Challenges and responses to the vulnerability of families in a preschool context

Turnšek, Nada (author), Poljšak-Škraban, Olga (author), Razpotnik, Špela (author), Rapuš-Pavel, Jana (author)

Problems in vulnerable families are multilayered and include the intersection of physical, psychosocial and other forms of distress. The multidimensional nature of the problems of these families is closely linked to the fact that there are many institutions in the field of education, social welfare, health care and others, in which treatment and support are not satisfactory or adapted to their needs. The article presents the partial results of a large-scale qualitative research study, results that refer to the position of vulnerable families in the context of preschool education. The study examined how vulnerability is experienced by parents of preschool children, how the expert workers in the preschools involved in the study responded to the parents’ vulnerability, and how they cooperated with experts from other services outside the preschool. A qualitative research method was used in the study. Data was collected partly through semi-structured interviews with various expert workers employed in two preschools, as well as with the parents of children in the preschools; the interviews were conducted individually and in focus groups. Using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), we have identified four representative themes: amongst parents, the two recurring themes can be subsumed under the headings “from door to door” and “adaptation/flexibility”, and amongst experts, under the headings “powerlessness/incompetence/lack of information” and “power/innovation/sensitivity”. The study finds that the ability to effectively contend with vulnerability presumes a reconceptualisation of the attitude of institutional preschool education towards the family, including a change in the professional role of preschool teachers.

• Language: English
• Keywords: children, preschool, social exclusion, vulnerable families
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2016
• Number of pages: Str. 29-49
• Numbering: Vol. 6, no. 4
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-88540
• UDC: 373.2:316.344.7
• ISSN on article: 1855-9719
• DOI: 10.26529/cepsj.52
• COBISS.SI-ID: 11411273

Copyright

Podatek o licenci CC BY 4.0 je naveden na pristajalni strani članka (glej zgoraj izvorni URL). (Datum opombe: 21. 8. 2025)

• Publication date in RUL: 31.08.2017

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: CEPS journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies journal = revija Centra za študij edukacijskih strategij
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani = University of Ljubljana Press
• ISSN: 1855-9719
• COBISS.SI-ID: 252707584

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Izzivi in odzivi na ranljivost družin na področju predšolske vzgoje

Abstract

Težave ranljivih družin so večplastne; vključujejo presečišče fizičnih, psihosocialnih in drugih stisk. Večdimenzionalna narava problemov teh družin je tesno povezana z dejstvom, da obstaja veliko institucij s področij izobraževanja, socialnega varstva in zdravstva ter z drugih področij, katerih obravnava in podpora nista zadovoljivi oziroma prilagojeni njihovim potrebam. Članek predstavlja delne rezultate obsežnejše kvalitativne študije, ki se nanašajo na položaj ranljivih družin v okviru predšolske vzgoje. V raziskavi nas je zanimalo, kako izkušnjo ranljivosti doživljajo starši predšolskih otrok, kako se strokovni delavci vrtca odzivajo na ranljivost in na kak način pri tem sodelujejo s strokovnjaki drugih služb zunaj vrtca. Uporabljena je bila kvalitativna metoda raziskovanja. Podatki so bili zbrani z delno strukturiranimi intervjuji z različnimi strokovnimi delavci, zaposlenimi v vrtcu, in s starši predšolskih otrok v vrtcu; izvedeni so bili individualno in v fokusnih skupinah. Z uporabo tematske analize (Braun & Clarke, 2006) smo opredelili štiri reprezentativne teme: pri starših sta to tematiki »od vrat do vrat« in »prilagajanje/prožnost«, pri strokovnjakih pa »nemoč/nekompetentnost/neinformiranost« in »moč/inovativnost/senzibilnost«. Ugotavljamo, da uspešno spoprijemanje z ranljivostjo predpostavlja rekonceptualizacijo odnosa institucionalne predšolske vzgoje do družine, vključno s spremembo profesionalne vloge vzgojiteljev.

• Keywords: predšolska vzgoja, predšolski otroci, otroški vrtci, družina, socialna ranljivost, socialna izključenost, socialna pomoč, varstvo otrok, otroci