Recognizing the value of Kindergarten by refugee parents and developing forms of collaboration with teachers working in Kindergartens of Reception and Identification Centers
Nektarios Stellakis & Georgia Spiliopoulou, Ph.D.
Abstract
The present paper, which utilizes theoretical models and typologies to determine the frameworks of school-family collaboration, aims, on the one hand, at investigating the recognition of the value that the Kindergarten employs by refugee parents as well as the work provided by teachers to their children and, on the other hand, highlighting the forms of cooperation developed between refugee parents and teachers working in the Kindergartens of Reception and Identification Centers in5 islands of the Eastern Aegean. The research was conducted in September 2019 using a semi-structured interview, involving 9 students of the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education of the University of Patras in the context of the Research Project entitled: "Early Childhood Program II– Creative Employment Program in the Aegean Islands". The research also includes thirteen refugee parents (ten mothers and three fathers) who originate mainly from Afghanistan. The research results showed that refugee parents recognize the multiple benefits that Kindergarten offers to the cognitive and psychosocial development of their children, and they appreciate the work provided by teachers working in the Kindergartens of Reception and Identification Centers. Furthermore, forms of cooperation between refugee parents and teachers are formulated with reference to the child focusing on the development of his/her various skills in the context of the educational process.