Browsing by Subject "Koulutuksellinen yhdenvertaisuus"

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the government of Finland declared a state of emergency for the time between 18th March and 16th June, 2020. However, pre-primary education groups were held in operation, but – according to the government’s policy – the children were to be kept home if it was possible considering the parents’ work. (Ministry of Education and Culture, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, The Finnish Government Communications. 2020; The Finnish Government 2020.) As a consequence, the organisation of pre-primary education varied in different parts of Finland. Some children had contact instruction, some children stayed at home and received distance instruction by pre-education unit, and some children relied completely on possible home instruction. The purpose of this study is to find out the different ways pre-primary education was executed across the country during the state of emergency. It also brings forth the views the pre-primary teachers who attended this study have on how educational equality is actualised in their groups. The study further examines their views on the possible effects the state of emergency had to the process of proceeding to primary school, and how the state of emergency has affected settling in to school. The data for this study was collected with a questionnaire from two early childhood education themed Facebook groups in Spring 2021. The questionnaire was answered by sixteen pre-primary teachers who had worked with pre-primary education groups during the 2020 state of emergency. The collected data was analysed with data-driven content analysis. The pre-primary education organized during the state of emergency is examined by dividing the questionnaire results into four categories emerging from the data; teaching during the state of emergency, actualization of educational equality, and proceeding to primary school after the state of emergency. Based on the findings of the study, it is noticeable that – between municipalities as well as pre-primary education units – there are clear differences in the amount and quality of activities, as well as in the used teaching methods. According to the study, the teachers experienced challenges with the fulfillment of educational equality during the state of emergency; this was affected by, for example, the conditions, the differences between families and the resources available. The data shows that there were cases in which it was impossible to organize any kind of school introductions, and in other cases they were carried out with varying means. Moreover, starting school was mainly considered to be harder after the state of emergency, compared to normal conditions. The findings of the study could be utilised when planning possible preparations for similar future events.