Browsing by Author "Innala, Heidi"

To a large extent, teaching is guided by the teacher's perception of the child's learning. The concept of learning guides, among other things, how the teacher acts and what kind of teaching methods they choose. The learning concept of the national core curriculum for early childhood education and care is based on a socioconstructive concept of learning, which determines that learning takes place in social interaction, so that the child is an active actor. Early childhood education and care is seen as an important channel to support a child's learning; emphasise a sense of community, peer learning and play. This study examined discourses on child learning produced by early childhood educators. The subject is important because research in this area is scarce. The research design was qualitative discourse analysis of written material collected by invitation. Twenty early childhood education teachers participated, and the study resulted in three discourses that describe the meanings that teachers produce for learning and, at the same time, create a social reality of learning in early childhood education. Discourses were the positions of learning, interaction and emotions as well as learning in context. The discourses produced by teachers largely correspond to socioconstructivist and sociocultural approaches to learning. They are also very much in line with the concept of learning in the national core curriculum for early childhood education and care. In these discourses, the adult is seen as very relevant in the child's learning and its support; emphasis on interaction between the adult and the child and the child's own activity and motivation are similarly seen as important. The results also highlight how the discourses articulating the teachers' concept of learning emphasized the child's interests but paid little attention to the importance of the child’s previous experiences. Mention of the treatment of communality, peer learning, and play was similarly scarce in teachers’ discourses. Based on the results of this study, it is important for teacher education and on-the-job learning to further strengthen teachers' perceptions of the importance of collaborative learning, peer interaction, and support for play in a child's learning.