Variations in Chinese parental perceptions of early childhood education quality

As consumers of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), Chinese parents play a crucial role in the ongoing process of monitoring, evaluating, and improving the quality of ECEC in China. This study used questionnaires to solicit parental feedback on the importance of, and their quality ratings for, aspects of ECEC. The researchers used a random and stratified sampling procedure and selected 794 parents from 91 kindergartens representing ECEC services at all levels, funding sources, and locations to participate in the survey research. Results revealed that Chinese parents rated each quality dimension of high importance. Compared with trained observers’ ratings, parents gave their children’s ECEC programmes significantly higher quality ratings on every subscale. The differences between professional and parental ratings were smaller in items related to aspects that were easier to observe/monitor (e.g. space and furnishings) than in items that were more difficult to observe/monitor (e.g. guidance and interaction; language reasoning). Also, parental income and level of education influenced how parents perceived the quality of the ECEC programme that their child attended.

Duke Scholars

Author Yisu Zhou DKU Faculty