Quality of preschool education in preschool institution and children's social competence

Abstract

The present study addressed the relation between the quality of preschool education and children's social competence. The main purpose of the study was to examine how professional workers (preschool teachers and preschool teachers' assistants) evaluate their work with children in the context of stimulating children's social development, and to determine the relationship between the professional workers' self-evaluations and children's social competence. Professional workers' self-evaluations were obtained with three questionnaires and rating scales for assessing the quality of preschool education. Children's social competence was assessed by preschool teachers through the questionnaire Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Preschool Edition (SCBE). We have found that higher score on children's social competence scale is accompanied with higher professional workers' self-evaluation regarding stimulation of social development in children. Children's social competence was found to be positively correlated with the course of the children's play and encouragement of the children's verbal communication. Professional workers' stimulation of child's independence and interaction with peers was positively correlated with children's social competence, but the correlation was low. The same holds true for the relationship between social behavior and team work of preschool teachers and their assistants.

Keywords

• preschool institution
• quality
• preschool children
• preschool teachers
• early childhood development
• social development
• social skills