Teachers’ Opinions on the Possibilities of Collaboration with Parents / Mišljenje odgajatelja o mogućnostima suradnje s roditeljima

Cooperation between preschool education institutions (kindergartens) and families contributes to the welfare of children, and primarily depends on the attitudes and competences of teachers. The research was conducted in two preschool institutions from different regions of the Republic of Croatia, on two samples similar in structure. The revised version of the Parent Survey of Family and Community instrument (Sheldon & Epstein, 2007) was used. The reliability of the used scale (.76< λ <.88) corresponds to the original. Informing parents of kindergarten children has been recognised as the most common cause of collaboration with educators (M=3.44; SD=0.59), while counselling on parenting has been recognized as the least common one (M=2.85; SD=0.61). Factor saturation of certain scales indicates deeper parental involvement, rather than particles that point to normal activity. There was a statistically significant correlation between participants’ professional work experience and the results of applied scales (.40<r<.55; p<.01), except for the assessment of parents’ contribution to the curriculum structure (r=-.28; p<.05). Significant differences in subsamples were determined on the t-test for the variable Causes of cooperation (t=2.72; p<.01). Research results indicate that existing formal education of teachers is insufficient in relation to their development of professional competences needed for collaboration with parents, which is in accordance with the results of recent global research. Key words: collaboration causes; forms of teacher-parent collaboration. --- Suradnja predskolskih odgojno-obrazovnih ustanova (djecjih vrtica) i obitelji doprinosi dobrobiti djece, a primarno ovisi o stavovima i kompetencijama odgajatelja. Istraženo je misljenje odgajatelja o suradnji s roditeljima u dvije predskolske ustanove iz razlicitih regija Republike Hrvatske, na dva strukturno slicna poduzorka. Koristila se revidirana verzija instrumenta Parent Survey of Family and Community (Sheldon i Epstain, 2007). Pouzdanost primijenjenih skala (.76<λ< .88) korespondira s izvornikom. Informiranje roditelja o djeci u djecjem vrticu prepoznato je kao najcesci povod za suradnju s odgajateljima (M= 3.44; SD= .59), a najmanje je zastupljeno (M=2.85; SD= .61) savjetovanje o odgoju djece. Faktorska zasicenost pojedinih skala upucuje na znacajniju determiniranost indikatorima dublje ukljucenosti roditelja nego cesticama koje upucuju na uobicajene aktivnosti. Utvrđena je statisticki znacajna korelacija profesionalnog radnog staža sudionica i rezultata na primijenjenim skalama (.40<r< .55; p< .01) osim za procjenu doprinosa roditelja konstrukciji kurikula (r=- .28; p < .05). Statisticki znacajne razlike t-testa za poduzorke utvrđene su za varijablu Povod za suradnju (t= 2.72; p< .01). Nalazi istraživanja upucuju na to da je postojece formalno obrazovanje odgajatelja nedostatno za razvoj profesionalnih kompetencija odgajatelja za suradnju s roditeljima, na sto upucuju i nalazi recentnih svjetskih istraživanja. Kljucne rijeci: oblici suradnje odgajatelja i roditelja; povodi za suradnju.