Browsing by department "Department of Teacher Education"

Tiedekunta - Fakultet - Faculty Behavioural Sciences Laitos - Institution - Department Teacher Education Tekijä - Författare - Author Tanja Pihlajamäki Työn nimi - Arbetets titel Esi- ja alkuopettajien välinen yhteistyö opetuksellisen jatkumon näkökulmasta Title Pre-school and primary school teachers` mutual cooperation from educational continuity viewpoint Oppiaine - Läroämne - Subject Education Työn laji/ Ohjaaja - Arbetets art/Handledare - Level/Instructor Bachelor`s Thesis / Helena Hällström Aika - Datum - Month and year 05 / 2016 Sivumäärä - Sidoantal - Number of pages 47 pp. + 3 appendices Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract Previous research shows that pre-school and primary school teachers` mutual cooperation supports educational continuity and it is important to take noticed when we are thinking child`s transition stage from pre-school to primary school. The main purpose of this study was to describe, analyse and interpret, what is educational continuity and what it means in child`s transition to school. Especially the aim was to find out pre-school and primary school teachers` mutual cooperation from educational continuity viewpoint. With this study will strive to find out what is the meaning of educational continuity in transition to school, how pre-school and primary school teachers will support that with mutual cooperation and what kind of effects there are for educational continuity. This was shown by pre-school teachers` viewpoint. This study was conducted as a qualitative research. The research material was collected by using a theme interview. In this study, three kindergarten teachers were interviewed and they all worked in pre-school group at the metropolitan area. The research material was analysed by using a content analysis. Educational continuity was seen as an important and it meant continuity from pre-school to primary school. In educational continuity child will notice as an individual and there are also noticed pre-school and primary school activity cultures. Meaning of educational continuity was shown in the aims in transition stage and supporting these aims. Educational continuity is experienced as a significant in transition stage from pre-school to primary school. Cooperation carried out between pre-school and primary school teachers with mutual discussions and meetings. It was important to plan cooperation, so it would be goal-directed. Cooperation also happened with pre-school and primary school children`s mutual events and activities. The aim of teachers` mutual cooperation was to support child`s transition from pre-school to primary school. There were consequences by own work in pre-school and mutual cooperation in child`s transition. The purpose was to relieve going to school and giving the readiness skills for child. In the future could find out, how educational continuity will be noticed and supported by primary school teachers. Avainsanat - Nyckelord esiopetus, alkuopetus, opetuksellinen jatkumo, yhteistyö, siirtymä, opettaja Keywords pre-school, primary school, educational continuity, cooperation, transition, teacher Säilytyspaikka - Förvaringsställe - Where deposited City Centre Campus Library/Behavioural Sciences/Minerva Muita tietoja - Övriga uppgifter - Additional information

Aims. The aim of this study is to research preschool childrens’ thoughts and experiences of bullying. The previous studies have shown that bullying appears in early childhood education in many forms. The studies have also verified that bullying in early childhood has long-term impact to the future. Preventing bullying is very important especially with young children. This study consentrated on how preschool children understand bullying. Aditionally it was studied what kind of feelings do children combine with bullying experiences. This study also examined are the children’s peer relationships and experiences of bullying in day-care group possibly interrelated. Methods. I conducted my study in Helsinki University’s practical training. Fourteen of fifteen children from the day-care group got permission to participate in my study. Half of them were girls and half of them were boys. The study group had three five-year-olds and eleven six-year-olds. I interviewed children in small groups utilizing storybooks, buttons, drama method and emotion cards. I videotaped the interviews so that I could observe the situation afterwards. I analysed the transcribed material using the content analysis principles. Sosiometric inquiry helped me to study the daycare group’s peer relations and I compared them to childrens’ answers in the interviews. The inquiry was conducted interviewing children individually. The children were asked to list their three most favorable playmates. I drew a sociogram of the sosiometric inquiry. Results and conclusions. Children recognized bullying and its different forms: physical, verbal, psychical and object related bullying. They had also experiences of bullying. Children combined the feeling of loneliness with bullying experiences and situations were they had been left out from the play. Children adduced that they would tell adult if they were bullied. Most of them would tell to teacher in kindergarden and to mum or dad at home. Children thought that bullying includes negative feelings, like sorrow. Bully was seen more aggressive and harried more sad and depressed. Gender differencies could be found in answers. The sosiogram showed that there were children in the study group who were more popular than the others and also children who were outsiders. The results of this study is supported by earlier studies.

The purpose of this study was to describe kindergarten special education teacher´s experience and view about identification tools for language disorders of bilingual children that are kindergarten age. The study method was qualitative research. Research data were collected by semi-structured interview because one of the main focuses was to show interviewees own voice. Five (5) kindergarten special education teachers from Helsinki metropolitan area participated in this study. Data analysis method in this study was content analysis. The study shows that kindergarten special education teachers who participated in study weren´t satisfied about the tools, that are now on available and currently on use. Tests that were used was experienced too vast and it was complicated to perceive what was the cause and what was the consequence of the preschool age bilingual children’s language disorders. Most useful tool was observation. Observation has to be done systematically and observations needed to been written down as soon as possible so that observators were able to return them at a later stage. Observations have to be done also in a variety of different situations and the need to focus on only for one specific aspect at a time. Parents information about their children’s level of mother language was seen as important part of the identification of language disorders. Without that information it was difficult to access the level that children´s Finnish should be. Help was also received from maternity clinic, interpreters, consulting special education teacher´s and areas bilingual teachers. In particular, assistance from various parties in order to obtain a referral to a speech therapist were seen especially important.

In this study one of the main goals is to understand children’s motor skills and their development through the childhood years. The study examines differences between boys and girls in their basic motor skills and how children’s hobbies effects on these skills. Previous studies show that there is a difference between boys and girls in basic motor skills. Boys are better at basic motor skills that are related to throwing and catching. Girls are better in basic motor skills that are related to balance. This study is based on a qualitative research method, using systematic observation. Material of the study has been collected from one of the Helsinki city pre-school. Twelve pre-school children were part of the study; six of them were girls and six of them boys. The material of the study has been analysed with test theory. The result of this study shows that there were differences in basic motor skills between girls and boys. Boys were better in motor skills that required throwing and catching for example a ball. Girls were better in motor skills that required balance for example standing with one leg. Hobbies had a positive effect in motor skills that required balance and running, with girls balance and with boys running. Based on this study there were differences between boys and girls in the five tested motor skills. Hardest motor skills in this study were throwing of a ball and jumping forward and the easiest was catching a bean bag. The differences in this study were small, which is related to the sampling conciseness. The results of the study cannot be generalized, however the study gives a general picture of the participant’s basic motor skills and what are their strength and weakness in the area. Through the observation of the basic motor skills in this study it can be seen what skills require more learning in the future.

The purpose of this research was to gather information about preschoolers’ relational skills in mathematics and possible differences between girls and boys in these skills. The research was accomplished by using the first part of The Early Numeracy Test for Toddlers, The ENT. Previous researches have found out that in preschool boys’ relational skills in mathematics are better than girls’ relational skills. Although research about preschoolers’ developing number sense accomplished during the preschool year 2002–2003 showed that girls did better than boys on The Early Numeracy Test for Toddlers. There weren’t big differences in averages, but girls’ average was better than boys’ average both at the measurement in the beginning and at the measurement in the end. The material for this research was gathered in one preschool class in the spring 2016. 18 pre-schoolers, 10 girls and 8 boys, took part in The Early Numeracy Test for Toddlers. The re-search is quantitative and the material was analysed with the SPSS-program. The results of this research showed that there were some differences about how well the pre-schoolers’ did on the first part of The Early Numeracy Test for Toddlers. Girls did better on the test than boys. Girls’ average was 18,7 and boys’ average was 17. Statistically there were no significant differences between girls and boys. The results of this research are in line with results from previous researches about the same topic.

Raising children’s interest in math and strengthening their pre-mathematical skills should be taken into consideration even before they are school-aged. Mathematical thinking should be developed in preschool education through diverse means. The teacher should consider the child's interests while planning lessons and make use of these in math teaching. An introduction to the language of mathematics, the interaction between teacher and children, and the use of appropriate tools are important components in the training of pre-mathematical skills. The aim of this study was to find out how preschool teachers strengthen the pre-mathematical skills of children, how math appears in everyday life of the preschool group, and how preschool teachers take into account the individual capabilities of children. The theoretical points of departure of the study dealt with preschool education, the importance of mathematics in preschool education and the development of early mathematical skills. The study was conducted as a qualitative case study. The research method was a semi-structured interview. The interviews were conducted by interviewing two preschool teachers from Helsinki. The interviewees were asked 19 questions and their answers were transcribed for analysis. Based on the results, preschool teachers supported the pre-mathematical skills of children in their preschool groups with different types of play and games. Children also completed handout or workbook exercises related to mathematics. According to both of the teachers, mathematics was present in the everyday life of the preschool group and the children had a variety of math-related learning tools available. The two teachers used similar exercises and means to strengthen children’s pre-mathematical skills and they also observed the development of skills.

Objective. The objective of my research is to examine and describe different ways of inte-grating preschool content areas with physical education. The pros and cons of integrating content areas with physical education were also researched. The idea was to cover the views and ideas of one preschool teacher about integrating content areas with physical edu-cation. Methods. This research is qualitative and data was collected through semi-structured the-matic interview. For my research I interviewed one preschool teacher who works in a day care center with a focus on physical education. This makes my research a case study. I recorded, transcribed and analyzed the interview using the methods of qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions. The interview proved that physical education is being utilized as a teaching method with this particular preschool group. Physical education is integrated with all preschool content areas, allthough language, interaction and mathematics were most em-phasized and with these content areas the physical education made learning more diverse and multisensory. The teacher felt that integrating content areas with physical education benefits the children through diverse learning and increased energy levels. The challenge was how to take to account all the individual development stages of each child and how to utilize the preschool environment.

The aim of this study was to find out the level of preschoolers’ physical activity during the day and to show if they are able to reach the recommended level of physical exercise in perspective to early childhood education. The study was also targeted to find out if there are any differences in preschoolers’ physical activity based on gender and geological location. The material for this quantitative research was gathered in May 2015 from two separate pre-schools. 28 children from two groups took part in the study. While this study took place, the children were 6–7 years old. Nine of them were girls and 19 boys. The data was gathered by using Polar activity wrist sensors and analyzed by transforming the results into a quantitative form. The results show that the preschoolers’ physical activity is fairly minimal, but on the other hand, it varies significantly between the individuals and days. Only a few of the participants were able to reach the expected minimum of two hours physical activity per day. Some differences be-tween genders were found in favor of the boys, but the greatest differences were found be-tween individuals. The location of the preschool had significance as well: the children in the city center preschool had higher results in physical activity than the ones in the municipality pre-school. Generally, it can be said that children between 6-7 years of age do not get enough exercise, which coincides with previous studies. The results are directive but the concern of the low physical activity of preschool children is justified. . More attention should be paid to those habits and practices which enable - and prevent - the daily play time at preschool.

Tiedekunta - Fakultet – Faculty Behavioural Sciences Laitos - Institution - Department Teacher Education Tekijä - Författare – Author Ainomaria Lyytikäinen Työn nimi - Arbetets titel Preschoolers`s leisure time and sport activity Title Oppiaine - Läroämne - Subject Education: early childhood education Työn laji/ Ohjaaja - Arbetets art/Handledare - Level/Instructor Master’s Thesis / Supervisor’s Name Aika - Datum - Month and year 7.12.2016 Sivumäärä - Sidoantal - Number of pages 35 pp. + 2 appendices Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract There were and there still are several organisations and experts who express their concern about how children don´t spend enough time exercising. That´s how I became interested in this subject and I wanted to examine whether this was true or not when it comes to pre-schoolers. As a kindergarten teacher it was also important for me for that I could be able to offer them enough possibilities to exercise during school day or a day in the kindergarten. The purpose of my survey was to examine if preschoolers exercise on their free time and if they do so, what kind of exercising they do. I presumed that preschoolers exercise on their free time but I was suspicious if it´s enough based on the daily recommendations of exercis-ing. There were 26 children in total who participated in this survey even though I had reached for 30 participants. The preschoolers were born in 2009 and the group included 14 girls and 12 boys. 17 children lived in Vantaa and nine lived in Espoo. I did my survey using a question-naire. There were both closed and open questions in the questionnaire. I analyzed all an-swers by using a quantitative method. I sent questionnaires to preschool classes and went to collect them on the due date. I ana-lyzed the data using the SPSS Statistics- program. As a conclusion of the results it can be said that children exercise every day but it´s clear that the time spent doing physical activities is far less than recommended. The gap between kids who exercise a lot and those who rarely exercise was quite large. 19,2% of children (n=26) exercise over 8 hours a week and 15,4% exercised 7-8 hours a week. When these results are divided for every day of the week, only 34,6% of children exercise as much as recommended, if there is an hour of exercising included in the day at preschool. Based on this survey, it is very important to make children exercise at preschools and in kindergartens to be sure that the recommendations are fulfilled. Avainsanat - Nyckelord Preschooler, leisure time, sport, childrens Keywords Säilytyspaikka - Förvaringsställe - Where deposited City Centre Campus Library/Behavioural Sciences/Ethesis Muita tietoja - Övriga uppgifter - Additional information

The aim of this research was to find out how preschool education can support the development of children’s emotional skills. The ways how Huiske-preschool learning material supports the development of children’s emotional skills is examined in this study. It is also examined how the material responses to the Finnish preschool curriculum (2014) -document’s (Esiopetuksen opetussuunnitelman perusteet 2014) viewpoint of integrated teaching. Previous studies has shown that emotional skills have an impact on learning and the development of interaction and social skills. The study combined quantitative and qualitative research strategy and the research method in this study was quantifying content analysis. The research material was a preschool material Huiske, which is a written learning material. Huiske consists of twenty story chapters, half of which were analysed in this study. Emotional skills which were discovered in the Huiske-material were naming emotions, emotion identification, expressing emotions, processing emotions and emotion regulation. Expressing emotions were the biggest part of emotional skills in the material which is on line with the preschool aged child development phase. Emotion exercises were integrated most to areas of expression and language skills. However, it is possible to integrate emotional skills to all the contents of the Finnish preschool curriculum-document (2014). With practising children’s emotional skills it is possible to support children’s development comprehensively.