Parents’ perception regarding arts and crafts for children’s learning and development in pre-school years

Abstract

Arts and crafts as children’s playing activities are central to early learning and early childhood development, and emphasized in the learning outcomes of Pre-primary education (3 to <6 years) and care giver practices by MoPME (2008). This research is about parents’ perception regarding arts and crafts for children between 3 and 5 years who are attending an English medium school in Uttara area of Dhaka. Using four interviews and two focus group discussions with sixteen parents, the research shows that a few parents demonstrate deepened understanding and positive beliefs regarding the meanings and features of children’s arts and crafts, the role of arts and crafts in children’s learning and development, and parents’ role in supporting children’s engagement in arts and crafts activities. It is; therefore, recommend to design capacity building interventions for the parents of the school and to explore views of parents from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. The findings of this research will help the policy makers to expand the caregiver practices for 36 - 60 months, as articulated in MoPME (2008), from ‘providing resources’ to ‘organizing creative home learning environment’; ‘being optimistic about each child’s potential’; and ‘helping children to be intrinsically motivated to engage in process-oriented and minimum instruction based arts and crafts activities that are child-centered and helpful for children’s freedom to be creative and independent.