Browsing by Author "Hirvonen, Nina"

Objectives. Previous studies show that there is need for more cooperation between the preschool education and primary education to ensure the child's smooth start to school. The purpose of this qualitative study was to find out what kinds of views do kindergarten teachers and class teachers have on the cooperation between the preschool education and primary education. Today, there has been a lot of talk about the importance of the cooperation between the preschool education and primary education for the child's smooth transition from preschool to primary education. The research questions helped to identify how useful do kindergarten teachers and class teachers find the cooperation, how frequently cooperation is carried out, which types of cooperation there is, how can the cooperation be developed and whether kindergarten teachers and class teachers have ideas how to develop the current cooperation. Methods. The study material consisted of three kindergarten teachers and four class teachers working in the metropolitan area. The research strategy used in this study was qualitative research in which theme interviews were used. The collected data were analyzed by means of data-driven content analysis. Results and Conclusions. This study showed that kindergarten teachers and class teachers felt the cooperation between the preschool education and primary education important. In addition, responses emphasized the cooperation to encompass the same basic formula but the organization of additional forms of cooperation depends on the year and on the activity of the preschool teachers and primary teachers. The implementation of cooperation between preschool education and primary education was performed weekly, monthly, once every two months or 2-6 times a year. In the autumn preschool teachers and primary school teachers will invest in joint planning of activities in the presence of preschool children in the classroom. In the spring a joint evaluation meeting, the introduction of preschool children to school and primary school teachers and the meeting of a pupil care team for children moving to school. All teachers felt that the current cooperation between the preschool education and primary education is positive and they do not want to make a lot of changes or develop the existing cooperation. Kindergarten teachers and class teachers would like to see closer cooperation between preschool and primary school teacher for example by adding joint debates and common planning time. They also wished that kindergarten and school would be in the same building. Kindergarten teachers and class teachers had different content development suggestions for cooperation between preschool education and primary education. Improvement alternatives included for example adding various events, ensuring data transfer from kindergarten to school, effortless school visits and joint training.