Studying Ideas of Senior Preschoolers About Their Parents

Abstract

Statement of the problem. The authors of this paper study the ideas of children of senior preschool age about their parents. Currently, the phenomenon of modern parenthood is actively discussed in the scientific literature, including the specifics of parents’ attitude to their underaged children and the image of parenthood in the representations of modern mothers and fathers. At the same time, there are practically no studies characterizing the image of a parent in the representations of children. The purpose of the article is to characterize the ideas of children of senior preschool age about their parents. The methodology of the research consists of the scientific ideas of A. Adler, M. O. Ermikhina about the importance of studying a child’s ideas about parents as a factor in the formation of its attitude to oneself and relationships with others; a systematic approach in the study of the family (A. Ya. Varga); the research of A. Adler, J. Bowlby and Russian scientists L. I. Bozhovich, N. V. Varayeva, L. S. Vygotsky, I. V. Dubrovina, T. V. Leus, and V. S. Mukhina regarding the influence of the image of father and mother formed in child’s ideas on the nature of its relationships with people around it and its social functioning throughout life. The study involved children of senior preschool age who are brought up in two-parent families. The main research method was content analysis of textual information obtained through an associative experiment. To identify an unconscious, automated level of representation of the image of father and mother by children of senior preschool age, as well as features of their relationships with parents, the “Incomplete sentences” method was used. Research results. The results of the study of the ideas of senior preschoolers about their parents are described. It is established that the ideas of senior preschool children about their parents are generally characterized by an emotionally positive attitude towards their father and mother. Children’s expectations from their parents are associated with participation of parents in joint activities with them (games, walks), as well as with manifestation of positive emotions and feelings by parents. At the same time, in the associations of children, there is practically no experience of interaction with parents against the background of the leading type of activity of a preschool child – games. The fears of children associated with their parents are characterized by the fear of emotional rejection by parents. Conclusion. Based on the presented description of the ideas of senior preschool children about their parents, the authors of this article propose and justify a system of psychological and pedagogical work with parents, which involves: informing them about the influence of child-parent relations on the mental and personal development of a preschool child; forming their position of emotional acceptance in relation to a child; teaching them effective ways of interacting with a child based on the leading type of children’s activity – games. The main content of this work is psychological education, as well as individual and group counseling of parents.