ABSTRACT

This study investigated the reasons Irish parents chose to send their children to Irish-medium preschools settings over other forms of early childhood education. The international literature on parental decision making regarding childcare and relevant studies on immersion education in Celtic countries were reviewed. A parental questionnaire, informed by this literature, was distributed through selected immersion settings in Ireland. Social and cognitive development were the main reasons parents cited in regard to early childhood education and an interest in the Irish language and bilingualism along with the good reputation of the immersion preschool were the reasons they chose immersion preschooling. Comparisons were made with the reasons parents chose immersion primary education in Scotland, Wales and Ireland and the findings were broadly similar across the studies. Recommendations include disseminating information about immersion preschools more widely as well as reviewing the impact of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act (DES, Admission to Schools Policy. Dublin: DES. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2018/act/14/enacted/en/html, 2018) on enrolment in Irish-medium preschools and primary schools.

摘要

这项研究调查了爱尔兰父母选择将孩子送到爱尔兰中等幼儿园环境而不是其他形式的幼儿教育的原因。回顾了凯尔特国家有关儿童保育的父母决策和相关沉浸式教育研究的国际文献。根据这些文献，通过爱尔兰选定的沉浸式环境分发了一份家长问卷。社会和认知发展是父母提到幼儿教育的主要原因，对爱尔兰语言和双语的兴趣以及沉浸式学前班的良好声誉是他们选择沉浸式学前班的原因。对父母选择苏格兰浸入式小学教育的原因进行了比较，威尔士和爱尔兰，研究结果大体相似。建议包括更广泛地传播有关沉浸式学前班的信息，以及审查沉浸式学前班的影响。教育（入学）法案（DES，入学政策。都柏林：DES。http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2018/act/14/enacted/en/html, 2018）关于爱尔兰的入学——中等幼儿园和小学。