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Characteristics of pre-school environments and teacher effectiveness in selected child care centres in Singapore
Author
Eng, Melinda Wah Yound
Supervisor
Sharpe, Pamela
Abstract
As the nature and quality of early learning within a child care setting play a crucial role in enhancing a young child's growth and development, child care centres must be high quality. Measures of quality can be viewed from two perspectives, namely those structural characteristics and process characteristics. Structural characteristics are those that are often regulated by the policy-makers and related organizations (for example, staff-child ratios, fees, operation hours, salary, work benefits, etc.), while process characteristics are those closely related to the performance and relationships of and among the teachers, children and parents. In view of these considerations, the study examines the perception of parents regarding their satisfaction with the local child care centres that their children are attending and how this perception is related to the two characteristics mentioned above. In addition, as child care teachers are viewed (by researchers and parents) as key people contributing to the quality of a centre, the study further examines how these structural and process characteristics affect their quality as child care teachers. The latter two hypotheses focus on the teachers' personal characteristics, qualification, and their perception on their job's social status and contribution to society and what effect these have on their commitment to the child care profession and behaviours.
Overall, the results suggested that the majority of parents are not only aware of the structural characteristics, and how they can get value for money, but also the process characteristics present in the centres which further augment their quality. Majority of the caregivers are also found to enjoy their job and plan to stay in the child care work despite low pay, few fringe benefits, and low social status. Caregivers' specialized training in the child care field has also found to be related to their personal qualities.
Overall, the results suggested that the majority of parents are not only aware of the structural characteristics, and how they can get value for money, but also the process characteristics present in the centres which further augment their quality. Majority of the caregivers are also found to enjoy their job and plan to stay in the child care work despite low pay, few fringe benefits, and low social status. Caregivers' specialized training in the child care field has also found to be related to their personal qualities.
Date Issued
1995
Call Number
LB1140.25.S55 Eng
Date Submitted
1995