Browsing by Subject "MindUP™-ohjelma"

Objectives. This Master's Thesis is related to the University of Helsinki's research Pieni Oppiva Mieli (POM), which focuses on early childhood education. Pieni Oppiva Mieli research applies the MindUP™ -program, as is also done in this Master's Thesis. The MindUP™ program is based on the theories and research data of neuroscience, social and emotional learning, positive psychology and mindful awareness. Earlier studies with children of school age have found out that the MindUP™ -program promotes children's well-being and social skills, reduces stress, increases obedience, and provides guidance and academic skills. (Schonert-Reichl et al. 2015.) This Master's Thesis brings children's perspective to the subject and provides information to the research Pieni Oppiva Mieli (POM) and to early childhood education on how the welfare and learning of the children can be supported by exercises like the MindUP™ -program. This Master's Thesis examines 1) How did brain-focused teaching appear in children's stories? This was explained through the sub-questions and asked: 1A) How did children's stories about brain and behavior change during the intervention? 1B) What did the children think about their self-regulation skills in different interaction situations in their daycare? Methods. The research focused on a child-centered research and featured aspects of inclusive action research. The study involved a six-month pedagogical intervention, which involved the exercises of the MindUP™ -program in the daycare centre. The study covered 10 five-year-old children of this group. The children were interviewed five times during the intervention of the exercises related to the MindUP™ -program, with a total of 45 interviews. An analysis of narrative, content analysis and quantification were used to understand the material. Results and Conclusions. From the interviews' responses, it can be seen that children use the language learned in the MindUP™-program. Children also describe their feelings and refer to practical situations in their stories. The answers to the interviews can clearly identify how children's knowledge about brain and behavior changed. In this study the term self-regulation (mielen malttaminen) refers to how the child is able to regulate his / her behavior in the various interaction situations in the daycare centre. Based on children's stories, it can be seen that children think of tools from MindUP™ -program when they are telling about situations which require self-regulation. In a role of a teacher, researcher also saw these things come true in practice.