Parents' views on nursery education: Perceptions in context

Parents' perceptions of their children's educational experience are usually offered in decontextualised form, with no account taken of the social context in which those perceptions may have developed. In this article the authors explore the social contextual nature of parents' perceptions of nursery education through the adoption of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Such a theoretical framework allows perceptions to be interpreted not only within the social contexts of the nursery class and of the broader social milieu, but also within the temporal context and the research process itself. Research was conducted in three nursery classes attached to primary schools in areas designated Educational Priority Areas. The article illustrates how characteristics of both the culture of the nursery class and of the data gathering techniques employed may enhance the articulation of those parent voices which are often marginalised in educational discourses.