Browsing by Subject "esiopetus "

The thesis examined early childhood education teachers views on children`s social skills and on the support of developing these skills in the pre-primary education enviroment. I have reviewed the support of the development of social skills regarding the interaction environment and pedagogical working methods. In the theoretical part of the thesis, among other things I examined the issues of social skills and different forms of social skills from the point of view of the concept of social competence by Poikkeus (2011). My thesis was based on the Bandura's (1977) theory of social learning and the perspectives of several other researchers. I also examined the guiding role of the Pre-primary Curriculum (2014) in supporting the work of early childhood teachers. Little research on supporting social skills in ordinary pre-primary groups is available. The research method was of a qualitative nature and a semi-structured interview study was used as a research method. Seven early childhood teachers from different early childhood education units in the Helsinki metropolitan area participated in the study. The data analysis method was the theory-driven filling analysis. On the basis of the study, early childhood teachers are aware of what social skills mean and in what situations they are useful in pre-primary education. Social skills are required for all kinds of interactive situations and in play, pairing and teamwork. Social skills were considered to be an integral part of self-regulation and emotional skills. Conflict situations in buddy relationships appeared on a daily basis, and their emergence was aggravated by the developmental problems of social skills. Early childhood teachers supported solving conflict situations with children, discussing and collaborating in small groups, especially through drama. The importance of the early childhood teacher's own example was emphasized as a sensitive interaction. Methods for supporting children's social development were systematically used in one group. Instead, spontaneous everyday situations and a positive interaction between the adult and the child in cooperation with the rest of the team were considered to be the most significant.