Browsing by study line "Förskolepedagogik"
Now showing items 41-60 of 108
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(2020)The early childhood education and care (ECEC) and Basic education introduced a new national Core Curriculum by the Finnish National Agency for education in 2016. Both national norm curricula can be found confluence, and since ECEC transformed under to Finnish National Agency for education in 2015, ECEC, preschool education and basic education becomes an integral part of the lifelong path of growth and learning and of the continuum of curricula. The purpose of this study is to clarify ECE leaders’ and basic education leaders’ views on curricula and curriculum leadership. The research questions are following: (1) How does Curriculum appear in ECE leaders and basic education leaders discussion? (2) What discourses can be identified in both discussions? (3) How does Curriculum Implementation appear in both discussions? This study was conducted using qualitative methods and the used data consists of theme interview collected in the Eduleaders project training. The training involved 10 interviewees working in the context of educational leadership. The material was analyzed by a using discourse analysis with the aim of defining curricula discourses in leaders’ discussions. Four significant discourses were mentioned and can be identified as the following: 1. The discussion about curriculum as a framework 2. The discussion about curriculum as a vanguard. 3. The discussion about curriculum as a challenge. 4. The discussion about curriculum as an enabler. The research results show that both early childhood education leaders and basic education discuss about curricula within the same framework and with the same concepts. The results reveal the curriculum to be in reformation phase in which the old and the new curriculum are confronted. Furthermore, the national curriculum gained a central role as a fundament of work. The distributed leadership and pedagogical discussions occurred in the discussions of both leaders as ways to implement the curriculum. In the discussions about curriculum as challenge the leaders pointed out it being difficult to implement the curriculum in classrooms or child groups, where teachers prefer rather traditional teaching than the alternative methods of the new curriculum. Eventually the slowness and extent of development as well as short-sightness in the field were identified as challenges. However, the discussion illustrates the curriculum positively in terms of child orientation, opportunities to try new things and co-creation.
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(2024)Objectives. Early mathematical skills predict future academic success. The development of mathematical skills during primary school years tends to be weaker in children learning Finnish as a second language as compared to native speakers. However, these skills beginto develop early in life, with mathematical vocabulary playing a crucial role. Given that learning the Finnish language is a time-consuming process, there is a growing demand for valid and reliable assessment methods for mathematical skills and vocabulary that do not necessitate speech production in the second language. The SMST Picture Vocabulary Test aims to assess the recognition of words related to mathematics. The first objective of this study is to analyze the reliability and validity of this test, while the second is to examine the role of age, home language, gender, and the duration of participation in Early Childhood Education (ECE) in relation to knowledge of vocabulary. Methods. The data was gathered from children who were Finnish language learners aged 5–7 years (N=100) attending public ECE centers in the capital area. The reliability of the test was evaluated through internal consistency analyses. Additionally, known-group validity and concurrent validity assessments were conducted. Knowledge of mathematical vocabulary was examined through test results, with additional background data collected from teachers. Teachers evaluated the overall language and mathematical skills of the children. The study employed a quantitative approach with statistical analysis methods using the IBM SPSS program. Main results and conclusions. The study suggests that the SMST Picture Vocabulary Test demonstrates weak reliability, yet moderate validity, to be used for children learning Finnish as a second language. Concurrent validity analysis affirms the test to be primarily a vocabulary knowledge assessment tool. The SMST test demonstrated the ability to differentiate between two pre-established groups (Finnish language learners and native speakers) in mathematical skills through knowledge of mathematical vocabulary, thereby supporting the known-group validity of the test. The duration of participation in ECE emerged as the strongest indicator for mathematical vocabulary test results, followed by age, predicting 29 % of the vocabulary knowledge. Gender differences were found, with the results favoring girls. Home language showed no significant relation to competency in math vocabulary. The findings from this study pave the way for further research into the assessment of mathematical vocabulary knowledge among Finnish language learners, with a particular focus on understanding the factors influencing this knowledge.
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(2024)The aim of the study is to enhance understanding of the construction of multispecies motivated educational consciousness and how knowledge, emotions, and relationships with bees can concretize this construction. The term multispecies and the associated term animal turn refer to a paradigm shift in which other animals are no longer seen as resources available to humans, but as historical and intrinsic beings. Multispecies thinking assumes interdependence between species. Multispecies educational consciousness enables not only the consideration of worldviews and ethics, but also the implementation of multispecies pedagogy. The study falls within the realm of theoretical and conceptual research, with an emphasis on a hermeneutic research approach. Through methodological hermeneutic interpretation, the framework of the study was constructed from the perspectives of multispecies and educational consciousness. The synthesis of multispecies and educational consciousness frameworks in the study not only guided the hermeneutic interpretation of the research, but also supplied a ready-made hermeneutic spiral for the development of individual teachers' educational consciousness. In the light of the study, multispecies thinking and education are not seen as ending anthropocentrism, but rather as a transforming force. Multispecies educational consciousness is developed through diverse ways of knowing, meeting, feeling, staying with, and speaking to other species. Based on this research, it can be argued that the development of multispecies educational consciousness is an important part of avoiding ecological catastrophe, addressing the eco-crisis, improving the rights of other animals in educational contexts, and generally diversifying one's worldview and relationship with the world. Further research is needed, especially on the following topics: university curricula as facilitators of multispecies motivated educational consciousness; the role of technology as a mediator between other animals and the world in the development of educational consciousness and multi-species pedagogy; and a more comprehensive understanding of the meanings of different forms of empathy as part of multispecies educational consciousness and pedagogy.
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(2024)In this study, I aim to investigate the significance of the curriculum as a guiding document for the work of early childhood education teachers, how teachers define their autonomy in relation to the implementation of the experimental curriculum, and how play, defined as a central form of activity in preschool education, is perceived by teachers participating in the experiment. The curriculum obliges the work of early childhood education teachers and serves as a directive basis for the formulation of local curricula (OPH, 2014, p. 1). In August 2021, the Ministry of Education and Culture initiated an experiment on two-year preschool education as part of the Right to Learn (Oikeus oppia) development program. The Finnish National Agency for Education created new curriculum guidelines for the participating preschool units, in which the significance of play in a child's growth, development, well-being, and learning is acknowledged more prominently (OPH, 2021, p. 13). Despite the emphasis on play and its importance in guiding docu-ments, as well as its appreciation by early childhood education professionals, research suggests that it has not yet established the practices that would enable its central role in preschool education. One explanation may lie in the conflicting relationship between policy and autonomy framed by the work of early childhood education teachers: while the constantly evolving and broad curriculum guides the work of teachers obligatorily, it also leaves all concrete activities related to implementation, development, and evalua-tion entirely up to the teachers' interpretation (Wood & Hedges, 2016, pp. 400–401). The study was conducted as a qualitative research employing thematic interviews as the data collection method. Ten early childhood education teachers who participated in the two-year preschool education experiment from five different locations took part in the interviews. The data were analyzed using content analysis, searching for similarities, resemblances, and examining differences within the material. Based on the research findings, it appears that the teachers' relationship with the experimental curriculum was distant. Half of the interviewees found the experimental curriculum too extensive and lacking in concreteness. Only one out of ten teachers actively used the experimental curriculum as support for their work and as a basis for planning. Eight teachers reported that the experimental curriculum was not present in their daily routines or guiding the activities of the two-year preschool education. Teachers perceived their autonomy regarding the adoption of the experimental curriculum as unreasonably limited: They felt left without support or orientation regarding the experiment and were not given time for planning. The extensive responsibility caused feelings of burden and even failure for several teachers. In interviews, talk about play was conspicuously by its absent. Only one out of ten teachers spontaneously mentioned play, stating that its role had increased within the group due to the experiment. The interviewed teachers described play as important for the child but as something happening outside of other preschool activities. The role of adults in play remained distant in nine out of ten interviews, and in eight out of ten cases, adults strongly controlled the play.
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(2021)The aim of this study was to examine how the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) directors describe the pedagogy of children under the age of three and what significances the ECEC directors can give to the pedagogy of said children. The study focuses on analyzing how the pedagogy of under the age of three is discursively constructed by the ECEC direc-tors. Previous studies have shown that the shortcomings in the pedagogy are emphasized especially on the children under the age of three, although it is known that the early childhood phase is very intensive in the development of children. Thus, the pedagogy and discourse of the ECEC directors is very important, as it guides the whole pedagogic work culture. The methodology of this research was based on social constructionism and discourse analy-sis. The data for this master’s thesis was gathered by interviewing five municipal ECEC di-rectors from two municipalities of the southern Finland area. The interviews were conducted in 2020. A qualitative research method which utilized half-structured thematic interviews was used. The interviews were recorded and transcribed and the data was analyzed by discourse analysis. Four different discourses were formulated from the data of the first research problem, how ECEC directors describe the pedagogy of children under the age of three. The following dis-courses occurred in the research material: the whole day pedagogy, research-based, profes-sionalism and pedagogical leadership. Four different discourses were formulated from the da-ta of the second research problem occurred following four discourses: the basis of life, rights of children, sensitive interaction in the middle of the pedagogy and participation of the child. The ECEC directors described pedagogy of the children under the age of three as a unity of education and care. Furthermore, the importance of pedagogy, research basis, professional skills and pedagogic leadership was emphasized in the discussion. The sensitive interaction and participation of the children was the baseline of a good quality pedagogics. The pedagog-ics of the early childhood education was described as an important foundation of life and a privilege of the child.
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(2023)The purpose of this research is to find out what is published about early childhood education in the news. Previous studies have shown that Finns mainly trust the leading national news media, Helsingin Sanomat and Yle. In addition, the research find out and think about how news can influence the public. The research analyzes the topics and language of the news headlines. The research was conducted by the qualitative method, which consists of content analysis that examined online news headlines published by Helsingin Sanomat and Yle news. Through discourse analysis, I also studied the language of news headlines as well as the meanings and images they produce. The research figured out what kind of topics and how early childhood education will be reported in Yle's and Helsingin Sanomat's news in 2022. I will focus on 194 news headlines in the research that was published between the first of April and December 14th, 2022. The research material was selected by including the words early childhood education or daycare that had to be mentioned in the news title. I classified the research material into four categories: crisis, statement, neutral and positive. The results showed that my material consisted of the most of neutral news headlines. Crisis news had the next highest number, and the quantitative difference in positive news was remarkably large. There were only 12 positive news headlines from the entire material. The topics of the news headlines were mainly related to the labor shortage and informing about the spring 2022 strike. Crisis news headlines mainly related to the labor shortage and the word crisis was used a lot in the headlines. Neutral news headlines were expressed without using strong dictions or otherwise bringing out strong opinions. They were mainly related to informing about the strike or like building a new kindergarten. In particular, crisis and statement headlines used quotes or comments that were mostly expressed by ministers or researchers. The research makes me think about what kind of effect news headlines have on the attractiveness and on public opinion of the industry of early childhood education.
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(2022)The purpose of this study was to examine Finnish contemporary children´s picturebooks from the language awareness point of view. The aim of the study was to find out what kind of linguistic landscape the examined picturebooks transmit. The theoretical background was based on language awareness studies and children´s picture book studies. The concept of linguistic landscape became pivotal in this study because previous studies has shown that literature and especially textbooks have a central role in forming the linguistic landscape of institutions (see e.g., Brown, 2012; Suuriniemi & Satokangas, 2021). The research material consists of nine children´s picture book that are written in 2017–2022 and have diversity in the linguistic landscape. The research material was collected in cooper-ation with the library’s informant. The study implemented as a discursive reading. Critical dis-course analysis was used to analyze the material. The study showed that in the picturebooks examined, diverse linguistic landscape was a natural phenomenon in society. There were three main discourses that distinguished from the material: 1) diverse languages as a part of children´s everyday life and reality, 2) the encouragement of languaging and active linguistic agency, 3) advocacy of the children´s use of individual and diverse linguistic repertoires. As a result of these discourses there can be found a diverse, linguistically unique but coequal reader written in pages of the picturebooks. The children´s picturebooks can be seen as a rich tool, when the aim is to choose teaching mate-rial that effects on linguistic landscape in early childhood education.
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(2022)Aims. In this study the purpose is to describe physical, psychological, and social learning environment in three early childhood special education groups. This study is based on sociocultural theory where the development and learning of the child is seen to happen in the interaction between the individual and the environment. (Vygotsky 1978; Rogoff 2003, 2008). The aim of this study is to reveal how the learning environment supports the inclusion and peer interaction of child with multiple developmental disabilities. Methods. The approach to this study was ethnographic as the aim was to develop a diverse understanding of the learning environment. The data for this study was collected with LEANS- assessment scale (Strain & Joseph 2004, translated by Suhonen 2004) from three early childhood special education groups and by interviewing special education teachers. Data was also collected from documents regarding the organization of the teaching. In the analysis of the LEANS assessment scale qualitative and quantitative analysis where combined. Propositions in the LEANS assessment scale were evaluated with a five-step Likert- scale. Quantitative analysis was completed by reporting the mean of the propositions. Qualitative analysis was completed by describing the structure of the contents in the propositions. The interviews of the special education teachers were analysed with theory-guided content analysis. The two previously mentioned research materials were supported with documents including the organization of the teaching and by comparing the interpretation of the physical, psychological, and social learning environments. After the analysis of each research material the whole data was analysed with dialogic thematization which enabled the construction of the themes of the learning environment. Findings and conclusions. The themes of the learning environments were created by the dialogic thematization. These themes where: the construction of the physical and immaterial material in the learning environment, sustaining the emotional well-being and positive atmosphere, and supporting and reinforcing the individual skills and peer interaction. The fulfilment of the inclusion and peer interaction of child with multiple developmental disabilities is seen as a multidimensional process which requires the presence of physical, psychological, and social learning environment. High-quality elements can be identified from the construction of the learning environment. However successful inclusion and peer interaction in the learning environment requires the awareness of the efficiency of these elements from the early childhood educator. This highlights the role of the early childhood educator in high-quality learning environments.
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(2022)The purpose of this study is to examine the way in which sexual education is discussed in educational trade journals in Finland. The subject of the study is the sexual education of young children of 0 to 12 years old. The intention is to also look at how the writings that emerge are related to the obligatory educational documents in Finland. Methodological bases for this study are post-structuralism and feminist methodology. Through a critical approach to research’s content, this research also aims at societal debate and, ultimately, change. The material used in the study is three volumes of Lastentarha and Opettaja journals, a total of eighty-one (81) journals. These materials are examined by means of critical discourse analysis (CDA), highlighting both the tone of writing and their possible origins and purposes. At the same time, the discursive exercise of power by media emerges, the effects of which I discuss in the emergence of discourses. The results show that there is little talk in the magazines about sexual education. Still, issues related to the content of sexual education are talked about, and discursive ways that focus on one's own ideologies can be observed. At the same time, the tone of writing about sexual education are coloured by the activities that focus on self-evident views and the defensiveness of the theme within its taboo-like status.
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(2023)The purpose of my study is to provide a holistic view of childhood grief from the perspective of student teachers in early childhood education. The aim is to identify typical ways of mourning in childhood and the meanings given to childhood grief in the students' grief narratives. The research data consists of grief narratives written by early childhood education students at the University of Helsinki. The data was collected as part of the research project Children's Grief and Cultural Practices of Mourning in Early Childhood Education funded by the Academy of Finland in 2021-2025. I use a narrative research approach to conduct the study. My study can be considered as a dialogue between the students' narratives, my interpretations of the narratives and theoretical knowledge. In the analysis of the data, I have applied both analysis of narratives and narrative analysis. In the light of the results, grief experienced in childhood appears as a holistic experience of loss, both personal and socially shared by the individual, characterised by meaningfulness and the co-existence of other emotions. The results of my study do not contradict previous research on grief, but support previous findings from a new perspective.
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(2021)Understanding the concept of participation and its connection to equity is emphasized as education becomes increasingly diverse. Participation has been raised as one of the counterforces in the fight against inequality and therefore requires a strong knowledge base on equity. However, research shows that participation is not achieved equally and that children have unequal opportunities to belong and take part in a group. In my thesis, I look at participation in relation to inequality. The aim of this study is to identify and find the meanings, descriptions and solutions given to participation from the perspective of equality and examine how the solutions are formed. The research material in this study was fifteen opinion pieces in Helsingin Sanomat from 2011–2021. Opinion pieces in newspapers serve as a forum for current topics in education. Opinion pieces produced in a particular context made to influence can be used to locate individual experiences and connect them to larger societal issues. The dimensions of inequality in the context of education were identified from the opinion pieces. In the research material, participation was described through three (3) discourses: participation as strengthening, limited participation, and participation as documents and obligations. Solutions were constructed through five (5) discourses: individuality, hearing, belonging, responsibility, and investment. In the research material, parents and experts stood out as authors. I analyze the material in a discourse analytical framework, distinguishing broader discourses describing and producing partici- pation. In addition to this, I also examined the solutions by means of rhetorical analysis, which enabled a more accurate linguistic examination of their construction. Based on my research, participation is identified as a strengthening force, a prerequisite for learning, and a gateway to equity. However, in practice, participation is not achieved equally. Resource inequality and existential inequality are identifiable forms of inequality in participatory descriptions in the opinion pieces. Experiences of non-belonging expose an unequal position in society. Discourses that build solutions are linked to societal values about economic interests, increased understanding, and the privilege of being heard. The requirement for teachers, tutors and adults working with children is to continuously develop themselves and to break down practices that maintain inequality. In addition to inclusive pedagogy, teachers need to know and identify discriminatory practices and structures as well as separations between children. It is essential that the dimensions of participation and the different opportunities for children to have experiences of participation are identified and made visible.
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(2019)Involvement is a phenomenon that interests the researchers at the moment also in the context of a leadership. Involvement research in the early childhood education is focused on the involvement structures and possibilities of small children. At the moment shortage of the competent teachers and practical nurses and their commitment to the long-term work relationship however brings us back to the basic questions of leadership; how to lead involvement? The theoretical frame of this study is based on contextual model of leadership (Nivala 1999) which sees the early childhood leadership and the early childhood substance inseparable. I also use the theoretical frame of involvement created by Finnish National Institute of Health and Welfare that define involvement as closely related to the intrinsic motivation, possibility to have an affect to your surrounding environment and benevolence. My research task was to find out how early childhood education leaders experience leading involvement. What experiences they had about competence, distributed leadership and challenges that related to the industry? The study was qualitative and was based on phenomenological methodology which reach for the subjective experiences of the individuals. As a data I used the themed focus group interview material that was collected in the Eduleaders project training. Method of analysis was the theory-guided content analysis. In the results competence became a key factor in leading involvement. Leadership competence meant both common leadership skills and the ability to lead early childhood substance. Important were also the professional skills of the working community, teachers and practical nurses and their ability to work autonomously. Leading involvement was also based on functional distributed leadership that called for workable structures as well as the teacher´s competence in leading their teams and distributed pedagogical leadership. Early childhood leaders also saw joint leadership between leader- leader and teacher-teacher as a functional leadership structure in the future that may increase the experiences of deeper involvement. The challenges of leading involvement were the resources related to work as well as the current change in the operational culture, which challenged the definition of job descriptions and the involvement of a multi-professional work community. In the future the leaders hope for more innovative working style, experimentation and autonomy in relation to the mission of the early childhood education.
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(2022)Objectives. The aim of this study was to examine how children express their participation in their peer interaction during a playworld activity. In this study participation has been approached trough belonging to the group and influencing possibilities, since these has been seen as an important part of participation in early childhood education. Multimodality of interaction was also taken into account. The research questions were: (1) How does children express and build participation in their peer interaction during the playworld activity? (2) How can playworld activity been seen to affect children`s peer interaction and participation? Methods. The study was carried out as a qualitative video observation study. Video data was collected by filming the playworld activities of one preschool group, located in Helsinki metropolitan area, in the spring 2018. Data was analysed by multimodal content analysis and Atlas.ti (qualitative data analysis software) was also used as a support of content analysis. Results and conclusions. It was observed plenty of actions in the children`s peer interaction that showed and build participation. The children used both non-verbal and verbal ways of interaction when expressing group membership and sharing their opinion. The results of the study favor the thought that observing children`s participation is possible only by taking into account the non-verbal resources of interaction. Children were observed expressing togetherness during playworld activities as well as making plenty of play-related suggestions and speeches. The children used different interaction resources in their peer interaction in different stages of playworld activity. Playworld activity and the opportunities it offers for children`s peer interaction, can provide a good environment for children`s participation occur in the early childhood education.
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(2023)Settling in at daycare center is an exciting step in child’s and his/her parents’ life. Children’s literature is a one way to get ready for starting daycare. Through books child can safely handle excitement and nervous with parent when child is stepping into a new stage in his/her life. Child can find objects of identification in the books’ character, who has just started daycare. With the help of children’s literature, it is possible to study how the spirit of the time manifests itself in story, text, and illustrations of books. In this study, I aim to find out what kind of descriptions of daycare centers are made and how the start of daycare is described in Finnish children’s picture books. Qualitative research ways were used in this research. I approached the topic with hermeneutics. The source material was six Finnish picture books that were telling about daycare center or visiting or starting there for the first time. Onni ja Aada päiväkodissa (2021) by Maria Kuutti and Saara Söderlund, Miina ja Manu päiväkodissa (2008) by Teutori, Onni-poika menee päiväkotiin (2019) by Sanna Pelliccioni, Oona ja Eetu Päivä hoidossa (2010) by Katri Kirkkopelto and Mervi Wäre, Tomppa ja Kissantassut (2003) by Kristiina Louhi and Tatu ja Patu päiväkodissa (2004) by Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen. Based on the results, the children book characters felt nervous when they were starting at daycare center. Moreover, Finnish daycare centers are described to be nature focused, diverse and child-initiated places where works sensitive educators who put into practice high quality early childhood education and care. Based on the results, it is still possible to discern the influence of Froebelian pedagogic that has influenced the Finnish early childhood education and care system. The results also give an ideal picture of daycare center even if the real life is not exactly like that how the picture books are describing daycare centers.
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(2022)The purpose of this research was to study early childhood education meetings from the perspective of leadership and group processes. The research also clarified what factors leaders combined together with good meeting. The subject of this research is valid and current because there is no previous research from this specific area. Groupwork forms an essential part of working in early childhood education. It is important to see how leaders can make use of the information about group processes. Organizational research have shown that for example using facilitation can accomplish good outcomes. The aim of this research is to give an information to early childhood leaders on how they can plan even better meetings and use the time best way possible. The research was carried out as a case study. The research sample was six early childhood education leaders from the same city in the Helsinki metropolitan area. They were chosen in random. The leaders were interviewed by using a half structured interview. Interviews took place in the summer 2021. The interview material was then transcripted. The research methodology used was theory-driven content analysis. According to this research the most important meaning of the meetings is pedagogical development. Meetings offer employees a chance to impact their work and share professional knowledge. Good meeting is a combination of inner and outer factors. Inner factors were communication, participation and autonomy. Atmosphere and structure were the outer factors which made communication and participation possible. Leaders planned topics of the meetings but not how those contents should be processed. Group work was guided by using some methods like small group discussions or by leading the conversation into specific direction. Leaders also utilized different roles and leading styles. Some of the results can be identified as facilitation. For example giving responsibility to the employees and encouraging them to come up with the answers by themselves. By utilizing group processes and ways to lead the group, leaders can make a solid ground for learning and self-oriented community in early childhood education. This could partially be the answer to the challenge that most of the leaders in this research mentioned; there is not enough time for the meetings and professional dialog in early childhood education.
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(2021)Aims. Well-be and qualified early childhood education professionals ensure the quality of early childhood education. Pedagogical leadership that notes the fulfillment of psychological basic needs has the crucial role. Recently, however, leadership in early childhood education has greatly diversified. The purpose of this study was to clarify how the pedagogical leadership in early childhood education enables the fulfillment of the psychological basic needs of early childhood education professionals in their work. The aim of this thesis was to study the experiences of early childhood education professionals, how the fulfillment of psychological basic needs manifests in their work. In addition, the aim of this study was to find out the promotional and preventive factors related to the fulfillment of basic needs. Methods. This thesis is a qualitative case study. A theme interview was used as the data collection method. The framework of the interview was based on an interview formula measuring the fulfillment of psychological basic needs at work. Five early childhood education professionals were interviewed for this study. Theory–based content analysis was used as a method of analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that early childhood education professionals felt that psychological basic needs were filled quite well in their work. Fulfillment of psychological basic needs was associated with good pedagogical leadership. Based on the experiences of early childhood education professionals, the success of pedagogical leadership and thus supporting the fulfillment of the psychological basic needs of early childhood educators requires resources and leadership skills. According to the results, it is important to pay attention to the quality of the interaction, time available for the interaction, and the balance between work tasks and working hours. To support the fulfillment of the psychological basic needs of early childhood education professionals is essential to draw attention to adequate resourcing and the development of pedagogical leadership skills.
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(2023)The realisation of high-quality early childhood education (ECE) requires strong pedagogical leadership. Although there are fewer studies on pedagogical leadership at the administra-tive level of ECE organisations, it has been shown that leadership in ECE has a strong top-down direction (Fonsén, 2014, 182). In this study, I analysed the implementation of peda-gogical leadership at the upper-management level of an ECE organisation. For the purpose of this study, upper management refers to the level superior to a day care centre director. The study examines perceptions on pedagogical leadership among the upper-management staff of an ECE organisation. In addition, it discusses how they perceive their own roles as implementers of pedagogical leadership. Apart from the points mentioned above, the aim of the study was to clarify their views on micro and macro level interaction in an ECE organisa-tion and their preferred means to promote it. Qualitative methods were used for data collection. The dataset was collected using theme interviews. Five persons at the administrative level of a city’s ECE organisation participated in the interviews. The dataset was analysed using inductive content analysis. The results of the study indicate that the administrative-level staff of an ECE organisation have varying perceptions on pedagogical leadership, ranging from implementing the core mission to a broad perspective where pedagogical leadership is used as an umbrella con-cept for any leadership in ECE. The pedagogical leadership implemented by upper-management staff can be examined from three different perspectives: a pedagogical per-spective, the staff’s perspective, and a financial perspective. All interviewees recognised the waterfall effect in leadership, where leadership is seen as having a strong top-down direc-tion and insufficient interaction between different levels. The study results indicated this as an area of development that needs addressing. According to the interviewees, interaction between different levels could be improved by increasing pedagogical discourse, meeting with the staff, developing communication, and including different organisational levels more in decision-making.
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(2022)Aims. The aim of this study was to examine peer exclusion in ECEC. The main interest of this study was to describe peer exclusion during childrens actions while they play and communicate each other’s. This study also investigates how children acts while they exclusion others. Theoretically, the study draws upon conversational analysis approach of multimodal interaction. The research questions were: (1) What kind of is the peer exclusion in kindergarten, (2) What kind of is the social structure in situations of peer exclusion. Methods. This research was a qualitative study of interaction. The videodata used in this study was collected in a daycare center in Southern Finland in spring 2017. Data of this study consist of 25 episodes that were identified from the original 50 h video corpus. Children who participated in this study were between 1 to 4 years old. This studys episodes were analysed by multimodal interaction analysis. Results and conclusions. The peer exclusion occurred especially during childrens play. The child was excluded from play and play group. Peer exclusion appeared also using play material and toys. At that time, the child moved the toys away from the other child. Children’s birthday party conversations were also sometimes exclusionary. Exclusion occurred through language, gazes and gestures, body and body movement, and the use of material. Either one or more children participated in the peer exclusion. When one child behaved in an exclusionary manner the ”I”-speech, direct rejection speech and body movement emerged in the interaction. External factors of the child, such as younger age, were also appealed. When several children behaved in an exclusionary manner, exclusion became a group phenomenon, often verified through “we”-speech. Peer exclusion occurred especially when the adult was not present in the situation.
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(2021)The purpose of this research was to find out the experiences of pre-school teachers in the use of digital service related to positive pedagogy in pre-school education. The theoretical framework of the study consisted of description of pre-school education and positive pedagogy. In addition, it examined what similarities can be found in the contents of the pre-school education curriculum and positive pedagogy. Character strengths and strength pedagogy, as well as positive feedback, were presented as more specific concepts. The framework was further specified by defining the concepts of well-being, pedagogical documentation, and digital services. The research is a qualitative interview survey based on phenomenological analysis. The interviews were executed as individual interviews remotely using Microsoft Teams. A total of three early childhood education teachers were interviewed. Interviewees participated in the City of Espoo Early Childhood Education and Positive Learning Oy joint development project. Among other things, the project aimed to teach children strengths in character through a digital service, as well as help them identify them. According to the research results, the teachers had mainly positive experiences to Huomaa hyvä! tool in pre-school education. They thought it worked well in supporting children's identification of strengths. Teachers themselves felt that they had learned to identify children's strengths differently than before and understood that something in children's activities that they had previously experienced as negative could be the child's strength in the right situation. In addition, they found that when they set a goal for some strength, it increased significantly in the group. According to the teachers, the tool also worked well as a tool for positive feedback. They felt that the positive feedback encouraged the children to reflect on their own strengths and thus they also learned to recognize them. According to teachers Huomaa hyvä! the tool served well as a tool for pedagogical documentation. They felt it was important to be able to return to the moments of success they experienced later and deal with them together with the children. The tool also supported their work and various pre-teaching processes such as action planning, implementation and evaluation. They felt that the introduction of the digital service affected their way of working as a whole.
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(2021)Objectives. The Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) has defined quality indicators for early childhood education and care (ECEC), which can be used to assess the quality of ECEC. According to the law (540/2018), ECEC is defined by a self-assessment obligation, which makes it possible to evaluate the pedagogical activities produced by ECEC staff. The study examined the quality of ECEC, from the perspective of quality process factors. The study was conducted based on self-assessments of ECEC staff. The aim of the study was to describe the factors that weaken the process quality of ECEC and to find out the effect of the educational background of ECEC staff on self-assessments. The study also examined development targets for the process quality of ECEC. Methods. The study was conducted in a mixed method manner using data and method triangulation. The research material was collected with an e-questionnaire. The survey was sent via social media to Facebook groups for ECEC staff. The study material consisted of 202 respondents and 260 open-ended responses. The research material was analyzed by appropriate methods using qualitative (content analysis) and quantitative (one-way analysis of variance) analysis. Results. The results of the study show that shortcomings in ECEC resources, professionalism and interprofessional co-operation were perceived as factors that weaken the process quality of ECEC. The results of the study also show that the self-assessments of highly educated staff differed from the self-assessments of vocational education staff, for one attribute. The research shows the need for comprehensive development work on the quality of early childhood education. Pedagogical activities in early childhood education must be enabled with sufficient resources and a well-functioning culture, and the well-being of staff must be safeguarded.
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