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Browsing by Subject "taaperot"

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  • Viitala, Sini (2015)
    Small group size is considered to be the best option for groups of children under three years old. More and more children in day care centers also spend time in small groups. Small group activities are seen as a structural solution of the challenges the large daycare groups face. The new Early Childhood Education Law will require the wellbeing of children to be taken better into consideration when forming daycare groups in the future. The purpose of this study was to examine the toddlers parents and educators conceptions of group size as well as issues related to small-group activities and the concept of primary nursing in daycare under the age of three. The aim was to find out how small group activities and the use of primary nursing is justified and how these arguments reflect the quality of early childhood education in the groups of children under three years of age. This is a qualitative research using theme interviews as the research method. The study includes interviews of nine educators working at a day care center in groups of children under the age of three and interviews of three parents who had their toddler in day care treatment. The results of the survey suggest that groups at toddler day care treatment are formed primarily on the basis of structural factors, even though the children would benefit more if their needs and pedagogical perspectives would be taken into consideration. However when forming small groups the pedagogical and individual needs of the children were given more weight, though structural factors played a significant role as well. The study suggests that parents will appreciate the small treatment groups. Similarly, the educators in day care centers consider the small groups facilitating the implementation of high-quality early childhood education.
  • Pirttilä, Miia (2018)
    The aim of this study is to investigate the perceptions of the value of pedagogy and also its included meanings of the early childhood education personnel who work with children under three years of age. In this study, early childhood education is approached by its central practices: care, upbringing, and education. This is a qualitative thesis using questionnaire as a research method. The data represented a sub-sample of an international survey, which was carried out in 2014 ”Aspects of the professionality in the early childhood education”. The part used in this study included 333 answers considering the views of key matters and professionality in early childhood education with infants. The theoretical frameworks used are Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological and Vygotsky’s culture-historical approaches towards child development and learning. In both theories, acts of other people and choices in children’s learning environments greatly influence child development and learning. The research questions were: Is pedagogy significant in early childhood education with children under three years of age? What are the contents given to the pedagogy? In what ways do different vocational groups describe their perceptions of pedagogy? The results indicated that only every third participant saw pedagogy as an important matter in early childhood education with infants. Three different perceptions were given to pedagogy by the participants: pedagogy was seen as a part of reciprocal processes, as pedagogical methods and strategies, and as pedagogical knowledge of child development. The education of the participants was associated with the significance given to pedagogy in the answers. The importance of pedagogy was brought up mostly by the kindergarten teachers with a bachelor’s degree from a university.