By the the age of Uncertainty I understand the knot of recently experienced: economic crises, global warming, pandemics, technological development, wars, and mass migrations. All these contribute to the necessity of posing the question on the aim of education again.  

My research question is: how do adults, who are directly responsible for children’s development, (i.e. parents and teachers), understand the aim of preschool education and their role in it? What values, attitudes and competences they find fundamental in that regard, and how they define them.

I place special emphasis on preschool education. Evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that experiences from birth through age 5 are critical to children’s development (Wechsler, 2016). At the same time, preschool children are unknowingly thrown into education and these are adults who are responsible for delivering the best possible raising up conditions.

On one hand, research indicates important elements of high-quality early childhood education programs. These include, among others:

• early learning standards and curricula that address the whole child, are developmentally appropriate, and are effectively implemented, assessments that consider children’s academic; 

• social-emotional, and physical progress and contribute to instructional and program planning well-prepared teachers who provide engaging interactions and classroom environments that support learning;

• meaningful family engagement.

These high-quality building blocks should be the foundation of any early childhood education system (Wechsler, 2016).

On the other hand, there is a gap between academic research and the way that preschool education is organised and provided in different countries. 

Also, the growing consensus that preschool quality matters greatly for children’s outcomes focuses mainly on school entry readiness and academic achievement over the subsequent four years (Newman, 2022). 

Various schools that are providing early childhood education have been found exceeding their limits and putting unnecessary pressure and academic burden on pre-schoolers by stressing on formal teaching of reading, writing and number work. These practices appear to have encouraged parents to subject children in the age-group of 3-6 years to the pressure of formal education.

It is very important for both parents and teachers to understand that they have a valuable contribution to make towards development of children at early years without burdening the young mind. 

My expected outcome is to unveil parents’ and teachers' Subjective Concepts of Meanings of aims of preschool education. 

Capturing the differences and similarities in the subjective perception of reality can be used to redefine the role of the preschool teachers, refresh curriculum and teaching methods.

Outcomes need to be compiled with the current interdisciplinary research and core curricilum which indicates the purpose of preschool education, the preventive and educational tasks of a preschool education setting and the results of the tasks achieved by children at the end of preschool education 

The study addresses the concept of preschool education - its purpose and curriculum. It is not an analysis of what preschool education is, but how adults responsible for raising children at the age 3-7 (parents and teachers) understand it. How they define their roles and best possible education for children. The research method is phenomenography, which was first introduced by Ference Marton and his colleagues in 1970. The focus of phenomenography is on what is known as the second-order perspective and the different ways that people can experience the same phenomenon. My research assumes interviews with two groups of adults responsible for children's education - parents of 3-7yo and preschool teachers. Idealistic-subjectivist orientation. I focus on what is subjective, local,unique, i.e. on the phenomena analysed in the context of the lives of subjects. I remain in the interpretative –systematic paradigm analysis of social meanings created by people in their natural conditions of functioning, with a view to understanding and interpreting how people create and understand the world in which they function. The research sample started in the public kindergarten in Gdańsk and is extended by the snowball efect. I am considering extending it to other European countries in the future.

Investment in education and the consequent increase in the role and quality of education systems is one of the key objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy. Equipping young people with the skills and qualifications necessary for active participation in today's world is therefore a key responsibility in the educational system. We don’t need no thought control. The conclusions from the pilot studies has revealed that both groups - parents and teachers of children of 3-7 years old in Poland pointed out that critical thinking is one of the crucial competences to be shaped. According to the fast speed of world changes they declare that they want children to be able to think independently and trust themselves. Learning ability and good communication skills appeared several times in interwievs. Teachers, don't leave them kids alone! Also the emotional development, ability to cope with problems and ‘inner strength’ were emphasised. ‘Won't be easy to break’, ‘manage with life’ - might be interpreted as resilience. Interviewed adults want kids to be able to make friends and cooperate in the future. They put an impact on relations. Teachers define their role as leaders, assistants, supporters. Next step is to extend the study to other European countries in order to get the enlarged view of values, key competencies and attitudes offered in the preschool curiculum.

Marton, F. (1986). Phenomenography—A Research Approach to Investigating Different Understandings of Reality. Journal of Thought, 21(3), 28–49. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42589189 Newman S.,McLoughlin J.,Skouteris H., Blewitt C.,Melhuish E. & Bailey C. (2022) Does an integrated, wrap-around school and community service model in an early learning setting improve academic outcomes for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds?, Early Child Development and Care, 192:5, 816-830, DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2020.1803298 “Building a National Early Childhood Education System That Works.” Learning Policy Institute, March 2021. p. 1. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED614493.pdf Wechsler, M., Melnick, H., Maier, A., & Bishop, J. (2016). The building blocks of high-quality early childhood education programs. Learning Policy Institute. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/building-blocks-high-quality-early-childhood-education-programs. Chaudry, A., Morrissey, T., Weiland, C., & Yoshikawa, H. (2017). Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality. Russell Sage Foundation. Reid, J. L., kagan, S. L., Hilton, M., & Potter, H. (2015). A better start: Why classroom diversity matters in early education. Century Foundation and the Poverty & Race Research Action Council. https://tcf.org/content/commentary/a-better-start-why-classroom- diversity-matters-in-early-education/; Ansari, A., Pianta, R. C., Whittaker, J. V., Vitiello, V. E., & Ruzek, E. A. (2019). Starting Early: The Benefits of Attending Early Childhood Education Programs at Age 3. American Educational Research Journal, 56(4), 1495-1523. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218817737 McCoy, D. C., Yoshikawa, H., Ziol-Guest, K. M., Duncan, G. J., Schindler, H. S., Magnuson, K., Yang, R., Koepp, A., & Shonkoff, J. P. (2017). Impacts of Early Childhood Education on Medium- and Long-Term Educational Outcomes. Educational Researcher, 46(8), 474-487. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17737739 Understanding Early Childhood Education,Prepared for The School Superintendents Association, Hanover Research, 2022, https://www.aasa.org/resources/resource/understanding-early-childhood-education Fenomenografia jako strategia jakościowa w badaniach pedagogicznych nad edukacją dzieci / Agnieszka Nowak-Łojewska (Wydział Nauk Społecznych. Instytut Pedagogiki. Zakład Badań nad Dzieciństwem i Szkołą). Brzezińska A., Nauczyciel jako organizator społecznego środowiska uczenia sie Nowak-Łojewska A., Kompetencje kluczowe w edukacji dzieci. Od deklaracji do realizacji