Browsing by Author "Ikäläinen-Nyman, Soile"

To advance children's participation is actively pursued and it is seen as a leading concept in documents guiding the work of early childhood education. However, supporting children's participation requires a common understanding of what the concept means. This study examines the views of kindergarten teachers in Vantaa about the participation of children. The study identifies factors affecting participation, and examines in particular how kindergarten teachers feel that the need for special education influences the child's participation in early childhood education. The characteristics and skills associated with adult activities that contribute to the realization of each child's participation and the sense of belonging are analyzed as part of the study. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the view of participation as one of the principle of inclusion. The theory of participation has been dealt with according to the multidimensional model of Leena Turja. The material of the study was collected at half structured interviews witch were taken part in seven teachers from city of Vantaa on February 2017. The interviews were recorded and transcribed for analysis. The analysis was done with the methods of content analysis. Sosiograms of the groups have been utilized as a supplementary research material. The results of the study show that interviewed teachers describe participation as a multi-dimensional phenomenon that can be viewed from different perspectives. Determining participation was considered challenging and there was a clear need for a common discussion both in the team and in the work community. In general, participation was seen as an important topic that could also have a wider impact on children's well-being. According to the interviewed kindergarten teachers, the special educational needs of the child contributed significantly to their participation in the group. However, the factors contributing to participation are strongly linked to an inclusive culture and supported the participation of every child in the group. Kindergarten teachers felt that the same factors could support and, on the other, block children's participation. Play was felt as an activity to support participation and children's peer interaction. The most important factor for participation was adult activity and interaction that takes into account the individual needs of children.