Socio-cultural influences on children's conceptions of preschool and expectations for kindergarten in academic and child centered preschool programs

Children's conceptions of preschool and expectations for kindergarten were investigated in academically oriented and child centered preschool programs and a social constructivist approach was used to explore some of the contextual influences on children's developing conceptions of school. A picture card sorting technique was used to interview children about activities that they experience in preschool and that they expect to experience in kindergarten. Classroom observations and questionnaire and interview data were used to describe the preschool classroom environment and the beliefs and attitudes of parents and teachers about early education and the transition to kindergarten. Case studies were used to further illustrate many of the themes discussed.;Results from the child measures indicate that children's conceptions of preschool and expectations for kindergarten are different in academic and child centered programs. Additionally, classroom observations indicate that there were fundamental differences between the preschool experiences of children in academic and child centered programs. Several dimensions emerged from the data that serve to draw distinctions between the child centered and academic groups. These are: (1) the formal and informal goals and philosophies of the different programs; (2) the physical environment of the classroom; (3) how learning experiences are structured; (4) the roles that teachers and children assume in the classroom; and (5) direct verbal messages from teachers about school and kindergarten.;Four dominant themes emerged from the research: (1) the direct influence of the preschool curriculum on children's conceptions of and expectations for school settings; (2) the presence of something beyond children's classroom experiences, a cultural archetype of school, which affects their developing conceptions; (3) a schism between the professed philosophies and the actual classroom practices in academic programs; and (4) the necessity for understanding the strengths and limitations of quantitative and qualitative methodologies for exploring children's conceptions of their social environment.