Browsing by Subject "henkilöstö"

The purpose of this study is to find out the views of the early childhood education personnel of the city of Helsinki regarding the realization of the quality of early childhood educa- tion. The study examines to what extent there are differences in the quality of early childhood education and to what extent experiences of possible high or low quality have common explana- tions. The aim is to analyze how the early childhood education center, region, and the qualification of the personnel explain possible quality variation, and to examine what other reasons there are for quality variation. The theoretical reference framework of the study consists of the definition of the quality of early childhood education and the review of quality evaluation. The data of the research consist of the answers to the survey carried out by the Education De- partment of the city of Helsinki in the spring of 2023. The survey is part of the early childhood education quality, assessment and management development project and it was sent to all Finn- ish-speaking early childhood education centers in Helsinki. The responses to the multiple-choice questionnaire (Likert) were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and by calculating correlation coefficients. Open answers were analyzed using content analysis methods. When investigating the connection of regional socio-economic factors to the quality of early childhood education, the income and education level of the region according to the postal code of the Statistics Finland's database were used as background variables. According to the research results there are considerable quality differences in Helsinki public early childhood education. Differences in quality were largest between individual ECEC centers and child groups, decreasing when looking at bigger regions. Of the quality factors, the sensitivity related to the interaction between the staff and the children and the identification of the child's needs were the best realized. Shortcomings were seen especially in personnel and space re- sources, in pedagogical leadership structures, and in the implementation of child support. The research results gave indications that the quality of early childhood education in higher-income residential areas is higher than in lower-income areas. The qualification of the staff also had an impact on the quality of early childhood education, but it only explained a small part of the variation in quality.