Stakeholders’ opinions of quality in Norwegian kindergartens.

The study investigates and compares kindergarten coordinators' and parents' views on what characterises a good kindergarten, and also whether their views influence the collaboration between parents and the kindergarten to improve kindergarten quality.

The results show that coordinators and parents agree that statements expressing child-centred values are indicators of a good kindergarten. However, they disagree when it comes to children's learning and work involving numbers and letters. More parents than kindergarten coordinators believe that learning reading, writing and mathematics characterises a good kindergarten. Particularly parents with a short education emphasise these characteristics the most. The traditional Nordic kindergarten concept is still strong among parents, but their opinions about what learning is vary. The researcher behind the study therefore believes that perspectives on learning should be highlighted in the dialogue between parents and kindergarten staff.

The data material is based on surveys from two previous studies, and the total sample consists of 1047 parents and 84 kindergarten coordinators. Among other things, parents and coordinators responded to ten statements about what characterises a good kindergarten. The survey was conducted before the children were 30 months old.

Wolf, K. D. (2021). "Stakeholders’ opinions of quality in Norwegian kindergartens". Early Years, 41(4):336-352.