Browsing by Author "Närhi, Jemina"

Aim. It has been shown in several studies that children who have been placed outside home as an action of child protection services are vulnerable in many ways, in many areas of life and in how they fare in the institutional settings. Appealing to the aims that have been set in the National Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care (2016) it is worth examining what kind of supportive role could early childhood education, and in practice, a single kindergarten teacher have in a foster child’s life. The purpose of the study was to shed some light on what kind of possibilities and means does a kindergarten teacher have in supporting foster child in early childhood education settings. In the study it was mainly described through attachment theory how those mechanisms arising from certain processes have caused developmental risks that are typical for foster children. Furthermore, the manners and arrangements of beneficial support for foster children were discussed in the theory part. Finally, the possibilities and means available in kindergarten teacher’s job were considered taking early childhood education’s context and conditions into account. Methods. The method of this research was qualitative. The research data consisted of semi-structured individual interviews in which three university-based kindergarten teachers participated. Qualitative content-based analysis was used in the analysis of the data. Results. The results brought out that kindergarten teachers felt themselves mainly capable of supporting foster children quite well. The opportunities were provided, for instance, by a workable team, a vast network, having knowledge of the theories and children’s backgrounds and by the everyday life of the kindergarten itself, though to some extent, teachers felt themselves also inadequate. The means of the support involved a multitude of practices considered as pedagogical functions, such as small group activities, the quality of interaction and a structured everyday life. The role of the early childhood education and a single kindergarten teacher as an overall seemed to be significant in supporting foster children and in their lives generally.