Browsing by Author "Etzell, Elsa"

This study aims to investigate the perceptions of pre-school teachers regarding multicultural education in pre-schools. Multicultural education is a topical issue in Finland because of the immigration to the country. This is a qualitative study and the method for data collection is interviews. By interviewing three pre-school teachers, I have gained insight into the perceptions of pre-school teachers regarding what multiculturalism is, what kind of challenges there are in multicultural education in pre-schools, and how pre-school teachers work with multicultural education. These interviews also shed light on the current state of multicultural education in Finland. However, as this study is conducted with only three interviewees, the conclusions regarding the perceptions of the pre-school teachers about multicultural education are somewhat limited. The results of this study indicate that most pre-school teachers perceive multicultural education in pre-schools as a continuous and natural presence in the interaction with children. Moreover, there is, at least to some extent, planned multicultural education in all pre-school groups. There are challenges in multicultural education, some of which emerge intermittently while others are present on a daily basis. Most of the pre-school teachers perceived multiculturalism as a situation. The pre-school teachers perceived that in multicultural education means paying attention to, accepting and respecting differing cultures, traditions and habits.