Attitudes towards the Notion of Preparing Children for School

Abstract

‘Are you going to provide a school readiness program?’ is a question often asked of teachers of four-year-olds. The answer is complicated. Literature which explores the construct reveals that ‘school readiness’ is difficult to define, and varies according to the perceptions and attitudes of people in diverse settings. While the notion of ‘readiness’ is problematic, it is still extensively discussed in the wider community. In order to determine what one group of stakeholders thought about ‘school readiness’ the authors questioned parents/care givers of children who were attending a long day care centre in Sydney. The questionnaire focused on three areas; 1) the importance of characteristics that children had when starting school; 2) assessment methods; and 3) types of preschool program. This research found that parents/caregivers in this setting supported the philosophy and goals of the early childhood profession. They gave priority to the development of positive social and emotional skills and positive attitudes towards learning, and preferred a program which encouraged these outcomes. Further, they preferred the use of a variety of assessment methods, with most value placed on discussion with preschool staff in order to identify how ‘ready’ their child was for school. This paper presents these results and implications for preschool programming, as well as suggestions for further research.