Uppeldi og menntun - 01.01.2010, Qupperneq 31

Uppeldi og menntUn/icelandic JoUrnal of edUcation 19(1–2)/2010
JÓHanna e inarSdÓtt i r
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and lived in harmony in their preschool; the way in which the preschool day was
organized and the content of the curriculum seemed less important. The results
indicate that parents’ main expectations of the preschools are that they work on the
children’s social development. Parents want their children to be happy, to have the
opportunity to enjoy themselves as individuals, and to learn self-reliance and respect
for other people.
The educational personnel in the preschool are key people in the lives of children
and their parents. Care-giving and thoughtfulness of the staff were more important
than teaching of knowledge and skills. In most of the groups, the parents mentioned the
importance of a good staff, and many expressed their satisfaction with the educational
personnel. Many of the parents mentioned that they found it very important that the
staff welcomed the children when they arrived in the morning and expressed that
they were happy to see their child. The parents preferred to receive information about
their child through informal cooperation with the preschool teachers. A few parents
wanted more participation in daily activities or decision-making in the preschool.
aBout tHE autHor
Johanna Einarsdottir (joein@hi.is) is a Professor at the School of Education, University
of Iceland. She earned a teacher degree from the Teacher Training College of Iceland in
1973, B.S. degree from University of Illinois in 1976 and Masters degree from the same
university in 1977. She finished her Ph.D. from University of Illinois in 2000. She has
published her work widely, in journal articles and books and edited scholarly journals
and books in the field. She is currently the director of the Center for Research in Early
Childhood Education at University of Iceland.