2006 Volume 44 Issue 2 Pages 259-270
The integration of kindergarten and nursery school is one of the most important concerns in early childhood care and education in Japan. Regarding this issue, there have been very few discussions about the quality of early childhood care and education or about parents' needs. The purpose of this study is to research parents' awareness of new facilities that integrate kindergarten and nursery school. Questionnaire-surveys were carried out among parents who were using kindergartens and parents who were using nursery schools. The result shows that 61% of the parents had no idea about the integration of kindergarten and nursery school. And our comparison of the results from the two groups reverled that both parents had expectation of change in each facility which they were using now. This result suggests that parents basically expect the level of quality to be maintained in the facilities that they were currently using. However, some parents thought that it should be changed to improve the quality of early childhood care and education. Further research is necessary to examine how to respond parents sensitive demands.
