Cooperation between Preschool Institutions and Parents within Early Childhood Environmental Education

Abstract

The goal of this research was to explore the perceptions of cooperation between preschool institutions and parents within Early Childhood Environmental Education activities, primarily within the dimension of including parents in preschool activities. In the theoretical framework of the study, we discuss the major aspects of cooperation between families and preschool institutions and the significance of learning about the environment for the cooperation process. Many authors agree that cooperation between families and preschool institutions comprises the following dimensions: information sharing between preschool teachers and parents, including parents in preschool activities, parents’ involvement in supporting the child’s development at home, and parents’ participation in preschool institutions executive bodies. In this paper, we focus on the dimension of including parents in preschool activities through Early Childhood Environmental Education. The results show that the majority of questionnaire items exposed statistically significant differences between the perception of parents and the perception of preschool teachers when it comes to including parents in Early Childhood Environmental Education activities. We consider that a series of planned actions is necessary for including as many parents as possible in the Early Childhood Environmental Education activities. One of the main reasons for such an initiative is the veracity of such activities and the possibility for children to create and develop their creative abilities through research.

Keywords

• early childhood environmental education
• children
• parents’ involvement
• preschool teachers