Browsing by study line "Varhaiskasvatus"

Objectives. Early mathematical skills predict future academic success. The development of mathematical skills during primary school years tends to be weaker in children learning Finnish as a second language as compared to native speakers. However, these skills beginto develop early in life, with mathematical vocabulary playing a crucial role. Given that learning the Finnish language is a time-consuming process, there is a growing demand for valid and reliable assessment methods for mathematical skills and vocabulary that do not necessitate speech production in the second language. The SMST Picture Vocabulary Test aims to assess the recognition of words related to mathematics. The first objective of this study is to analyze the reliability and validity of this test, while the second is to examine the role of age, home language, gender, and the duration of participation in Early Childhood Education (ECE) in relation to knowledge of vocabulary. Methods. The data was gathered from children who were Finnish language learners aged 5–7 years (N=100) attending public ECE centers in the capital area. The reliability of the test was evaluated through internal consistency analyses. Additionally, known-group validity and concurrent validity assessments were conducted. Knowledge of mathematical vocabulary was examined through test results, with additional background data collected from teachers. Teachers evaluated the overall language and mathematical skills of the children. The study employed a quantitative approach with statistical analysis methods using the IBM SPSS program. Main results and conclusions. The study suggests that the SMST Picture Vocabulary Test demonstrates weak reliability, yet moderate validity, to be used for children learning Finnish as a second language. Concurrent validity analysis affirms the test to be primarily a vocabulary knowledge assessment tool. The SMST test demonstrated the ability to differentiate between two pre-established groups (Finnish language learners and native speakers) in mathematical skills through knowledge of mathematical vocabulary, thereby supporting the known-group validity of the test. The duration of participation in ECE emerged as the strongest indicator for mathematical vocabulary test results, followed by age, predicting 29 % of the vocabulary knowledge. Gender differences were found, with the results favoring girls. Home language showed no significant relation to competency in math vocabulary. The findings from this study pave the way for further research into the assessment of mathematical vocabulary knowledge among Finnish language learners, with a particular focus on understanding the factors influencing this knowledge.

In this study, I aim to investigate the significance of the curriculum as a guiding document for the work of early childhood education teachers, how teachers define their autonomy in relation to the implementation of the experimental curriculum, and how play, defined as a central form of activity in preschool education, is perceived by teachers participating in the experiment. The curriculum obliges the work of early childhood education teachers and serves as a directive basis for the formulation of local curricula (OPH, 2014, p. 1). In August 2021, the Ministry of Education and Culture initiated an experiment on two-year preschool education as part of the Right to Learn (Oikeus oppia) development program. The Finnish National Agency for Education created new curriculum guidelines for the participating preschool units, in which the significance of play in a child's growth, development, well-being, and learning is acknowledged more prominently (OPH, 2021, p. 13). Despite the emphasis on play and its importance in guiding docu-ments, as well as its appreciation by early childhood education professionals, research suggests that it has not yet established the practices that would enable its central role in preschool education. One explanation may lie in the conflicting relationship between policy and autonomy framed by the work of early childhood education teachers: while the constantly evolving and broad curriculum guides the work of teachers obligatorily, it also leaves all concrete activities related to implementation, development, and evalua-tion entirely up to the teachers' interpretation (Wood & Hedges, 2016, pp. 400–401). The study was conducted as a qualitative research employing thematic interviews as the data collection method. Ten early childhood education teachers who participated in the two-year preschool education experiment from five different locations took part in the interviews. The data were analyzed using content analysis, searching for similarities, resemblances, and examining differences within the material. Based on the research findings, it appears that the teachers' relationship with the experimental curriculum was distant. Half of the interviewees found the experimental curriculum too extensive and lacking in concreteness. Only one out of ten teachers actively used the experimental curriculum as support for their work and as a basis for planning. Eight teachers reported that the experimental curriculum was not present in their daily routines or guiding the activities of the two-year preschool education. Teachers perceived their autonomy regarding the adoption of the experimental curriculum as unreasonably limited: They felt left without support or orientation regarding the experiment and were not given time for planning. The extensive responsibility caused feelings of burden and even failure for several teachers. In interviews, talk about play was conspicuously by its absent. Only one out of ten teachers spontaneously mentioned play, stating that its role had increased within the group due to the experiment. The interviewed teachers described play as important for the child but as something happening outside of other preschool activities. The role of adults in play remained distant in nine out of ten interviews, and in eight out of ten cases, adults strongly controlled the play.

The purpose of this research is to find out what is published about early childhood education in the news. Previous studies have shown that Finns mainly trust the leading national news media, Helsingin Sanomat and Yle. In addition, the research find out and think about how news can influence the public. The research analyzes the topics and language of the news headlines. The research was conducted by the qualitative method, which consists of content analysis that examined online news headlines published by Helsingin Sanomat and Yle news. Through discourse analysis, I also studied the language of news headlines as well as the meanings and images they produce. The research figured out what kind of topics and how early childhood education will be reported in Yle's and Helsingin Sanomat's news in 2022. I will focus on 194 news headlines in the research that was published between the first of April and December 14th, 2022. The research material was selected by including the words early childhood education or daycare that had to be mentioned in the news title. I classified the research material into four categories: crisis, statement, neutral and positive. The results showed that my material consisted of the most of neutral news headlines. Crisis news had the next highest number, and the quantitative difference in positive news was remarkably large. There were only 12 positive news headlines from the entire material. The topics of the news headlines were mainly related to the labor shortage and informing about the spring 2022 strike. Crisis news headlines mainly related to the labor shortage and the word crisis was used a lot in the headlines. Neutral news headlines were expressed without using strong dictions or otherwise bringing out strong opinions. They were mainly related to informing about the strike or like building a new kindergarten. In particular, crisis and statement headlines used quotes or comments that were mostly expressed by ministers or researchers. The research makes me think about what kind of effect news headlines have on the attractiveness and on public opinion of the industry of early childhood education.

Aims. In this study the purpose is to describe physical, psychological, and social learning environment in three early childhood special education groups. This study is based on sociocultural theory where the development and learning of the child is seen to happen in the interaction between the individual and the environment. (Vygotsky 1978; Rogoff 2003, 2008). The aim of this study is to reveal how the learning environment supports the inclusion and peer interaction of child with multiple developmental disabilities. Methods. The approach to this study was ethnographic as the aim was to develop a diverse understanding of the learning environment. The data for this study was collected with LEANS- assessment scale (Strain & Joseph 2004, translated by Suhonen 2004) from three early childhood special education groups and by interviewing special education teachers. Data was also collected from documents regarding the organization of the teaching. In the analysis of the LEANS assessment scale qualitative and quantitative analysis where combined. Propositions in the LEANS assessment scale were evaluated with a five-step Likert- scale. Quantitative analysis was completed by reporting the mean of the propositions. Qualitative analysis was completed by describing the structure of the contents in the propositions. The interviews of the special education teachers were analysed with theory-guided content analysis. The two previously mentioned research materials were supported with documents including the organization of the teaching and by comparing the interpretation of the physical, psychological, and social learning environments. After the analysis of each research material the whole data was analysed with dialogic thematization which enabled the construction of the themes of the learning environment. Findings and conclusions. The themes of the learning environments were created by the dialogic thematization. These themes where: the construction of the physical and immaterial material in the learning environment, sustaining the emotional well-being and positive atmosphere, and supporting and reinforcing the individual skills and peer interaction. The fulfilment of the inclusion and peer interaction of child with multiple developmental disabilities is seen as a multidimensional process which requires the presence of physical, psychological, and social learning environment. High-quality elements can be identified from the construction of the learning environment. However successful inclusion and peer interaction in the learning environment requires the awareness of the efficiency of these elements from the early childhood educator. This highlights the role of the early childhood educator in high-quality learning environments.

The purpose of my study is to provide a holistic view of childhood grief from the perspective of student teachers in early childhood education. The aim is to identify typical ways of mourning in childhood and the meanings given to childhood grief in the students' grief narratives. The research data consists of grief narratives written by early childhood education students at the University of Helsinki. The data was collected as part of the research project Children's Grief and Cultural Practices of Mourning in Early Childhood Education funded by the Academy of Finland in 2021-2025. I use a narrative research approach to conduct the study. My study can be considered as a dialogue between the students' narratives, my interpretations of the narratives and theoretical knowledge. In the analysis of the data, I have applied both analysis of narratives and narrative analysis. In the light of the results, grief experienced in childhood appears as a holistic experience of loss, both personal and socially shared by the individual, characterised by meaningfulness and the co-existence of other emotions. The results of my study do not contradict previous research on grief, but support previous findings from a new perspective.

Involvement is a phenomenon that interests the researchers at the moment also in the context of a leadership. Involvement research in the early childhood education is focused on the involvement structures and possibilities of small children. At the moment shortage of the competent teachers and practical nurses and their commitment to the long-term work relationship however brings us back to the basic questions of leadership; how to lead involvement? The theoretical frame of this study is based on contextual model of leadership (Nivala 1999) which sees the early childhood leadership and the early childhood substance inseparable. I also use the theoretical frame of involvement created by Finnish National Institute of Health and Welfare that define involvement as closely related to the intrinsic motivation, possibility to have an affect to your surrounding environment and benevolence. My research task was to find out how early childhood education leaders experience leading involvement. What experiences they had about competence, distributed leadership and challenges that related to the industry? The study was qualitative and was based on phenomenological methodology which reach for the subjective experiences of the individuals. As a data I used the themed focus group interview material that was collected in the Eduleaders project training. Method of analysis was the theory-guided content analysis. In the results competence became a key factor in leading involvement. Leadership competence meant both common leadership skills and the ability to lead early childhood substance. Important were also the professional skills of the working community, teachers and practical nurses and their ability to work autonomously. Leading involvement was also based on functional distributed leadership that called for workable structures as well as the teacher´s competence in leading their teams and distributed pedagogical leadership. Early childhood leaders also saw joint leadership between leader- leader and teacher-teacher as a functional leadership structure in the future that may increase the experiences of deeper involvement. The challenges of leading involvement were the resources related to work as well as the current change in the operational culture, which challenged the definition of job descriptions and the involvement of a multi-professional work community. In the future the leaders hope for more innovative working style, experimentation and autonomy in relation to the mission of the early childhood education.

Settling in at daycare center is an exciting step in child’s and his/her parents’ life. Children’s literature is a one way to get ready for starting daycare. Through books child can safely handle excitement and nervous with parent when child is stepping into a new stage in his/her life. Child can find objects of identification in the books’ character, who has just started daycare. With the help of children’s literature, it is possible to study how the spirit of the time manifests itself in story, text, and illustrations of books. In this study, I aim to find out what kind of descriptions of daycare centers are made and how the start of daycare is described in Finnish children’s picture books. Qualitative research ways were used in this research. I approached the topic with hermeneutics. The source material was six Finnish picture books that were telling about daycare center or visiting or starting there for the first time. Onni ja Aada päiväkodissa (2021) by Maria Kuutti and Saara Söderlund, Miina ja Manu päiväkodissa (2008) by Teutori, Onni-poika menee päiväkotiin (2019) by Sanna Pelliccioni, Oona ja Eetu Päivä hoidossa (2010) by Katri Kirkkopelto and Mervi Wäre, Tomppa ja Kissantassut (2003) by Kristiina Louhi and Tatu ja Patu päiväkodissa (2004) by Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen. Based on the results, the children book characters felt nervous when they were starting at daycare center. Moreover, Finnish daycare centers are described to be nature focused, diverse and child-initiated places where works sensitive educators who put into practice high quality early childhood education and care. Based on the results, it is still possible to discern the influence of Froebelian pedagogic that has influenced the Finnish early childhood education and care system. The results also give an ideal picture of daycare center even if the real life is not exactly like that how the picture books are describing daycare centers.

Aims. Well-be and qualified early childhood education professionals ensure the quality of early childhood education. Pedagogical leadership that notes the fulfillment of psychological basic needs has the crucial role. Recently, however, leadership in early childhood education has greatly diversified. The purpose of this study was to clarify how the pedagogical leadership in early childhood education enables the fulfillment of the psychological basic needs of early childhood education professionals in their work. The aim of this thesis was to study the experiences of early childhood education professionals, how the fulfillment of psychological basic needs manifests in their work. In addition, the aim of this study was to find out the promotional and preventive factors related to the fulfillment of basic needs. Methods. This thesis is a qualitative case study. A theme interview was used as the data collection method. The framework of the interview was based on an interview formula measuring the fulfillment of psychological basic needs at work. Five early childhood education professionals were interviewed for this study. Theory–based content analysis was used as a method of analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that early childhood education professionals felt that psychological basic needs were filled quite well in their work. Fulfillment of psychological basic needs was associated with good pedagogical leadership. Based on the experiences of early childhood education professionals, the success of pedagogical leadership and thus supporting the fulfillment of the psychological basic needs of early childhood educators requires resources and leadership skills. According to the results, it is important to pay attention to the quality of the interaction, time available for the interaction, and the balance between work tasks and working hours. To support the fulfillment of the psychological basic needs of early childhood education professionals is essential to draw attention to adequate resourcing and the development of pedagogical leadership skills.

Aims. The aim of this study was to examine peer exclusion in ECEC. The main interest of this study was to describe peer exclusion during childrens actions while they play and communicate each other’s. This study also investigates how children acts while they exclusion others. Theoretically, the study draws upon conversational analysis approach of multimodal interaction. The research questions were: (1) What kind of is the peer exclusion in kindergarten, (2) What kind of is the social structure in situations of peer exclusion. Methods. This research was a qualitative study of interaction. The videodata used in this study was collected in a daycare center in Southern Finland in spring 2017. Data of this study consist of 25 episodes that were identified from the original 50 h video corpus. Children who participated in this study were between 1 to 4 years old. This studys episodes were analysed by multimodal interaction analysis. Results and conclusions. The peer exclusion occurred especially during childrens play. The child was excluded from play and play group. Peer exclusion appeared also using play material and toys. At that time, the child moved the toys away from the other child. Children’s birthday party conversations were also sometimes exclusionary. Exclusion occurred through language, gazes and gestures, body and body movement, and the use of material. Either one or more children participated in the peer exclusion. When one child behaved in an exclusionary manner the ”I”-speech, direct rejection speech and body movement emerged in the interaction. External factors of the child, such as younger age, were also appealed. When several children behaved in an exclusionary manner, exclusion became a group phenomenon, often verified through “we”-speech. Peer exclusion occurred especially when the adult was not present in the situation.

Objectives. The Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) has defined quality indicators for early childhood education and care (ECEC), which can be used to assess the quality of ECEC. According to the law (540/2018), ECEC is defined by a self-assessment obligation, which makes it possible to evaluate the pedagogical activities produced by ECEC staff. The study examined the quality of ECEC, from the perspective of quality process factors. The study was conducted based on self-assessments of ECEC staff. The aim of the study was to describe the factors that weaken the process quality of ECEC and to find out the effect of the educational background of ECEC staff on self-assessments. The study also examined development targets for the process quality of ECEC. Methods. The study was conducted in a mixed method manner using data and method triangulation. The research material was collected with an e-questionnaire. The survey was sent via social media to Facebook groups for ECEC staff. The study material consisted of 202 respondents and 260 open-ended responses. The research material was analyzed by appropriate methods using qualitative (content analysis) and quantitative (one-way analysis of variance) analysis. Results. The results of the study show that shortcomings in ECEC resources, professionalism and interprofessional co-operation were perceived as factors that weaken the process quality of ECEC. The results of the study also show that the self-assessments of highly educated staff differed from the self-assessments of vocational education staff, for one attribute. The research shows the need for comprehensive development work on the quality of early childhood education. Pedagogical activities in early childhood education must be enabled with sufficient resources and a well-functioning culture, and the well-being of staff must be safeguarded.