Browsing by Author "Vaarnas, Maarit"

This study examines the learning of children aged 0-6 from the perspective of parents. The aim of the study was to explore parents' views on their child's learning and how they perceive their own role in supporting learning. In terms of learning, I focused on parents' views on the importance of different skills. Promoting the learning of preschool-age children typically falls under the responsibility of parents and early childhood education, so the study also surveyed parents' thoughts on the role of early childhood education in their child's learning. Parents' perspectives on learning have been limitedly studied in recent years. However, parents play a significant role as supporters of their child's learning, and early childhood is an important stage for learning. During early childhood, comprehensive development and learning occur rapidly, laying the foundation for future learning pathways. The study was conducted as quantitative research. The data for the study was collected through an online survey in February 2023 via the Norstat research company's consumer panel. The respondents were 410 parents of 0-6-year-old children. The data analysis is descriptive, and the methods used include percentage distributions as descriptive measures. The research is part of a broader customer understanding project by Sanoma Pro. A key finding is that parents consider their child's learning to be highly important and perceived their own role as strong supporters of learning. Supporting learning is seen as a clear part of parents' parenting responsibility. The results show that parents engaged with their children in learning various skills extensively. Socio-emotional skills are perceived as the most important skills regardless of the child's age. Although parents feel responsible for their child's learning, they also recognize the important role of early childhood education. However, the current resource challenges in early childhood education raise concerns among parents that may have impact on a child's learning and well-being, posing new challenges and pressures for parents.