The effect of childcare centres on children at kindergarten : a sociological analysis

Abstract

This study seeks to understand the effect of childcare centres on children in their early years of education from a sociological perspective. The aim of this research is to trace any differences, if at all, between children who have attended childcare centres and other who have not at kindergarten level. The qualitative research method was used in order to conduct this research. Eighteen semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with different groups of participants. The sample studied included six parents whose children were admitted to childcare centres, six parents whose children did not attend childcare centres and six kindergarten assistants. Parents gave different experiences according to whether their children have been admitted to a childcare centre or not. Kindergarten assistants then spoke of the everyday classroom experience and gave their opinions according to what they observe at class. Snowball sampling and purposive sampling were used to select the participants. All the informants claimed that childcare centres have an impact on children’s behaviour. Parents whose children were enrolled to childcare centres maintained that this experience helped their children when they came to enter kindergarten as they had already learned some basic skills. On the other hand, parents whose children did not attend a childcare centre perceive this facility as beneficial for children, however, due to different reasons they did not make use of care centres. Kindergarten assistants said that they notice some differences between children who have been to childcare centres prior to entering kindergarten, and those who have not. Early exposure to education might influence children’s behaviour and levels of development. In this respect, this study seeks to find out whether children who have previously attended childcare centres, have a head-start at kindergarten level.