Browsing by Subject "maahanmuuttajataustaiset perheet"

This study is an article-type master’s thesis, and its purpose was to study immigrant background families from ECEC personnel’s perspective. In this study ‘immigrant background’ is defined to include everyone who has either moved to Finland, been born in Finland but has parents with an immigrant background or speaks a foreign language at home. The personnel perspective in this study is brough by ECEC leaders and educators. The research questions were: How do the views of parents with an immigrant background appear to the ECEC leaders and educators? By what means do the ECEC leaders and educators support the families in their integration? The theoretical framework was produced by the diversities, acculturation and integration that was based on the international declarations, Finnish laws, policies, and recommendations from the curricula. With the help of these, this study aims to add knowledge of immigrant background families in ECEC, which is needed according to previous studies. This study was conducted between September year 2021 and May year 2022. The data was collected in December via individual and group interviews. The empirical material was gathered through semi-structured interviews with five ECEC unit leaders interviewed individually, and nine educators interviewed in four groups of two to four educators. The interviews were analyzed with content analysis using an inductive approach. The results indicate that the immigrant background families’ views appear for the leaders, and educators are mainly positive, especially the families' desire to integrate into Finnish society. The diverse cultures appeared for the personnel to conflict with Finnish culture, however, the conflict depended on the individuals and was not able to generalize. The means of integration were clear, and they matched all the dimensions of integration. The results explain the need for ensuring a shared understanding between parents and ECEC personnel. The article script “Language is Important” Perspectives from ECEC Personnel on Supporting Families with an Immigrant Background” is supposed to publish in an ECEC journal called Journal of Early Childhood Education Research. As co-authors in the article were Arniika Kuusisto and Heidi Harju-Luukkainen.