、荷兰、挪威、波兰、和葡萄牙）。结果显示，家长的观点与幼儿保育研究中讨论的质量特征基本一致。在几乎所有国家的所有 0 至 6 岁儿童中，过程质量特征被提及的频率高于结构特征。然而，以护理为导向的功能在 3 年内被更频繁地提及，对于年龄较大的群体，更频繁地提到以教育为导向的功能。就结构特征而言，大多数国家两个年龄段的反应模式相似。在治理体系分裂的国家，年龄差异并不更加明显。