Browsing by Subject "sanaton yhteys"

The subject of this article-formatted Master’s Thesis is the meaning of wordless connection in early childhood education. The study examined the meaning of wordless connection and asked what kind of meanings wordless connection could have. The theoretical-philosophical approach was based on the ideas of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Martin Buber on the undifferentiated nature of human and world. Wordless connection in early childhood education was approached from a multi-species perspective in the light of solitude, being alongside and autotelic practices. Wordless connection as experience was approached from a phenomenological perspective. There has been little previous research on wordless connection from an early childhood education perspective. The research was carried out in collaboration between two researchers. The working methods were theoretical-philosophical reflection and thinking with theory. Due to the theoretical-philosophical approach of the research, no data was collected for the research, but the phenomenon under study was examined and described using research theory. The synthesis part of the thesis delved into the implementation of the research. The social and ethical relevance of the research was also examined. In this study, the meanings of wordless connection in early childhood education lie in the appreciation of ways of being and in the approach to the world that transcends anthropocentric ways of think and act. Recognizing the wordless connection in the context of early childhood education can, at best, create new, ecologically and socially more sustainable ways of interacting with others – both humans and more-than-humans.