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The purpose with this study is to see how some kindergarten teachers are working with the theme children’s feelings and acting out behavior. The theory part is supported by the law, the national regulatory documents and scientific literature within the field. The thesis will also go deeper into the fundamental of the low arousal approach. This study is a qualitative study where the material is collected by an interview with four randomly picked kindergarten teachers. The interview questions are semi-structured and my informants have got the interview questions beforehand. The analysis of the material has been made by looking for similarities and differences between the informants’ answers. Through the analysis of the databases it did appear that the informants were thinking that the theme feelings is an important, but hard subject. The informants were largely working in the same way, but there were some differences though. One of the conclusions in the study is that kindergarten teachers perhaps could need more support and in-service training within this theme, in order to get the tools that are needed in order to work and support children’s emotional development in the best possible way.

Denna avhandling presenterar resultaten av en kvalitativt intervjustudie vars syfte är att utforska barnskyddssocialarbetares roll vid misstanke om sexuellt våld mot barn. Arbetets frågeställning lyder: Hur upplever socialarbetare sin roll vid fall av misstanke om sexuellt våld mot barn? Jag genomförde semistrukturerade intervjuer med två socialarbetare som jobbar inom barnskydd med fokus på deras erfarenhet och perspektiv i fall av misstanke om sexuellt våld mot barn. Genom att använda principerna för kvalitativ innehållsanalys indelade jag barnskyddsocialarbetares upplevelser i fyra kategorier: Kompetens för att hantera fall som rör sexuellt våld mot barn, interaktion och samarbete med familjer, skapa förtroende till och kontakt med barn och samarbete med andra aktörer. I jämförelse med tidigare forskning har respondenterna i denna studie relativt positiva upplevelser av sin roll vid misstanke om sexuellt våld mot barn. Resultaten tyder på att utbildningen i sexuellt våld mot barn är begränsad och att det ofta faller på socialarbetarnas axlar att själva fördjupa sig i ämnet. Resultaten visar även att socialarbetarna anser att det inte enbart är utredningsprocessen som är av betydelse utan även socialarbetarnas arbete med att hitta rätt vård och stöd för barn och familjer. Nyckelord: sexuellt våld mot barn, barnskydd, psykodynamiska riskfaktorer.

I denna kandidatavhandling granskar jag barns och ungdomars erfarenheter av att bo på barnskyddsanstalter. Jag har avgränsat området till två begrepp som jag specifikt undersöker, delaktighet och kontroll. Syftet med min avhandling är att undersöka barns upplevda delaktighet i och med vardagsbeslut på barnhemmen samt upplevda erfarenheter av kontrollen som utförs av personalen som är en stor del av vardagen på barnhemmet. Metoden jag har använt i min avhandling är systematisk litteraturöversikt. Jag har granskat, läst och analyserat sju studier som handlar om barns och ungas liv på barnhem ur deras perspektiv. Dessa studier är från Sverige och Finland och är vetenskapliga artiklar, doktorsavhandlingar och pro-gradu arbeten. Alla studier omfattar intervjuer med barn och ungdomar. I studierna jag har tagit del av har barnen och ungdomarna intervjuats om specifika fenomen, dessa fenomen kan till exempel vara erfarenheter delaktighet och förhållandet med personalen. Min teoretiska referensram består av fyra begrepp. Dessa begrepp är barns perspektiv, delaktighet, barn som social aktör samt social kontroll. Resultaten av de sju studierna var mångsidiga, de upplevde vardagen och livet på barnhemmen som både positiv och negativ. De centrala resultaten var att barnen inte kände sig tillräckligt sedda, hörda och delaktiga då det handlade om beslut inom barnskyddet samt vardagsbeslut på barnhemmen. De kände att de inte togs på allvar och blev behandlade snarare som objekt än som självständiga individer. De upplevde att kontrollen, det vill säga reglernas och begränsningarnas existens var viktig men även orättvis. De barnen som hade positiva erfarenheter från barnhemmen kände sig även delaktiga och upplevde kontrollen, det vill säga reglerna och begränsningarna som rättvisa och viktiga. De som hade negativa erfarenheter kände sig inte delaktiga och de kände att de inte togs på allvar. Jag har på basis av resultaten kommit fram till att barn och ungdomar som har en allmänt positiv inställning till att bo på diverse barnskyddsanstalter även får känslan av att de blir hörda och sedda eftersom de inte endast tänker i negativa banor. Medan de som har en allmän negativ attityd gentemot barnskyddsanstalter och livet överlag inte heller ger en chans åt sig själv att forma en positiv upplevelse av barnhem, de anser att allting på dessa anstalter är negativt.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide an introduction to the subject of children’s stress in child care settings. The paper discusses the neuropsychological foundation to stress, as well as what this implicates for the educator’s work on reducing stress in child care settings. The research questions were as following. 1. How does the stress system work in a child? 2. How can the educator use current research on stress to help children improve their stress management skills and reduce stress in child care settings? The method that has been used in this thesis is a narrative literature review. The thesis arrives at the conclusion that educators need to broaden their knowledge on how the stress system works in a child. The thesis also identifies which aspects of the child care setting and the educator’s working method that are importiant in reducing children’s stress. The thesis argues that there is need for a working method that is more conciously focused on reucing stress.

The purpose of this study is to give insight into, and to create a better understanding of children’s thoughts on bullying. Understanding the phenomenon from the children’s point of view is of immense importance for the educators working to prevent bullying in kindergartens. The theoretical premise for the study is bullying in kindergartens. The survey is made up of individual, qualitative interviews, conducted with the story crafting method. Ten pre–school children participated in the study. The interviews started with reading out loud from a children’s book in which the predominating theme was bullying. The children then proceeded to draw a picture of a confrontation between oppressor or oppressors and victim, together with an accompanying story. The discussion that followed was then recorded in order for it to be analyzed at a later stage. The study’s most important result implies that children mainly associate the phenomenon of bullying with verbal and physical abuse. There is also a notable difference between the children in nature of the bullying. Girls highlight verbal abuse while boys tend to focus on the physical side of it. The result also shows that bullying cause negative sentiments in the victim. The pictures that were drawn in order to illustrate their view of the phenomenon tend to employ mainly darker colors. From the study one can conclude that educators in kindergartens have an important role and a responsibility to create awareness of, and to take preventive measures against bullying.

The purpose of this study is based on the pedagogues point of view to find out how caregivers and pedagogues negotiate about children’s nap in kindergarten, what conflicts there are regarding nap and how pedagogues view the importance of the nap for children. I have studied how pedagogues experience cooperation with the caregivers about the nap at kindergarten and what importance the pedagogues feel that nap has for the child. The theory chapter deals with the basis for the study and give an idea of what the study is about. The study is qualitative in structure and was conducted by interviews and observation. In total, three different kindergartens in a small town in western Uusimaa took part. There interviews were conducted with pedagogues at the daycare department for children aged of 3–5 years and three observations of children’s nap in the same ward as the pedagogue worked. The result showed that the pedagogues agree that the nap is important for the child. One reason is that society is so stressful today that it is extra important for the child to be able to relax. The nap is needed for the child to grow normally and for their creativity, emotion, mood, concentration and immune system to develope properly. The nap is also important for the child's well-being and for strengthening. The study indicates that there are challenges in everyday life for both pedagogues and caregivers and cooperation is a tool in the work for the best interests of the child.

The aim of this thesis was to investigate how kindergarten teachers experience daycare start. Within the Swedish speaking daycare in Helsinki, the work is based on the "With the eyes of children" approach. This working model addresses following questions; how do kindergarten teachers perceive home visits, how do they experience the soft landing period in daycare and what thoughts do they have about the self-care model. The theoretical part focus on theories associated with the self-care model, previous research and hence emphasize national governing documents. A qualitative research method was used in this study and data was collected by using a semi-structured interview. Three kindergarten teachers participated in the study and the interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. The results reveals that kindergarten teachers perceive the self-care model as one of the most important tools in the field. Home visits are seen as an important trust building link between families and teachers and therefore are home visits perceived to deepen the relationship between the teacher, parent and child. Soft landing as a method creates a safe foundation for a child to start daycare as the child and teacher already have a connection with each other. Some improvement suggestions concerning the soft landing method are addressed. One improvement suggestion could be to clarify parents’ participation in the self-care model. Additionally was pointed out, that a self-caregiver at the daycare start, is quite tied up and that the self-care model does not always work out in the best possible way. This means that as a self-caregiver you have to be flexible and be able to adapt the self-care model in a neat way.

The purpose of this thesis was to find out what kind of experiences recently graduated kindergarten teachers have about developmental pedagogy and how they can practice it in activities with children. The study brings up kindergarten teachers attitudes to developmental pedagogy, its advantages and disadvantages, as well as how they use it in practice, if they do. The theoretical frame concentrates on where the developmental pedagogy theory has arisen from, what it involves and also discusses developmental psychology’s association to developmental pedagogy. It also emphasizes what the national regulatory documents consider about children’s development and learning, as well as previous research about developmental pedagogy. The study was qualitative and based on interviews. Four recently graduated kindergarten teachers participated in the study, which work both in municipal and private kindergartens in the metropolitan area of Helsinki. The interviews were executed individually at the respective teachers work places. My research approach is phenomenological. The results show that the teachers have a positive attitude towards developmental pedagogy and they find it to be a good tool for successful activities in the kindergarten. Developmental pedagogy enriches the child’s learning and the child constitutes understanding for its surrounding world. However, developmental pedagogy is very time-consuming and it assumes that all the colleagues share the same perspective on children and work similarly.

The aim of this thesis is to find out how early childhood teachers experience well-being in the working community in the field of early childhood education and care, and how well-being can be promoted. This thesis helps to increase understanding of what early childhood teachers experience as a healthy working community. In addition, the thesis contributes to knowledge about how well-being can be promoted within a work team. The background to this thesis is changes in society, the new legislation that implies changes in daily activities of early childhood education and care, which bring new challenges to early childhood teachers. In this thesis, the following research questions are central: How would early childhood teachers define a well-functioning work community in early childhood education? In what ways can well-being be promoted? The theoretical point of departure in this study is psychosocial work environment, work culture and leadership. The methodology used in this thesis is qualitative research methods with a phenomenological approach to describe four respondents’ perceptions of well-being in the working community, in two different day-care centres. This, to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon this study focuses on and to gain an idea of how early childhood teachers perceive their everyday work life. The result of this study shows that communication has a central role in a healthy working community. Other important factors are social support, cooperation, evenly allocated work, sufficient human resources and leadership.