Browsing by Subject "transition to school"

This study examines preschool teacher's views about the purpose of preschool year and significant school readiness skills in a municipality where a uniform way of transferring information from preschool to school is in use. The preschool teacher's aims of using child observation form, which is the part of municipality's EsKo-information transfer process and the effects of EsKo-information transfer process to preschool teachers work are being examined. The theoretical contexts of the study are sociocultural theory and Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Sociocultural theory understands learning and teaching as an interactive, social and cultural phenomenon. Ecological systems theory emphasizes the effect of the growing environments to development. Both sociocultural and ecological theory examines the relationships and interaction between individual and environment. The material of the study was collected at half structured pair and group interviews witch were taken part in 13 preschool teachers from city of Vantaa at the group of 2-3 persons. The interviews were recorded, videotaped and transcribed for analysis. The analysis was done with the methods of content analysis. The results of the study show that the preschool teachers who were interviewed had a wide view about the purpose of preschool year. Answers that describe the purpose of preschool year were divided between three time dimensions: preschool year, transfer to school and learning through life. Preschool teachers experienced that the most significant school readiness skill was child's ability to move his motivation from play to learning activities. Other significant school readiness skills were self-regulation skills, social skills and coping independently everyday life in school. Child observation form, which is the part of EsKo-information transfer process was used to plan activities for the whole group, to survey the level of knowledge and skills of a single child, as a teacher's own information package and to help teacher in professional conversations. The benefits of EsKo-information transfer process were that the preschool teachers experience that it has brought appreciation to pre-education, structured the preschool year, strengthened the co-operation with parents and made the information transfer to school easier and more equal. This study suggests that city of Vantaa has been able to create uniform procedures to the preschool education that prepare children to school at uniform ways. Interviewed teachers pursued to preserve their early childhood educational professional identities even though school transition and preparing to school was determined via EsKo-information transfer process.