Browsing by study line "Varhaiskasvatus"

Objectives. This article-based master’s thesis analyzes the different manifestations of autonomy that appear in Tove Jansson’s children’s book Comet in Moominland (1946). The objective is to describe and construe understanding of the expressions of different manifestations of autonomy by combining different perceptions of autonomy, inter alia appreciation of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, Isaiah Berlin, and Veli-Matti Värri. Methods. The research was carried out as a qualitative analyzes. Aim was to reveal the essence of autonomy in the book by using the phenomenological-hermeneutical approach. The phenomenological-hermeneutics approach is understood in the study as an interpretation of the art of understanding. The study contributes an interpretation of the manifesting autonomy in the book. Results and conclusions. This thesis has provided a deeper insight into the manifestation of autonomy in the Moomin philosophies. This study has found that generally, it is possible to grow to a moral subject in the Moominvalley, it can be seen as the growth and responsibility of the Moomintroll for itself and its environment. The strengths of the Moomintroll and the entire Moomin world are empathy and openness, acceptance of others, which also have the potential to take responsibility for the current state of the world. The publication channel which has been chosen for the article: Reflections of autonomy, analyzing the revealing perspectives of autonomy in Tove Jansson´s Children book Comet in Moominland (1946) is Barnboken: Journal of Children's Literature Research. Article matches the focus of Barnboken ideally; article is a new approach to Tove Jansson’s children´s literature and educational philosophy, optimistically an innovative and creative interpretation of manifested autonomy.

Pedagogical documentation has been given high priority in the Early Childhood Education Plan (2022) and is seen as part of the implementation of quality early childhood education. The electronic portfolio is a tool in the process of pedagogical documentation. The pedagogical documentation process is the process of planning, implementing and evaluating pedagogical activities in early childhood education. In addition, pedagogical documentation enables the participation of children and parents. Previous research has shown that the pedagogical potential of pedagogical documentation has not been fully exploited (Rintakorpi & Reunamo, 2017; Ouakrim-Soivio & Kumpulainen, 2020). This Master's thesis aimed to explore how early childhood education teachers working in daycare centres in the city of Helsinki use the electronic group portfolio and what kind of capabilities they have for implement pedagogical documentation. The study was conducted using quantitative research methods. The data were collected with an electronic questionnaire from two early childhood education districts in Helsinki. The data was analysed using the SPSS software. The data were analysed using methods such as the mean analysis and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. In addition, the correlation of background variables with the survey results was examined using Mann-Whitney's U-test and Kruskal Wallis' test. According to the study, the electronic group portfolio is mainly used to describe the pedagogical activities and play of the group. In addition, early childhood teachers use the portfolio to clarify the pedagogical aims of the group to parents and to inform them about current issues in the group. The agency of children in the pedagogical documentation was limited in this study. Early childhood education teachers perceived their capacities for pedagogical documentation as mainly good, especially their IT skills according to this study. Among the pedagogical documentation capabilities, especially planned pedagogical documentation, perceiving the group portfolio as useful and understanding pedagogical documentation were positively correlated with the fact that the content of the group portfolio was varied and used as a tool for evaluation and development.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of the Pieni Oppiva Mieli -intervention (MindUp™) in the day care centers children of 3 to 6 years of age on social competence as perceived by the staff and children's parents. In the study, social competence consisted of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, inattention, peer relationship problems, prosocial behavior and psychosocial wellbeing. The research questions are: 1. What is the children's social competence before and after the intervention? 2. How do the children differ on the basis of sex with respect to social competence before and after the intervention? 3. What are the differences in children's social competence before and after the intervention based on mother's or father's education? Previous studies have shown that mindfulness-based interventions on children have a positive effect on, for example self-regulation, emotional regulation, socio-cognitive skills, academic skills and social skills. There has been little research on the effects of socio-emotional programs on the young children's social competence, although various social skills training programs in early childhood are much in use. The study was part of the Pieni Oppiva Mieli -project at the University of Helsinki and was attended by 234 children from three different kindergartens in the metropolitan area. The study was conducted investigating the effects of a 30-week intervention on the day care group during the academic year 2016-2017. Strenghts and Difficulties form (SDQ-Fin) was used to investigate the difference between initial and final measurement, and it was combined with the information on the background information form, namely the gender of the child and the education of parents. The material was analyzed quantitatively by SPSS Statistics 24 -program using non-parametric tests as analyzing method; a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, a Mann–Whitney U test, and a Kruskal–Wallis test. I also used a parametric t-test (Independent Samples) alongside the Mann–Whitney U test. The results indicate that the intervention might have positive effects on child's inattention, peer problems, prosocial behaviour and psychosocial wellbeing. Based on the answers provided by the staff, the results also indicate that the sex may have an impact on the initial and final measurement of conduct problems, inattention, prosocial behavior and psychosocial wellbeing. Based on parent's responses, the results are parallel, but narrower. Results of the boys were worse than the girls in all the sub-variables of social competence except for the peer problems. The research results of staff and parents of children differed from the impact of maternal and father's education on the child's social competence and development.

Aims. The purpose of this study was to investigate how repertoires of practices around grief construct in the daily separations between the child and the parent during the first weeks after starting in kindergarten. The aim was to accumulate knowledge of the repertoires of practices around grief that are constructed in interactions between the child and the staff members. There has been a growing number of studies addressing grief as a socially constructed phenomenon but there is a need for more research concerning grief in early childhood education and during the transition into out-of-home day care. So far it has been proven that there are certain repertoires of practices to be seen in context of separations that demonstrate how a grieving child is encountered in kindergarten. Methods. This study was conducted as a qualitative content analysis. The research data were 14 narratives describing how a 1.5-year-old Leo arrives to the kindergarten and undergoes a separation from their parent to stay with one of the staff members. These narratives were analyzed by content analysis using a specific method of dialogical thematic analysis. Results and conclusions. The kindergarten staff used repertoires of practices such as compassionate and comforting touch and speech when confronting a grieving child. They either tried to direct the child’s attention to the separation and the grief caused by it or to the surrounding environment and events. The child engaged in repertoires of practices such as expressions of grief, trying to hold on to the parent and either objecting the comforting adult or accepting the offered comfort. The repertoires of practices were connected to each other and often manifested together either consecutively or simultaneously. Based on the results it can be stated that a grieving child is not left alone with their grief and that the child is confronted in a gentle and comforting manner during the separation. Respectively, the child was able to express their grief and to either object or accept the comfort the staff member offered. The study shows different repertoires of practices around grief that can be recognized in the reoccurring daily separations and leads us to discuss how we could draw more attention to the repertoires of practices around grief in the early childhood education field, both in practice and in research.

The exclusion starts during early childhood. A child’s withdrawal from their peer group has been associated with social exclusion that has implications for the child’s social and cognitive skills as well as overall well-being. Peer relationships and positive interaction with peers are central to children’s learning. Socially withdrawn children are at risk of being excluded from the social dimensions of peer activities. This thesis examines socially withdrawn children in Finnish early childhood education and especially the effects social withdrawal has on the child’s learning, emotions and physical activity. In addition, the effects of the withdrawn children’s social and self-regulatory skills and need for pedagogical support are examined. Research data was gathered using the Progressive Feedback method. Observations were conducted in 2,651 kindergarten groups from 19 municipalities in Finland from September 2017 to February 2021. The observation data included 201,951 observations of all activities in early childhood education between 8 AM to 4 PM. Observed children’s skills were assessed by the educational staff and children’s basic information (such as age and gender) were included. Quantitative multivariate methods were used to analyse the data. It was found that children’s social withdrawal occurs usually during free play indoors and outdoors. Routine activities included children’s social withdrawal in early childhood education settings as well. Withdrawn children usually had no focus in their activities or they were observed playing with toys. The child’s withdrawn orientation was characterized by low levels of involvement and physical activity as well as neutral and negative emotions. The impact of the peer group was found to be central to the child’s learning and well-being and supporting the withdrawn children in their efforts on joining the peer group activities is an important priority in developing early childhood education practices.

This study is a case study of Taika Kultsu, the cultural education plan for early childhood education and care in Tuusula. The aim of my thesis is to find out whether the staff feels that the new plan is a useful document and tool in their own work, receiving support for the implementation of cultural and art education in the daycare centre's everyday life. Efforts have been made to make the plan easy to use and concrete. Previous studies by the National Centre for The Evaluation of Education (Karvin) have revealed uneven quality of art education (2019) and the fact that the documents guiding the activities of early childhood education and care remain at a very abstract level (2018). In the framework of this thesis, I aim to describe the multidimensionality of art education, reflecting on art education as part of cultural education, and to highlight the importance of art for the child and the comprehensive development of the child. The concreteness of the guiding documents, its need and level have been considered in several studies. In the theory section, I looked at concreteness from the perspective of the individual's sense of autonomy and, more broadly, the realization of common goals. The data was collected in May 2020 using an electronic questionnaire sent to the entire Tuusulas early childhood education and care staff, approximately 310 persons. 42 responses were received. Like theory-controlled content analysis, the analysis was carried out in combination with the qualitative and quantitative data obtained. Quantitative data were at the level of average and type values, as the small number of respondents did not allow comparison between different groups of respondents using statistical methods. The new plan had received a positive reception and was found useful. It had been used as a support for the brainstorming, planning and evaluation of operations. Taika Kultsu could be judged better as a whole from the perspective of cultural education than from the perspective of an individual art species. There were still few things to develop. This was partly caused by the coronavirus epidemic, which affected the number of respondents and the content of the responses. Taika Kultsu's plan was introduced at the beginning of 2020, and the changed conditions in the spring did not allow us to familiarize yourself with the plan or carry out the activities as desired. The results of this thesis will be taken into account in the development and updating of Taika Kultsu. On the basis of the results, it could be said that concreteness and consideration of locality in the document were considered useful and facilitate ideas, planning, evaluation and diversification. The presentation of the plan is easy to use. The plan clarified the concept and goals of cultural education and presented the possibilities of local cultural offerings. However, setting and implementing common goals requires more debate, as it was not always considered sufficient. The bindingity of this new plan must also be further defined. In municipalities that consider the preparation of their own cultural education plan and its form, the results can be used as user experiences from a document that strives to be very concrete and to put its content into practice.

Goals This qualitative study examines the management of early childhood education and care in the field of education. The aim of the study is to describe and increase understanding of the management of senior officials in early childhood education and care at the national level from a strategic management perspective. The importance of strategic leadership is seen to be emphasised by the amendment to the Early Childhood Education Act (1183/2021), which entered into force on 1 August 2022, which specifies support for children and introduces inclusiveness as an organisational principle of early childhood education. It is hoped that the study will also support the development of early childhood education and care management and preparatory education. Methods The study was carried out with a theory-centric thematic analysis. The data was gathered from the first sub-study from The support system and administrative processes in ECE, through an electronic survey to finnish municipality early childhood education and care directors between December 2022 and January 2023. The scope of the survey is nationwide. The data used in this study is based on the answers to question from the open-ended electronic survey and other questions used as base-line information. Results and conclusions. The study shows that strategic management in early childhood education and care takes place at three levels. The Director of Early Childhood Education and Care combines knowledge from these three levels to lead early childhood education and care throughout the municipality, enabling structures, resources and competences to deliver integrated, high quality and pedagogical early childhood education and care. The mission of early childhood education and care, or the basic mission, appears unclear and the strategic discourse limited, according to the survey. Management of early childhood education and care should therefore be further developed, taking into account the demanding role of public managers and required skills. Further research on the management of senior early childhood education and care officials would be useful in terms of the support they receive for their work, the diversity of their tasks and the adequacy of their working time.

The purpose of this study was to survey parents' concerns in their and their children’s behavior. The aim was also to evaluate how the temperament of parents and children is related to the challenges of everyday life. This study also clarified the types of meeting points and connections between parent and child temperament. The aim is to provide information on the meaning of temperament and to develop an understanding of the temperament behind the behavior. There were four research questions: (1) What are the parents' concerns about their own and their children behavior? (2) What are the temperament characteristics of parents and children? (3) What are the intersections between the temperaments of parents and children in everyday challenges? (4) Which temperament features are highlighted in the everyday challenges? The theoretical framework contained temperament, parenting support, and previous research of these. The study used pre-collected data from the Silmu Parenting platform owned by the University of Helsinki. The data includes Rothbart's temperament surveys and parents also had the opportunity to answer an open question about the everyday challenge. The data included parents N=22, grandparents N=1, toddlers N=20 and infants N=3. The data was analyzed qualitatively by content analysis and quantitatively by IBM SPSS Statistics 25 by looking at means and standard deviations. The study was a multi-case study. Parental concerns about their children's behavior were related to restlessness, dressing, social situations, aggressive behavior, disobedience and defiance, anxiety, attention, eating, sleeping, transitions, impulsivity, and impatience. In the study, parents had more negative emotional expression than their children. Examining the intersections provided more detailed information on the encounter between parent and child. According to the results, similar temperaments of parents and children may present everyday challenges as well as different temperaments. The parent's negative affect in emotion added to the perceived negativity in many everyday challenges. For both parents and children, feelings of discomfort, frustration and sadness became high factors in everyday challenges. In children, high impulsivity, activity and low reaction prevention emerged in particular as temperament features. Parents possessed a great deal of sensitivity and were thus sensitive to challenges in their daily lives. When the parent had both high negative affect and orienting sensitivity, resilience tolerated the child's impulses and rapid reactivity, caused the parent to quickly develop anxiety, discomfort, sadness, and frustration. Parenting plays a significant role in shaping a child's temperament. Because of the vulnerability of child’s temperament, it is especially important to consider understanding the importance of temperament in supporting parenting.

Some previous findings suggest the effectiveness of physical activity (PA) on children's cognitive outcomes. Studying preschool PA enables to understand children’s considerable part of daily PA and to examine its relation to other skills specifically within preschool context. Early numeracy (EN) refers to young children’s mathematical proficiency, including relational and counting skills, as in understanding and operating with quantities, number relation, classification, and the concept of numbers. EN skills are shown to strongly predict later mathematical competence and academic achievements. Thus, it is important to study and support the development of children’s EN skills. However, previous research has mainly focused on school-age children, while research in early ages is scarce. No previous studies have used device-based measurement of PA with an individual test of EN to understand the associations between young children’s preschool PA and EN performance. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between PA during preschool hours and EN performance in children aged 4 to 5 years. More specifically, the following research questions are addressed: 1) How are PA intensity levels during preschool hours associated with EN performance in 4- to 5-year-old children? 2) What kind of profiles regarding PA intensity levels during preschool hours and EN performance can be identified among 4- to 5-year-old children? The sample consisted of children (N = 95, Mage = 4.6) attending preschools in Helsinki, Finland. PA was measured during 5 consecutive preschool days using hip-worn accelerometers, while EN performance was assessed using Van Luit and colleagues’ (2006) Finnish Early Numeracy Test. The data is analysed using quantitative research analysis. To answer the first research question, correlation matrix is performed to reveal relation between the variables of interest. For the second research question, latent profile analysis is used to identify children’s profiles according to their PA data and EN test scores, while the differences in profiles are compared using ANOVA. The results of the correlation analysis revealed no significant correlation between PA level during preschool hours and EN scores in children of ages 4 to 5 years. Latent profile analysis identified three profiles of children with high, medium, and low PA, whereas EN performance did not significantly differ among the profiles. In conclusion, while the results show significantly different amounts of PA among children during preschool, the main finding of the current study is in line with previous research, suggesting no direct relation between preschool PA and EN performance. Further research controlling for other factors that may influence the results is needed to examine how variation in PA level is related to EN performance in preschool.

Previous studies have shown that the importance of diversity is to encounter a person with multiple characteristics, where intersectionality affects them by taking into account the factors that produce differences and their mutual relationships (Kulttuuria kaikille, 2023; Olive, 2015). Otherness is a complex phenomenon (Dervin, 2015), where the diversity of the Other is not seen. The Other is not seen as an independent and versatile actor, but rather placed in the position of an object (Dervin & Keihäs, 2013). The purpose of this thesis is to critically examine discourses of othering in opinion pieces related to early childhood education. I study the topic with the help of the following subproblems: what kind of discourses of otherness appear in opinion pieces and who is defined as an Other in opinion writings. The theoretical background of the research is built from studies dealing with diversity, intersectionality, and otherness. The thesis was carried out using a qualitative research method and the research material was produced through opinion pieces from newspapers including Kaleva, Turun Sanomat, Aamulehti, and Helsingin Sanomat. Opinion pieces were collected from between the years 2017–2021 and from pieces in which othering related to early childhood education and care appeared. After a critical examination, the research material consisted of a total of 41 opinion pieces and discourse analysis was used to analyze the material. The discourses expressing othering were disadvantage, segregation and immigration back-ground, the child's individual need for support, minority religions and worldviews, a foreign-language, special diets, gender roles, parents' weak labor market position and the conflict between the supply and demand of early childhood education services. Along with the dis-courses expressing otherness, I also answered the latter subproblem, who is defined as an Other in opinion pieces dealing with early childhood education. The research results revealed direct othering and the perspective of an awareness of otherness, in which something was recognized as discriminating or othering. Structural otherness also appeared in the research results. Judging from the research results, the factors embodying otherness are spread over a wide area and thus, from the point of view of intersectionality, create new categories embodying otherness.