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PRESCHOOL EDUCATION AS A LIFE RESOURCE
Z. V. Proshkova
Protection of the rights of children, including their right to an education, has become one of the humanitarian priorities of modern society and an important trend in social policy. In connection with this, interest in preschool education has significantly increased in the social sciences. Preschool education plays a part in the formation of the physical and mental health of a person, frames perceptions of inequality, and can emerge as a mechanism of social mobility and influence the choice of one or another life strategy. Foregrounding the topic of preschool education in sociological discourse is important and interesting for the restoration of a holistic educational path for a person and for the sociological conceptualization of conflicts connected with the early experience of inclusion in educational institutions.
On the macro-level, the sphere of education is understood today as one of the most effective sectors of development, a stronghold of innovations, and an arena for a head start [1, p. 284]. This concerns all levels of education, especially at the early stage. The national project "Education” provides for the development of different variants of preschool education with consideration of the child’s age. Mechanisms for the support of parents of children up to three are being developed for the establishment of a parents association. The introduction of a required year of preschool preparation is possible. Revision and wide approbation of educational programs for children of kindergarten age are planned, to be realized not only in kindergartens, but in other institutions (groups of short-term accommodation at schools, the sphere of continuing education). The system of qualifying characteristics for workers in preschool education is changing [2, p. 42-44].
The Russian government endeavors to widely involve the population in preschool education, although until now the level of 1991 has not been achieved. There is another important result - the status of preschool education is transforming in Russian society, and an understanding has appeared of the importance of state and personal investment in this sphere,
This article was prepared with financial support of the Russian Science Support Foundation and RGNF in the framework of the projects "Preschool Education in Saint Petersburg”, 08-03-00548a; "Social Reality in Systems of Russian Education”, 08-03-00578а; RFFI: the project "Researcher” in various forms of empirical sociological research, 09-06-00409а.
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as well as the significance of early education for both an individual and for the innovative development of society. This process takes place both from above and below, for the present, in our opinion, primarily due to the part of “progressive” parents.
Russian sociology sees preschool education as a factor in inequality and social differentiation of the population. It has been confirmed that given the current level of poverty in the country, the model of Russian family upbringing “is not at all directed at the child itself, the development of its abilities, and determination of its future”, especially in “the more socially vulnerable classes - the poorly educated, the elderly, and inhabitants of villages [3, p. 66]. The majority of Russian families fulfill nurturing functions in relation to their children, rather than educational ones. Resources are insufficient for education, and the early stage of education occupies the weakest position. Among empirical methods of studying preschool educational institutions, representative questionnaire-type surveys for parents whose children attend preschool and specialists in the sphere of preschool education predominate.
In earlier national studies, preschool educational institutions were considered to be an agent of primary socialization. Studies were carried out on the caregivers’ and parents’ attitudes to life, the professional arrangement of kindergarten workers, strategies for education and instruction of the child, and the emotional attitude of children to kindergarten. Moreover, a survey of parents, pedagogues, and children from older groups were used, as well as psychological tests.
The idea of adaptation and rehabilitation of children from migrant families through preschool education and overcoming exclusion due to ethnic characteristics has appeared in recent reports. All the more so if it is taken into consideration that these are usually families with multiple children who often lack Russian citizenship, which makes preschool education for their children absolutely inaccessible (fees for typical kindergartens have grown by 10-15 times per child). Western sociologists are also examining education as a mechanism of social inequality, studying various stages of the educational system in-depth. In contrast to Russian researchers, foreign researchers consider that the most important stage of formal education is precisely preschool education and upbringing, at which time the basis for the future success of a person in society and in the work force is laid. This is explained by the fact that at an early age, children are the most sensitive to influences, including those of educational programs. According to the results of American studies, educational stratification begins and becomes entrenched at the age of three to seven years [4], i.e.
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differences in the cognitive abilities of children are established before they go to school. Other authors extend this period by two years to include the first two years of school in the "critical period” [5].
At the same time, it is difficult to assert that it is precisely education which determines future intellectual and social inequality. It has been proven that the socioeconomic status of the parent family plays the main role in development of cognitive abilities [6]. Children from poor strata of the population initially command a lower level of intellectual development, attend kindergartens without quality instruction, and later end up in schools with few resources (in particular, without the ability to attract highly qualified specialists). In western research studying the influence of gender on intellectual differences in children, it has been discovered that the most talented boys upon entrance into kindergarten turn out to be those whose parents have obtained higher education.
In the future educational stratification, the socioeconomic status of the family is more important than ethnic background, a particular family’s position on the value of education, the practice of reading at home, or leisure. But institutions of early education build upon and entrench the existing system of differences.
The primary indicator for sociologists in the study of preschool education is development of cognitive skills. An evaluation of the mathematical and literary abilities is being carried out. Psychological and emotional characteristics are typically not taken into account, although in several empirical works the communicative abilities of children are studied. Analysis is carried out through the methods of representative longitudinal research: gauging evaluation of first grade students in mathematics and reading; standardized interviews with managers of preschool educational institutions; testing of children for cognitive development, etc. In this manner, the connection between the quality of the kindergarten the children attended and their further achievements in education and professional activity is demonstrated [7 and others]. The existence of a direct relation between the level of preschool instruction and the choice of a certain type of middle school has also been demonstrated empirically: after a good kindergarten there are more opportunities to enter a prestigious school.
The task of the sociological study "Preschool Education in Saint Petersburg: Accessibility and Quality of Educational Programs. Parents’ Experiences in Mastering the Early Education Environment” (carried out by the Sociological Institute RAS, Saint Petersburg, Sector of Sociology of Science and Innovation) is to analyze the system of preschool education in the context of the accessibility and quality of education. The following
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questions are asked: the types of accessibility of preschool education (the accessibility of information about preschool educational institutions, the accessibility of securing a place and instruction in kindergarten, the ability to use the resource of preschool education during entry into school), the accessibility of preschool education to different categories of the population of Saint Petersburg, the criteria for the quality of preschool education, paid and unpaid educational services in state institutions, and the comfort of the system of preschool education for its subjects.
In Saint Petersburg, the accessibility of preschool educational institutions (hereafter: PEI) is a very serious social problem. To secure a place for a child in a kindergarten is no easier than in times when there was a high birthrate, in connection with the reduction by half of the number of PEIs in the 1990s. The difficult situation connected with the system of preschool education in the city is indicated through the most varied sources of information.
The project "Preschool Education as a Learning and Life Resource of the Modern Russian Person” examines the long-term effects of preschool education on further educational and life course, the viability and costs of early education, the level of preschool education, and the selection of school. The research is of a theoretical and empirical nature. The empirical part includes a series of corresponding projects: (a) analysis of statistical information and the results of representative surveys about family expenditures on preschool education in Saint Petersburg; (b) surveys of PEI staff and managers; (c) interviews with parents who have real experience of interaction with the system of preschool education; (d) a photo session in a PEI; collection of diary entries of parents about securing place and the instruction of their child in kindergarten; (e) collection of biographical materials with reconstruction of the experience of preschool education; (f) focus groups with parents of children of a preschool and a young school age; and (g) testing of elementary school students. The method of "textual” longitude is also used: study of educational socialization and the life course of a child in the systems of preschool and elementary school education through repeated interviews with parents and the maintenance of parent diaries over the course of several years.
The survey methodologies developed in the project relevant to the empirical study of preschool education are of a qualitative nature: questionnaires on the basis of open questions and informal interviews. The primary material of study, in addition to quantitative indicators of representative surveys and statistical sources, constituted masse unstructured information - texts. The project cannot be content with
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traditional methods for their analysis - with reading and “extracting” quotes. Storage, classification, and analysis of textual information is carried out through systematic support of the computer technology “DISKANT”. The methodology of comparative classification of textual utterances is implemented. The result of the analysis is frequency and textual distributions describing the structure of the representations of an object. The methodological distinction of the empirical approaches implemented is the large degree of involvement of sociological researchers - the projects were a collective work at all stages, as well as the high status of “respondents” (for us these are informants and experts, carriers of actual information).
The conceptual idea of the project is to examine preschool education on two levels: the position of authorities, mass media, expert knowledge, public opinion, and the individual practice of parents in mastering the preschool educational environment, and personal experience. For this we turn to various subjects of the system of preschool education - its organizers and staff, and also the “customers” - families with children attending preschool educational institutions. The results of 30 in-depth interviews with parents of preschoolers in Saint Petersburg are presented below.
In the city today, a state PEI is an almost necessary element in the educational track. The reasons for which children are taken to kindergartens are only connected with obtaining an education on a secondary basis. Parents evaluate the educational possibilities in the sphere of state preschool education skeptically and place their primary hopes on schools and institutions of higher education. In the mass consciousness, the intellectual development of a child begins in school. It is possible that for this reason among other things there is a lack of willingness to invest ones money and time in other formats of child education. The primary concern in securing a place for a child in a PEI is the parents’ necessity to work and children’s desire to socialize. The basic characterization of a kindergarten from the point of view of our informants was and remains a “storage room” for children. Of course, this image relates to state PEI, but it is difficult to speak of nongovernmental institutions, because their services are used by no more than 2% of city households [8-11].
“New parents” have appeared who endeavor to ensure a quality education for their children even before school, but these are few (currently it is difficult to give an exact estimation of their number), and they proceed by means of combining state kindergarten and additional instruction,
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moreover, the see opportunity precisely in paid forms of education. These paid forms can be found both inside and outside of kindergartens, furthermore, active parents strive to at least save on time and offer to undertake paid lessons (reading, writing, English) in groups that their children attend, and they search for the teachers themselves. Here PEI managers do not hide their position - a good learning effect is achieved only in conditions with this type of cooperation between parents and kindergartens, and it is impossible to depend on the city budget.
At the same time, from August 2009 the situation in the sphere of paid educational services for preschool students has become significantly more difficult. Now only half of the money paid by parents goes directly to the organizers of programs, and of that half, 30 % goes to the teachers themselves. As PEI directors say, this situation makes paid education unprofitable and educational courses are being curtailed. But without rendering commercial services, kindergartens and institutions for additional children’s education cannot survive today. In principle, the conditions for preschool education to slip into the black market have been created. A legitimate method is to increase the fee for instruction by double, but this is a burden for parents. The "cost” of children in Saint Petersburg is already so high that conversations about measures for raising the birth rate in the city are becoming declarative in nature.
During analysis of the answers from managers of preschool educational institutions, such problems were revealed as the downside of intellectual development that was too early and not corresponding to the age of the children. As a result, “accelerated” development can lead to loss of motivation to learn and an inability to read and write correctly. In the opinion of our experts (PEI directors and staff), the diagnoses of “dysgraphia” and “dyslexia” are assigned to an overly large a number of children in our country (we were unable to discover the statistics), and this cannot be explained simply by biological causes. It is obvious that the commercialization of preschool education also has its negative effects.
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