Browsing by Author "Valmu, Nelli"

The purpose of this study is to find out how parents feel about their opportunities of influencing in their child’s kindergarten in Helsinki. The topic has been in the news copiously lately. The cooperation between the kindergartens and the parents is guided by numerous documents. “Varhaiskasvatussuunnitelman perusteet” states that the parents have a right to be a part of planning, execution and evaluation of the early childhood education. Influencing means altering or changing someone’s thoughts or actions. It is one of the most important things enabling the feeling of empowerment. Empowerment is the feeling of being an important part of a group and being able to influence and take responsibilities. In this study, I use a phenomenological basis. I used an internet inquiry to ask parents who live in Helsinki, how they feel about their possibilities of influencing in the early childhood ed-ucation of their children. There were 24 answerers. I did the analysis with analysis of content. The results were quite well in line with my expectations. Parents are given opportunities to in-fluence, but they feel like it is not enough. Most of the opportunities involve their own chil-drens day to day life, for example clothing and food. Many parents wish for possibilities to help the kindergartens with planning activities, like excursions and celebrations. There were also parents who are completely satisfied with the opportunities that they are given and the communication between them and the kindergarten.