Author(s)

Yanjing Kang ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai, China

Corresponding Author

Yanjing Kang

ABSTRACT

The 19th National Congress of China pointed out that the main social contradiction in China has changed into the contradiction between the people's growing need for a better life and the unbalanced and inadequate development. Pre-school education, as a public product of society, is gradually returning from the market-oriented tendency to public welfare which is facing a major reform and deployment. At the same time, parents' demand for preschool education is just the expectation of the public for social public products, which is gradually showing a trend of diversification. This research is based on the context of China's preschool education reform and the current situation of socioeconomic polarization, which studies the degree and content of parents' expectations for the role of preschool teachers. The method of hybrid research is used to explore the reasons behind the analysis of the impact of social class factors on expectations. The researcher found 9 kindergartens of all different classs in Shanghai, interviewed 31 parents in-depth, made a quantitative survey of 589 questionnaires, and finally concluded the following conclusions. In common, the common expectation of all classes is the expectation of love. Social class factors have the most significant influence on the personality and identity characteristics of teachers' roles. Parents of all classes have the highest expectation of the four characteristics of teachers' roles. The study found that "love" is a common expectation among all social classes, while higher social classes have higher and more specific expectations. Social class influences preferences, with lower-class families prioritizing academic preparation and higher-class families seeking individualized teaching and communication. These differences stem from differences in cultural, economic, and social capital that influence expectations based on school type, learning preferences, and parent involvement. The study concludes with recommendations for preschool education reform, including the introduction of a preschool education law, improved teacher status, and parent learning platforms.

KEYWORDS

Cultural reproduction; parents; preschool teacher; role expectation

CITE THIS PAPER

Yanjing Kang, The Psychology of Parental Expectations: Examining Socioeconomic Factors in Early Childhood Education Settings. Applied & Educational Psychology (2024) Vol. 5: 82-89. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/appep.2024.050613.

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