Mum and Dad seen through the eyes of crèche assistants. An investigation of reciprocal representations, problem relationships and conflict.

Abstract

The research moves from the assumption that the crèche should be a privileged place for building up, through an educational action, an alliance between adults with children’s harmonious development at heart. In order to form this alliance and to give strength to the educational care quality, it wuold be a good idea to understand and take care of the running of possible relational problems between parents and educators. The research has tried to find out educators’ representation of the “new parents”: contemporary men and women who bear deep social and cultural changes. The principal aim was to point out some prejudice and stereotype about parents’ educational capacity and to stress the attention on possible relational problems and aspects marked by conflicts. The research wanted to investigate educators’ perception about relational problems with parents, and to point out if they wuold be able to identify them, if they wuold deny, refuse or handle them.