Browsing by study line "Varhaiskasvatus"

The aim of this Master´s thesis was to study children’s experiences in social participation in day care centers. Children’s participation has long been discussed and researched in early childhood education. However, there are differences in how children’s participation is seen and promoted. Participation can be seen as some separate special tasks implemented at certain times. Social participation gives an opportunity to study participation as a way for a child to be encountered and to be part of his or her own community. This study follows the principles of qualitative research and is made by using child-perspective methods. The 5-year-old children were interviewed by the researcher and their stories are the basis of this study. The children had taken pictures of their days in the day care center and these pictures were shown to them during the interviews to help them talk about the events. The material was analyzed by interpreting the stories themselves and by using narrative analysis. Based on the children’s stories the experience of social participation does not require complicated things that are hard to implement. Children feel that they belong to a group through playing and interacting with friends. The stories showed that some children need adults’ support when interacting with their peers, although those children are not always able to express their need. As a conclusion it can be stated that social participation requires a child-friendly environment where the early childhood educators respond to children’s initiatives, support peer interaction and promote children’s individual abilities to belong to their community.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the early childhood education and care (ECEC) experiences of children with school attendance problems (SAP), and to identify factors that may lead to SAP. Prior research on SAP has focused largely on individual perspectives, with little consideration given to the combined effect of these factors (Gottfried & Gee, 2017; Lyon & Cotler, 2009). Additionally, previous research has primarily focused on adolescents. This study aims to draw attention to younger children and to the factors that predispose them to SAP. The aim of this study is to pro-vide a comprehensive understanding of the factors and their interrelationships that influence SAP. Methods: A phenomenological approach and narrative research sample were used in this study. Parents of children who had stopped attending school during lower primary school were invited to participate through a research invitation published on Facebook. Data was collected through interviews with two participants and anonymous free-form essays from 16 additional participants. Analysis of the data focused on identifying unifying meanings, meaning structures, and themes in the narratives of the parents. Results and conclusions: The study identified several unifying factors in the preschool and school years of children with SAP. Challenges faced by the children were a clear unifying factor; however, the differentiating factor was how these challenges had affected the child’s ECEC. Based on the parents’ narratives, the ECEC could be divided into four profiles: carefree, survivors, unsatisfied, and passive. The study also found connecting factors in the diagnoses received and the start of school absenteeism. The most significant individual unifying factors were challenges in transitional situations, sensory regulation, separation from parents, and regulation skills. The central unifying themes were overload, withdrawal, and operational control problems. The study concludes that SAP often arises from a combination of risk factors related to the child and unfavorable environmental factors. Additionally, the triggering factor can sometimes play a role in SAP. Play was found to reduce the load experienced by the child and balance the demands placed on child.

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.

Faculty: Educational Sciences Degree programme: Master’s program in Educational Sciences Study track: Early Childhood Education Author: Satu Soininen Title: Children’s perspectives and perceptions about risky play in forest school setting Level: Master’s Thesis Month and year: May 2023 Number of pages: 67 pp + 3 appendices Keywords: adventure education, early childhood education, forest school, outdoor learning, risky play, Supervisor or supervisors: Lasse Lipponen Where deposited: Helsingin yliopiston kirjasto – Helda / E-thesis (opinnäytteet) Additional information: Abstract: Objectives. Children regularly seek risks when playing and enjoy physical challenges such as climbing and jumping from high places. However, safety rules limit children’s risk-taking experiences in preschools and daycare centers. The purpose of this study was to examine through the narratives of 4–5-year-old children how they experience risky play and preferred activities in forest school settings, as well as which activities they understand to be forbidden and what are the rules when playing in forest. Methods. This study was a qualitative study that used narrative research approach to children’s perceptions of risky play. The research material consisted of narrative interviews with 19 4-5-years old children (10 boys and 9 girls). The interviews were conducted in a forest school setting during the fall of 2022. The material was analyzed by applying thematic analysis and utilizing the concept of small stories. Conclusions. In this study, climbing on trees and rocks were children’s most liked risky play activities, which they also partly perceived as dangerous type of play. The children had a clear understanding of the danger of climbing and fast -paced play. They were able to recognize the possibility of harm, injury and pain when playing risky type of play. Imagination play and role-playing were also popular among children. Forest elements such as trees, rocks, and natural materials turned into surfboards, trains, and home play areas. Children liked to build forts and dens and one of the popular types of play was to play animal families in those dens. In their stories about common rules in the forest, children talked about rules related to stick games, climbing, and running and tag games. I interpreted that the children understand the pursuit of safety in rules as well as the protection of the forest and nature. Psychological and social environmental rules also emerged in the children’s stories as rules for including all friends to play.

Objectives. The ability to show compassion has developed in humans to strengthen social relationships and to enable social functions. Compassion is conceived as a state of concern for others suffering and as a desire to alleviate it. Previous studies have determined that compassion in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) is constructed culturally and that it is dependent on the actions of the adults. This study describes how children react when they confront a crying child in the ECEC setting and explores how children take part in showing compassion to crying children. Methods. The research data was 50 hours of video footage. There was identified 27 episodes where children were crying. The children participating in the study were aged between 1-4 years old. Firstly theory-based content analysis was applied in the data and then the categories that were formed were analysed by multimodal interaction analysis. Conclusions. This study highlights the previous studies in which it was defined that compassionate acts in the ECEC are most often performed by the adults. It was determined that the children mostly continued their previous actions or gazed at the compassionate acts that were performed when other children were crying. The children could also refuse to show compassion to the crying child. The compassionate acts that the children performed were made with the support of the adults, together with the adults or independently. In this study compassion was always shown to the crying child. It should be established how to increase children’s compassion in the ECEC and how to utilize the adult’s role in it.

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to produce information on the appearance of children’s fear and anxiety in the context of early childhood education and care (ECEC). By drawing attention to the daily actions and situations where fear and anxiety typically take place, it is possible to gather valuable information about children’s wellbeing in the various situations of ECEC. This study examines the situations in which children experience fear and anxiety and how these emotions reflect the children’s behavior. In addition, the study aims to find out how the ECEC personnel relates to the fear or anxiousness of the child. The study was conducted using the Finnish nationwide Progressive Feedback method. The research data was gathered during 2017–2021. A total of 2653 ECEC groups from 18 municipalities participated in the study. The research method used was systematic random sample observation, which included all activities in ECEC between 8 AM to 4 PM. Quantitative methods were used to analyse the data. The observations of fear and anxiety were cross-tabulated with the observations of the general frame of activity, the child’s social orientation, and the actions of the nearest adult. It was found that children show highlighted levels of fear and anxiety when being outdoors or participating in indoor guided activities. Withdrawn and independent social orientations were highlighted among children experiencing fear and anxiety. When examining adults’ reactions to children’s fear and anxiety receptive and negative attitudes were overrepresented. However, negative attitudes should be considered with caution due to the limitations of the data. A closer inspection into the matter revealed that both children’s and personnel’s attitude towards fear and anxiety was context-related. Article manuscript “Children’s observed fear and anxiety in early childhood education” is to be published in the Finnish journal of Psychology.

Since the reader in child begins to form from infancy, children’s books play an important role in the language development. However, there hasn’t been much research on literature aimed at children under 3 years old. The objective of this study is to find out what type of factors are used to attract children to read picture books; how picture, text and different elements attempt to make children’s book interesting and how is it reflected in literature for under 3-year-olds. This research is conducted using discourse analysis, approaching the topic with social constructionism. As for the factors of attraction in children’s books, different discourses arose. The source material included Finnish books published between January 2021 and August 2023 for children under 3 years old, n=24. The discourses found in the study are linked to previous research findings as well as to the children’s worldview, which is reflected in children’s books. Three discourses were found as research results: the discourse of playfulness brings the element of fun to literature, the discourse of child’s development and experience reflects the child’s own world in literature and the discourse of functionality encourages the child to actively engage with the book. In the conclusion it is established that no book relies only on one factor of attractiveness, but they were used in various ways in all the different elements of the books: in pictures, text and other elements. The interaction with an adult is strongly linked to the attraction of reading as well

This research was interested in early childhood education managers' professional agency in context of pedagogical and human resources leadership. In addition, the early childhood managers’ pedagogical as well as human resources leadership experiences were studied. There is still very little previous research done in terms of early childhood managers’ professional agency but studying it could help in developing the early childhood educational field because according to previous professional agency studies, managers’ professional agency is linked to the personnel. Among other things innovating, developing and taking care of the well-being of staff are part of leadership agency. The data of this Master’s Thesis is based on nine early chilhood education managers' telephone interview transcripts. The telephone interviews, that lasted approximately 30 minutes each, were executed during the autumn of 2021. Transcripts from telephone interviews were analysed using content analysis and narrative analysis. Content analysis of the data identified five categories in early childhood education managers’ experiences in pedagogical leadership (central mission, common goal, consistency, job relevancy and practice in reality) as well as in human resources leadership (service management, presence, ensemble control, discretion and responsibility). Each of the categories had professional agency in early childhood managers’ experiences which was analysed narratively. Early chilhood education managers' experienced pedagogical leadership as important part of the job and they mentioned pedagogy being close to their hearts. Managers described experiences in human resources leadership as serving others but also working under pressure. The experiences of early childhood education managers in pedagogical and human resources leadership included plenty of traits of professional agency. The traits of professional agency adapt to all key moments of previous research theory which are: 1) respecting employee views, 2) drawing conclusions through dialogue, 3) bringing up own expertise, 4) learning and 5) speaking directly. Based on this study, professional agency was an important tool in pedagogical leadership and human resources leadership. Early childhood managers’ professional agency is shown through the decisions the manager is able to make under the sociocultural circumstances at the work place and within their own personal abilities.

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.

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.