A study of public opinion on preferred curricula in nursery school education

The purposes of this study were to relate opinion on what is valued for four-year-old children with preferences in nursery school education and to identify any relationships between these opinions and demographic factors such as ethnic group, social class mobility, and social class. The results of this study imply that the curricular preferences of the groups sending their children to a nursery school will need to be recognized if it is to gain public support. Because of the varied curricular slants preferred by the different groups present in our heterogeneous society, teacher education needs to include awareness of and expertise in many curricular slants. This would give teachers the flexibility needed to provide the curriculum desired by the public which they serve at any given time. Three hundred and one individuals were randomly sampled from five neighborhoods in the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area. The sample consisted of 123 Anglos, 102 Chicanos, and 76 Blacks. Trained interviewers administered a. questionnaire which contained fifteen items concerning parental values for four-year-old children, seventeen items concerning nursery school curricula, and thirty-four items covering demographic data such as age, sex, ethnic origin, occupation, and education. The respondents were asked to rate the fifteen items concerning parental values and the seventeen items concerning nursery school preferences to obtain a better definition of the items on a relative basis. Fifty-two variables were used in the analysis of the data. Correlation analysis and second order factoring were used to analyze the data. On the basis of the analyses and given the limitations of the study, the following conclusions were supported: What people said they valued in four-year-olds was a significant predictor of their preferences for nursery school curricula. The social class position of a person was the best determinant of his opinions of what was valued in four-year- olds and of his preferences for nursery school curricula. Ethnicity and social class mobility were also significant predictors but they were not as good as social class position. The lower the social class of the respondent the more likely he was to value conformity to authority and external standards in four-year-olds and the more likely he was to prefer a nursery school curriculum that was structured or knowledge-based with an emphasis on social conformity. The higher the social class of the respondent the more likely he was to value self-directedness and peer conformity in the child and the more likely he was to prefer a nursery school curriculum that was exploratory and child-centered with an emphasis on good peer relations. Anglos valued self-directedness and some peer conformity in children of preschool age. They preferred a curriculum that was developmental and exploratory with some emphasis on peer relations. Blacks valued both conformity and self-directedness in four-year-olds. They structured the curriculum only to the extent that the children would learn to speak correct English and would learn to conform to external authority. Chicanos valued conformity to authority and external standards in four-year-olds. They preferred a knowledge-based curriculum with some emphasis on- conformity to external standards. Those who valued self-control in four-year-olds wanted a developmental or child-centered curriculum in which the child had some control over his curriculum. Those who valued an externally controlled child wanted a curriculum controlled by the teacher and the school. The lower a person's social class the more likely he was to value a cooperative child over a competitive child. The higher the person's social class the more likely he was to value a competitive child. Younger, unmarried people placed a higher value on a structured curriculum with knowledge as the goal. Older, married parents were more willing to have nursery school be a place where the child plays and has fun. Day care was unacceptable to most people unless it included a curricular program.