| Since the 1960's changes in social, political, and economic structures in Nigeria have stimulated the needs for, and growth of, diversified provisions of early childhood education. The policy which encourages private efforts in the provision of preprimary education, coupled with the recent upsurge of interest among parents, educators, scholars, and government in formal preschool provision opened the door to a "free-for-all" of conflicting interests in the establishment and operation of preprimary schools in Nigeria.;This case study, qualitative in orientation and design, explored the aspirations, values, and beliefs of selected administrators, preschool teachers, and parents in a rural and an urban community regarding the present organization and administration of preprimary schools and possible incorporation of preprimary schools into the educational system in Ondo State, Nigeria. Two forms of interviews were employed to collect data in this study: focused interviews and casual or conversational interviews. Fourteen people and a group of traditional leaders were interviewed.;I used the 'thick description' of each participant's views as the starting points for exploring different views, and beliefs of the participants on the issue of preschool programs in Ondo State. As themes began to emerge from the participants' views, I focused on these in an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the interviewees' meanings. Through interpretations and reflections on the views, beliefs, and aspirations of the participants, as well as reading in related literature, twelve themes emerged. These themes could be summarized thus: the development of preschool education in Nigeria and in Ondo State; the incorporation of preschool education into public schools; the interviewees' views and beliefs about the importance of preprimary programs in Ondo State; problems of private preprimary institutions in Ondo State; advantages of privately operated preprimary schools; benefits of incorporating preprimary programs into the public school system; the need to operate preprimary programs in the public schools; an appropriate/ideal preschool program for children in Ondo State; the need for privately and publicly operated preprimary programs; views about making preschool programs mandatory or available for all children; the roles of the government, community, and parents in preschool programs; and how to operate preschool programs in Ondo State.;The study concludes by drawing upon insights gained from the understanding of participants' views and my reflections on the nature of the study, the research approach used, and what the research has meant to me as a person and as a researcher. |
