Browsing by Author "Ahlqvist, Laura"

Pictures are used quite commonly in early education to support interaction and learning. However, my personal experiences about using pictures have been very variable. Moreover, there is just a little scientific knowledge about the subject. The aim of this research was to find out how pictures are used in part of a learning environment, a structured daily routine and an individual executive functions in integrated groups. Additionally, special needs kindergarten teachers’ interpretations of using pictures, the importance of using pictures in their work, and possibilities and challenges that they might see about the subject, were charted. The integrated groups were selected to my research because it is likely that pictures are used in groups that have children who have special needs. This research was qualitative. The research frame was a descriptive case study, and the data were gathered in three integrated groups that were located in the same area in Espoo. The methods that were chosen to gather the data were interviewing the special needs kindergarten teachers and observing the groups. In the data analysis, I used content analysis, where the data of the transcribed interviews and observation forms were divided and sorted by themes. Uppermost in the research results came up variety, quality and richness in using pictures in integrated groups and special needs kindergarten teachers’ positive attitude towards using pictures. Additionally, there also came up some challenges that had been experienced. It was interesting to see how consistent the teachers’ answers were. It came up that the same subjects were repeated in the issues concerning pictures. Naturally, there came up also some divergent opinions. Pictures were a big part of the learning environments, daily routines and executive functions in every group. Pictures were seen to benefit everyone, not just children who have special needs. The challenges in the future concern using pictures in part of daily routine in every kindergarten group, and supporting children’s social skills using pictures, especially when a child has problems in communication.