Democratisation of early childhood education in the attitudes of Slovene and Finnish teachers

ABSTRACT

The article presents the findings of the comparative survey on attitudes (beliefs, preferences) of 222 Slovenian and 230 Finnish early childhood teachers (Turnšek 2005). They have completed the questionnaire on aspect of democratisation of early childhood education, which consisted of attitude (Likart) scales and questions of ranking the preferences. The descriptive statistics were made, cluster analysis, analysis of variance (Chi‐square test, t‐test) and two‐way Anova/Manova analysis. One half of the Slovenian teachers are pro‐democratic oriented; the percentage of teachers whose attitudes are extremely pro‐democratic is higher (17.9%) than of those with extremely counter‐democratic attitudes (9.3%). Their beliefs are in moderate correlation with the level of education, but not with working experience. The variable COUNTRY has prevalent impact on the set of democratic beliefs and attitudes. The differences between Slovenian and Finnish teachers are significant on most variables; the largest concern the attitudes towards children of immigrants.

RÉSUMÉ: L’article présente les résultats d’une étude comparative portant sur les attitudes (convictions, préférences) d’éducatrices et d’éducateurs de jeunes enfants: 222 Slovènes et 230 Finlandais (Turnšek 2005). Ceux‐ci ont rempli un questionnaire sur la démocratisation de l’éducation des jeunes enfants, comprenant des échelles d’attitude (Likert) et des questions visant à hiérarchiser les préférences. Des statistiques descriptives ont été faites, ainsi qu’une analyse de panel, une analyse de variances et une analyse Anova/Manova. La moitié des éducateurs slovènes ont une orientation pro‐démocratique; et le pourcentage des éducateurs dont l’attitude est extrêmement pro‐démocratique est plus grand (17,9%) que celui de ceux dont l’attitude est extrêmement anti‐démocratique (9,3%). Leurs convictions présentent une corrélation modérée avec leur niveau de formation, mais pas avec leur expérience professionnelle. La variable PAYS a un impact prédominant sur l’ensemble des attitudes et convictions démocratiques. Les différences entre éducateurs slovènes et finlandais sont significatives pour la plupart des variables, les plus importantes différences concernant les attitudes vis‐à‐vis des enfants d’immigrés.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Der Artikel stellt die Ergebnisse der vergleichenden Umfrage von Einstellungen (Überzeugungen, Vorlieben) von 222 slowenischen und 230 finnischen FrühpädagogInnen vor (Turnšek 2005). Diese füllten einen Fragebogen über den Demokratisierungsaspekt von Frühpädagogik aus, der aus Einstellungsskalen (Likart) und Ranglisten zu Vorlieben bestand. Erstellt wurden beschreibende Statistiken, Clusteranalysen, Unterschiedsanalysen (Chi‐Quadrat‐Test, t‐Test) und ANOVA/MANOVA‐Varianzanalysen. Die Hälfte der slowenischen Lehrkräfte sind pro‐demokratisch eingestellt; der Prozentsatz von Lehrkräften mit einer stark pro‐demokratischen Einstellung ist höher (17,9%) als jener von Lehrkräften mit einer stark contra‐demokratischen Einstellung (9,3%). Ihre Überzeugungen stehen in moderater Korrelation mit dem Bildungsniveau, nicht aber mit der Berufserfahrung. Die Variable LAND hat einen starken Einfluss auf eine Reihe von demokratischen Überzeugungen und Einstellungen. Unterschiede zwischen slowenischen und finnischen Lehrkräften sind sich bei den meisten Variablen signifikant; der größte Unterschied betrifft die Einstellung zu Kindern von Einwanderern.

RESUMEN: El artículo presenta los descubrimientos de la investigación comparativa sobre las actitudes (creencias, preferencias) de 222 profesores eslovenos de educación preescolar y 230 finlandeses (Turnšek 2005). Han completado el cuestionario sobre el aspecto de la democratización de la educación preescolar, que consistía en escalas de actitudes (Likart) y preguntas para elaborar un ranking de preferencias. Se realizaron las estadísticas descriptivas, análisis de grupo, análisis de la varianza (prueba de ji‐cuadrado, prueba t) y análisis de dos vías Anova/Manova. La orientación de la mitad de los profesores eslovenos es hacia la pro‐democracia; el porcentaje de profesores cuyas actitudes son extremadamente pro‐democráticas es más alto (17,9%) que el de aquellos con actitudes extremadamente anti‐democráticas (9,3%). Sus creencias están en una moderada correlación con el nivel de educación, pero no con la experiencia laboral. La variable PAÍS tiene un impacto frecuente en el conjunto de creencias y actitudes democráticas. Las diferencias entre los profesores eslovenos y finlandeses son importantes en la mayoría de las variables; las mayores se refieren a las actitudes hacia los hijos de los inmigrantes.

Keywords:

• early childhood teachers
• beliefs and attitudes
• Slovenia
• Finland
• national curricula
• democratisation
• quality
• hidden curricula
• equal opportunities
• immigrant children’s habits and customs
• immigrant children’s mother tongue

Notes

1. The Slovene ECEC is age‐integrated; the majority of preschools are public (98%) providing places for children from 12 months of age (at the end of maternity leave) to entering compulsory school (at six years). The total percentage of children enrolled is 64.7%; the proportion of children aged from one to three is higher than the recommendation set by the Barcelona meeting in 2002. Fifty‐eight percent of the teachers have upper secondary vocational qualification, the rest have higher education degree or Masters degree; only 0.8% have inadequate qualification. Parents pay from 10% to 80% of the economic price; the rest is covered by the municipal budget. Parents who receive financial social assistance benefits are exempt from payment. In 2006, half of the children enrolled were in the three lower payment categories. Preschool education falls within the competence of the Ministry of Education and Sport. Quality assessment is in responsibility of the individual preschools; it is usually performed as self‐evaluation according to the quality assurance model developed by Marjanovič Umek et al. (2002).

2. The Finnish value pattern indicates higher subjective assessment of happiness and health, lower ethnocentrism and a higher degree of political participation (Human Development Report 2003). The Slovene value pattern in 1992 still resembled the pattern of countries in transition, but later surveys indicated a significant shift towards postmodern or pro‐democratic value pattern (Hanžek and Gregorčič 2003). The last indicator – social inequality – indicates similarities; both countries have the lowest income inequality level in the group of countries with similar national product and human development index – HDI.

3. Only the variables manifesting significant differences among the two samples are presented.

4. The respondents were instructed to choose up to five elements of 17.

5. The respondents indicated agreement with the 10 statements on Likert scale.

6. The respondents were instructed to choose one statement of the three.

7. The respondents were instructed to choose one statement of the three.

8. The respondents were instructed to choose one statement of the two.

9. The discrimination analysis (Turnšek 2005) has shown that the variable MOTHER TONGUE discriminates the attitudes of teachers of both cultures to the largest extent. Hence, it is a good predictor of democratic orientation.