Aotearoa New Zealand Kindergarten Parents Reflecting on Kindergarten : 2006 - 2007

This paper discusses emerging findings from 12 focus group interviews of parents who are currently using kindergarten as the main early childhood education provider for their child/children. These interviews are from a larger national study looking at current kindergarten culture within the early childhood sector of this century. Parents were asked what they liked about kindergarten and what, if any changes they would like to see in the kindergarten provision firstly, for their child and then for the kindergartens as a national service. The wider data from this study is still being compiled and the parents’ interviews are at a preliminary analysis stage. The views of the parents are significant for all planning and understanding about the importance of our early childhood sector in the lives of families, and the implications of these early findings will be discussed.