Browsing by Subject "yleiset kirjastot"

During the last decade makerspace has gained popularity as a new way of learning. So far makerspaces have mainly focused on youth and adults instead of young children. Academic research on the subject is still fairly rare but makerspaces have been seen to support the goals of early childhood education. The goal of this research is to survey the realization of early childhood education in Finnish makerspaces. Makerspaces of the public libraries of the city of Espoo have been chosen as the subjects of material collecting due to their gratuitousness and quantity. One of the tasks of public libraries is organizing education with the cooperation of educational establishments. Due to it library makerspaces are favorable place to put early childhood education into practice. This research was carried out with semi-structured interviews. In total six makerspace staff members were interviewed. The study found that the library makerspace staff have a positive attitude towards early childhood education. All interviewed experts felt they are capable of planning and implementing activities for young children. Daycare groups have already visited some of the Espoo city library makerspaces. However, more information about the needs of early childhood education groups was desired. Daycare group participation in makerspaces has been dependent on the personal activity and knowledge of early childhood educators as the library makerspaces haven’t been marketed to kindergartens but are available on request. The library staff felt that they had ready-made lesson plans suitable for early childhood education groups but are afraid their resources are not sufficient if demand for their services rises. In early childhood education, the amount and importance of handicrafts have declined over the decades, and early childhood educators’ know-how of crafts and technology education is often seen as inadequate. Makerspaces can be used to increase the digital literacy skills of both children and educators, as well as the pedagogical skills of educators. In order to achieve this, the awareness of early childhood educators must be increased.