Browsing by Author "Miikkulainen, Julia"

According to the binding curriculums for preschool education, the utilization of children’s literature in education is an important part of supporting the linguistic development of a child. Reading books also benefits the child’s cognitive development and mental well-being. The goal of this study was to find out how children’s literature is being utilized in the preschool education groups in the cities of Helsinki and Espoo. The study shows particular interest to the questions of whether books are being read to children in preschool education and how often. Another research problem dealt with the situations where children were exploring books and with whom. In addition, it was studied whether children’s literature was on display in the preschool group areas and whether it was available to children. The aim of the study is thus to describe how children’s literature appears in preschool education and how well the requirements of the curriculums are met in reality. The study was a survey which was sent electronically to the kindergarten teachers working in preschool education groups in Helsinki and Espoo and to the kindergarten teacher students who were doing their final training in preschool education groups. Altogether 106 usable responses were received. The survey consisted of multiple choice questions and open questions. Consequently, the survey utilized both quantitative and qualitative data gathering and analysis methods. The numeric data was processed with the SPSS program and a descriptive analysis method was used in the analysis. The responses to the open questions were processed through a data-based analysis from a phenomenological perspective, looking for factors to explain statistical distributions. The results showed that books are being read to children in preschool education almost every day during resting time and on average 1 ̶ 2 times a week during free play and lessons. Independently children were exploring books most during free play where children explored books slightly more often with other children than alone. Noteworthy is however that in transition situations children were directed to explore books almost 3 ̶ 4 times a week. On average the respondents totally agreed that children’s literature is on display in the group areas and easily available to children. Hence, it can be stated that children’s literature has its place in the every-day life and group areas of preschool education. However, the fact that literature plays a bigger role in transition situations than in lessons tells something about the appreciation of children’s literature. It can be questioned, whether books are used to support education and the linguistic development of the child or more as a pedagogical method to calm and entertain children and to resolve transition situations.