Parent L, one of the male parents that I interviewed. Parent L had graduated from the University of Taiwan. He is about forty years old. He works as an associate director and his work is about managing Civil, Structural, and architectural work. He likes to travel but most of his time is spent on his family and working.
There are four members including him in his family. He and his wife both have working to support the family economy. All of the family members are Chinese as well as Buddhism but they rarely go to the temple except Chinese New Year. He and his wife both are Malaysian but now settled down in Singapore. He has a five-year-old daughter and now attends P.S. Preschool. He uses both Chinese and English language to communicate with his child.
Interview with Parent
1. What do you think is the most important purpose of early childhood education for your child?
Parent L said that early childhood education is a good stage that is able to let his child to prepare for further learning. He said that it is a good chance for his child to start to adapt classroom environment before going to primary school. He thinks that the sooner his child starts school, the easier it will be to adapt. So, he let his child start to go to a child care center at the age of one and a half and started to go to TASKA at the age of three.
2. What do you think about the need of your child?
Parent L thinks that the need of his child is quality and enrichment curriculum through exploration. He would like to let his child gain new knowledge as well as advance physical development through self-explore. So, Parent L does encourage his child goes to a field trip that organizes by the preschool. Besides, he also will bring his child to engage in nature during holidays. For example, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, and so on.
3. How would you rate and describe the preschool center? Good or bad? If bad, what and how to improve?
Parent L said that in his opinion, he thinks that the preschool center is good. He thinks that the good range is in the good hygiene standard and classroom environment. Parent L said that the best is the environment of the classroom. One of the considerations for choosing this preschool is because the lighting of the classroom is bright enough and there is no use for television in teaching. This is due to Parent L thinking that the eyes of the child are still immature, and television is not suitable for long-term viewing. Due to this reason, Parent L also has strictly limited his child the time spent on the smartphone.
Parent L also said that the environment of the preschool is safe for his child to explore. Parent L give me an example that the corner of the tables is covered with the soft corner protector. So, he thinks that the preschool had put the consideration of children’s safety during the design of the preschool setting. Apart from that, the hygiene of the classroom is good and he feels comfortable in the environment.
4. What do you think the early childhood program is more suitable for your child?
Parent L said that both the play-based and traditional learning methods are suitable for his child. This is because the play-based learning methods able to stimulate the right brain and develop motor skills, at the same time traditional learning methods prepare the child for classroom-style teaching. P.S. Preschool is learning through traditional methods. For play-based learning, Parent L had let his child join some extra classes which are Suchida and piano lessons.
5. What is your expectation of your child?
Parent L said that the expectation towards his child at this age is to develop good classroom learning habits with teachers and good social and communication skills with her peers. For example, greeting when meeting her teachers. An example of communication skills is having good behavior in a group such as not easily showing frustration to her peers and learning to accept the ideas of her peers.
6. How does the preschool teacher communicate with you?
Parent L said that the preschool had used an online app to have communication check-in and check-out. This app is used to update some announcements for parents and parents able to look for the portfolio of their child. So, Parent L said that it was good for him to check in and check out the progress of his child. The portfolio is updating depends on the activities that are done by teachers. For example, the drawing of the child has been updated on the app after the class. Parent L feels free to save the picture of the child as well as knowing what the things that the child had learned in school.
7. What do you think teachers and parents how to collaborate?
Parent L thinks that the way for teachers and parents to collaborate is through support and joining school activities. So, Parent L will take leave when the preschool invites him to join the activities. For example, Parents Day, field trips, and so on.
8. How do you think about the relationship between you and the preschool teacher?
Parent L thinks that the relationship between him and his teachers is good as the teachers will keep updated him on the child’s development and needs.
Analysis of the feedback obtained
Through the conversation with Parent L, I found that Parent L emphasizes his child in holistic development. He had researched the different developments of early childhood, so clearly knows the importance of early childhood education. He is clear that what development he wants his child to obtain. For example, physical exploration, mind, and spirit in extra classes as well as social and emotional development in communication (“Holistic Development,” n.d.).
Apart from that, I found that Parent L emphasized his child’s learning progress. He will check the progress of his child daily through the online app and also participate in Parents Day. There is two-way communication happened between he and the teachers as teachers will contact him about the child’s development and he will be giving respond to it (“What is Two-way Communication? | Importance of Two-way Communication,” n.d.).
Other than that, I also discover that the Parent L is also emphasized on the environment that surrounding his child. This is because he will aware of the classroom lightning and also avoid any electronic equipment such as television and smartphone. Besides that, he does encourage his child to engage in natural. Through the conversation, I know that Parent L will let his daughter and his son play together in the park downstairs in the apartment they live in.
In addition, I also discover that Parent L is emphasize multiple intelligences. He attaches the importance of further learning and also lets his child join in different extra classes. He is more emphasis on the knowledge of Mathematics and he had bought extra practice for his child. This is because he wants to develop the logical thinking of his child. Except for the Suchida and piano lessons, he also will let his child choose other extra classes based on their interest. For example, ballet.
Last but not least, I found that Parent L is emphasize the behavior of his child. He strictly requests his child to greet every elder outside and also greets teachers in school. He also lets his child learn to control her emotion to avoid unnecessary disputes and learn to collaborate no matter is with peers or elders. Parent L will explain the reason and analysis the situation why cannot lose temper to his child when his child is starting to show anger softly and comfort her emotion.
Considerations during Communication
First and foremost, the consideration when interviewing the parent is the language that needs to use in communication. The language that I communicate with my parents is Chinese as the Chinese language is our mother tongue and it is more comfortable for us. Mother tongue also makes us easier to express our thought (“Importance of Language in Communication,” n.d.).
Next, the consideration when interviewing is body language. The parent is not showing any discomfort but he answers my all questions patiently. Through observing his body language, I notice that he did not fold his arms in front of his body and not turned away from his body during the conversation. We have face-to-face communication and he did not scratch his head when I asked him some questions (“Body Language: Picking Up and Understanding Nonverbal Signals,” n.d.). The parent is paying attention by listening to my questions and thinking for a few seconds then answering me.
Besides that, the consideration when interviewing is eye contact. During communication, having eye contact can mean that we are paying respect to each other. We are not looking at the smartphone or looking away during the conversation. Through eye contact, I was able to see that the parent is sending his message to me and also telling me that he is listening to me when I was asking questions (“Why Eye Contact is Important in Communication,” 2019).
Last but not least, the consideration when interviewing is to be an active listener. To know more information, I must respect the parent and show that I am listening to him. During the conversation, I had giving the responses to the parent. For example, nodding my head when he is answering. After he finishes speaking, then I just go to the next question or go to the depth of the question (“Effective Communication with Parents: for Professionals,” 2018).