Testing the Vision: Preschool Settings as Places for Meeting,Bonding and Bridging |
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| Authors: | Karen Thorpe Sally Staton Robert Morgan Susan Danby Collette Tayler |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Psychology and Counseling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Qld, Australia;2. School of Early Childhood, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Qld, Australia;3. Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic., Australia |
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| Abstract: | The OECD (2006 Starting Strong II: Early Childhood Education and Care. OECD Publishing: Paris) envisions early childhood education and care settings as meeting places for diverse social groups; places that build social capital. This vision was assessed in a comparison of three preschools types: full‐fee paying, subsidised‐fee and publicly funded. The social composition within each was examined and the connectedness of the children (n = 472) who attended compared. Publicly funded preschools had more socially diverse populations. The quantity of social connectedness did not differ but children in publicly funded preschools described higher quality social relationships. Not all preschool settings are socially diverse but, where they are, the quality of relationships is highest. |
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| Keywords: | preschool relationship quality social capital social connectedness social inclusion sociometrics |
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