Family and school are nowadays the contexts of development and education par excellence. The importance that these educational environments have on the development of children and the relationships established between the family and school are crucial in the development of children. The aim of the research was to study how and what occurs here understand how the first transition, the transition from the home environment to education. The term transition is used in sociology to describe any significant movement either in the school setting (the move from kindergarten to primary education, primary to secondary education or high school to college would also be valid examples) or in other areas of peoples life (like the school to work transition). In particular, the transition from home to school environment is an important milestone in the life of people as is also linked to other maturational stages and life events such as the development of autonomy and socialization with other significant. Therefore the transition from the home environment to the school system is an important event both for individuals and for families. The growing diversification of early age (0-3 years) care facilities on the one hand, and the (often) strong link of these facilities to the further education track on the other hand mean that parents have more choice but also responsibility regarding the education of their children (Fernandez Esquinas, 2004). Moreover, many of these decisions have to be taken already by choosing the early care center. These choices are, however, conditioned by various social factors such as economic, social and cultural resources of the families (Glaesser and Cooper, 2013; Olmedo and Santa Cruz, 2011; ). The current study aims at understanding the role of family diversity in shaping their selection of external care facilities or kindergarten. Te central research questions of the study are: in which grounds do families differ in choosing kindergarten? And if so, do those differences relate to specific parental profiles? The study analyses original data coming from the project "Parental Models and Educational Demands" and was collected through 18 early care centers and compiled data from families that have enrolled their children (0-3 years old) in early day care centers or kindergarten in the city of Valencia, Spain. In the study 250 families participated in answering a questionnaire and providing information about their parenting styles and educational demands.

1. September 3rd, 2014
What do families value when
choosing a kindergarten?
Daniel Gabaldón-Estevan1 & Kadri Täht2
1 - Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, University of Valencia (ES)
2 - Institute of International and Social Studies, Tallinn University (EE)

2. 2
Introduction
Research questions
Few facts about preschool education in Spain
MPyDE research project
Data and variables
Findings
Discussion
Index

3. 3
Introduction
Family and school are the contexts of development and
education par excellence.
There is already much known about the importance of these
educational environments in child development (autonomy,
socialization with other signifiers, developing cognitive skills,
etc..).
• The relationship between the family and the school are
crucial to the development of children.
The family is a dynamic institution undergoing changes and
facing new demands.
The transition from the home environment to the school system
is an important event which has so far received little attention in
the academic literature.

4. 4
Research questions
Do families differ when
choosing kindergarten?
If so, do those differences relate to
specific parental profiles?
What is parents’ priority when
selecting a kindergarten? &
What do parents value now?

5. 5
Few facts about preschool education in Spain

6. 6
Few facts about preschool education in Spain and Valencia
In the city of
Valencia there
were 10.019 0-2
years old students
during the
2010/2011
academic year

7. 7
NACIMIENTOS Y DEFUNCIONES. 1978-2011
14.000
13.000
12.000
11.000
10.000
9.000
8.000
7.000
6.000
5.000
78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 00 02 04 06 08 10
Años
Nacimientos Defunciones
Some demographics of Valencia
BIRTH AND DEAD
Birth Dead
Years

8. 8
TASAS DE FECUNDIDAD POR EDAD
‰ FECUNDITY RATE BY AGE
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49
Edad
1981 1991 2011
Age
Some demographics of Valencia

9. Some demographics of Valencia
POPULATION BY AGE AND SEX. 2013
POBLACIÓN SEGÚN EDAD Y SEXO. 2013
≥ 100
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
8.000 6.000 4.000 2.000 2.000 4.000 6.000 8.000
Varones Mujeres
9
Male Female

10. UV-INV-PRECOMP12-80709: sample Valencia city 2012-13 academic year
10
192 CEI (181 priv. & 11 pub.)
Contacted185 CEI
(96,35%)
Took part 17 CEI (9,2%)
Took part 252 families
(25%)

11. 11
UV-INV-PRECOMP12-80709: sample
Universe: 192 CEI Sample: 17 CEI (9,2%)

12. 12
MPyDE project
Educational
demands (S&C)
Upbringing practices
Family composition
Child care
distribution
Mobility
Cultural equipment
Family Adaptability and
Cohesion Evaluation
Scale
Socio-demographics
Household work
distribution
Respondent’s cultural
activities
Children cultural
activities

13. 13
MPyDE project
Educational
demands (S&C)
Upbringing practices
Family composition
Child care
distribution
Mobility
Cultural equipment
Family Adaptability and
Cohesion Evaluation
Scale
Socio-demographics
Household work
distribution
Respondent’s cultural
activities
Children cultural
activities

14. 14
Findings: Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale
Regarding: CAF* Alpha
Offspring 16,39 0,69
Union as a feeling 12,8 0,7
Family commitment 20,5 0,71
Family creativity 12,68 0,72
Responsibility 5,59 0,67
Adaptation to problems 10,14 0,44

15. 15
Findings: Educational preferences when selecting a kindergarten

16. Findings: Educational preferences when selecting a kindergarten and now
16

17. 17
Findings: Educational preferences value increase

18. 18
Findings: educational demands FACTORS
Informatics
Foreign languages
Agreement
Uniform
Next levels
Calendar
Opening hours
Canteen
Summer school
Pedagogy
Language
Music
Parents School
Tariffs
Facilities
Bus
Distinction
Immediate
ness
Pedagogy
ɑ 0,77
ɑ 0,80
ɑ 0,62

19. 19
Findings: educational demands CENTRES
Centre N Distinction Immediateness Pedagogy
CEI 01 3 3,6 3,3 4,1
CEI 02 7 2,8 4,2 3,0
CEI 03 19 3,7 3,8 3,4
CEI 04 3 2,5 3,5 2,8
CEI 05 8 2,9 3,8 3,2
CEI 06 18 2,8 3,7 3,2
CEI 07 17 3,3 4,2 3,5
CEI 08 10 2,8 3,9 2,9
CEI 09 7 2,3 3,4 2,9
CEI 10 8 3,5 3,7 3,4
CEI 11 14 1,8 2,9 3,7
CEI 12 15 3,1 4,5 3,4
CEI 13 16 2,8 4,2 3,2
CEI 14 8 3,3 3,2 3,2
CEI 15 50 2,5 3,9 3,6
CEI 16 18 3,5 4,3 3,5
CEI 17 22 2,9 4,1 3,3
Total 243 2,9 3,8 3,4

20. Findings: socio-demographics & CAF
Distinction Immediateness Pedagogy
Women 0,24 0,25 -0,04
20
Age (respondent) 0,02 0,02 0,02
Education (respondent) -0,25** -0,08 -0,09
Education (partner) -0,02 -0,05 -0,09
Unemployed (ref. permanent) 0,47** 0,03 0,21
Temporary contract (ref. permanent) -0,15 -0,41** -0,24**
F1_regarding_offspring 0,04 0,05 0,17
F2_regarding_union_m 0,19 0,05 0,09
F3_regarding_compromise_m -0,34* -0,25 -0,20
F4_regarding_creativity_m 0,13 0,10 -0,07
F5_regarding_responsibility_m -0,05 -0,02 -0,04
F6_regarding_adaptation_m 0,18 0,04 0,09
(Constant) 2,17 3,58 3,22
R square 0,12 0,05 0,08

21. We can identify three dimensions
considered when talking about selecting
a kindergarten: Distinction,
Immediateness and Pedagogy
21
Discussion
At first the value Pedagogy, Facilities,
Canteen, Opening hours, Tariffs…
In the moment of survey they valued
Pedagogy, Tariffs, Uniform, Canteen,
Opening hours…
However what gains more value is
Uniform, Tariffs, Other activities,
Parents school, Pedagogy, …
Do families differ in choosing
kindergarten?
If so, do those differences
relate to specific parental
profiles?
What is parents’ priority when
selecting a kindergarten? &
What do parents value now?
Not so lucky (more in next slides)

22. 22
More on discussion
Even when preliminary results from our analysis show a
good adjustment with the Family Adaptability and
Cohesion Evaluation Scale (CAF), the results obtained
to date do not support the existence of a relationship
between the type of family relations and the educational
preferences.
This might be due to different reasons, or a combination
of them, such as: no relationship at all; limitations for
the CAF-ideal scale for families with very young
children; small sample; selective sample.

23. 23
Final remarks
Regarding sample-selection first selection happens
already on the level: I use do not use early childcare
center services.
Also, maybe the centers do not differentiate then so
much from each other, i.e. the basic needs why to use a
child-care center are the same - practical need to keep
your kid somewhere while you are working (i.e. the
centers can be seen as mainly care or as mainly
educational facilities). Maybe on that level the care
aspect is more important as on that side the urge is
bigger...
Thank you for your attention,
comments and suggestions