0000000000071279

AUTHOR

Merja Koivula

0000-0002-2980-0031

Lasten sosiaalisemotionaalinen oppiminen varhaiskasvatuksessa

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Children's peer interaction while playing the digital emotion detectives game

Collaborative learning and collaborative use of digital technologies are essential skills in the twenty-first century. The aim of this study was to explore the features and types of interaction that can be identified during children’s digital gameplay while playing in pairs. The following research questions were addressed: 1) What are the interactional play features that characterize the play sessions? 2) Which play types can be identified based on these interactional play features? 3) How do the interactional features and play types change during the eight-week play period? In this study, 16 children aged 5–6 years played the Emotion Detectives (ED) game in pairs at day care centres for 15…

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The Emotion Detectives Game: Supporting the Social-emotional Competence of Young Children

The potential of digital games to enhance learning in different areas of child development has drawn increasing interest amid growing concern about children’s emotional well-being, social-emotional difficulties, and problem behaviors alongside diminishing economic resources for intervention and habilitation. However, digital games designed to promote social-emotional competence are surprisingly scarce. In this chapter, we explore children’s use of the digital game Emotion Detectives (ED), designed to promote children’s acquisition of emotional knowledge skills (e.g., recognizing, appreciating, and understanding emotions and their expressions), prosocial behaviors (e.g., helping, sharing, co…

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Tunteiden taikaa ja onnistunutta osallisuutta varhaiskasvatuksessa

Harmittaako? Missä ilo tuntuu? Mitä tehdä, jos pelottaa? Miten ristiriidat ratkotaan kavereiden kanssa? Entä miten voidaan tunnistaa lasten tunnetiloja varhaiskasvatuksen lapsiryhmän hektisessä arjessa? Näiden kysymysten ääreltä aloitettiin TUIKKU – Tunnetaitoja ja osallisuutta varhaiskasvatukseen -hankkeen koulutus- ja tutkimusmatka. Tunnetaidot ja osallisuus on tunnistettu keskeisiksi hyvinvointiin vaikuttaviksi osa-alueiksi, joiden harjoittelu kannattaa aloittaa mahdollisimman varhain, jo varhaiskasvatuksessa. nonPeerReviewed

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Teaching Early Mathematical Skills to 3- to 7-Year-Old Children — Differences Related to Mathematical Skill Category, Children’s Age Group and Teachers’ Characteristics

Abstract This study explored teaching early mathematical skills to 3- to 7-year-old children in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and pre-primary education. Teachers in ECEC (N = 206) answered a web survey. The first aim was to determine whether teaching frequency or pedagogical awareness of teaching early mathematical skills varied according to the category of skills (numerical skills, spatial thinking skills and mathematical thinking and reasoning skills) and whether children’s age group moderated these differences. The second aim was to explore to what extent teacher-related characteristics and children’s age group explained variations in teaching frequency concerning early mathe…

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Lasten yhteisöllisyys ja yhteisöllinen oppiminen päiväkodissa

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Digital Games in Early Childhood: Broadening Definitions of Learning, Literacy, and Play

Digital games attract children and young people with imaginary worlds, fascinating stories, and shared experiences with peers. They also can add children’s learning and motivation and offer a variety of new affordances to explore and play with. The pedagogical use of digital games has been found to potentially intensify a more critical use and understanding of varied forms of media. In this chapter, we will focus on analyzing the role of digital games in early childhood, especially from the perspectives of learning, literacy, and play. This chapter examines digital games as playing an essential role in young children’s overall technology experiences, particularly in the context of the socia…

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Lastentarhanopettaja lasten autonomian tukijana varhaiskasvatuksessa

Pyrkimys autonomisuuteen on yksi ihmisen psykologisista perustarpeista, joka alkaa kehittyä noin kahdesta ikävuodesta eteenpäin. Autonomiaa on kuitenkin tutkittu empiirisesti hyvin vähän varhaiskasvatuksen kontekstissa. Tarkastelemme tässä laadullisessa tutkimuksessa 4–5-vuotiaiden lasten autonomiaa päiväkodissa lastentarhanopettajien näkökulmasta havainnointien ja haastatteluiden sekä lastentarhanopettajien päiväkirjojen ja kirjoitelmien kautta. Tutkimustehtävänämme on selvittää, miten lastentarhanopettajat ymmärtävät lapsen autonomian ja mitä pedagogisia keinoja he käyttävät autonomian tukemisessa. Tutkimusaineisto on analysoitu laadullista sisällönanalyysia ja narratiivista analyysia hyö…

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Using the Storytelling Method to Hear Children’s Perspectives and Promote Their Social-Emotional Competence

This study investigated the use of a playful, narrative, vignette-based method, called Story Magician’s Play Time (SMPT), in supporting children’s social-emotional reasoning and in helping children practice their social skills. We set out to examine (a) in what ways children use SMPT sessions to explore social interaction situations and to practice social skills, and (b) what story content and narrative play behavior during the SMPT sessions reveal about the social-emotional competence of children, in terms of acquisition and performance skills. The data were collected during SMPT storytelling sessions where 5- to 6-year-old children narrated stories of familiar but challenging daily situa…

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The quality of an expert teacher’sand a student teacher’s pedagogical interactionsin early childhood education and care examined through theCLASS lens

High-quality interactions between teachers and children in early childhood education and care (ECEC) are at theheart of supporting children’s development, well-being, andlearning. Theaim of the study wasto examine the quality of an experienced ECEC teacher’sand an ECEC student teacher’steacher–child interactionsusingthe ClassroomAssessment Scoring System (CLASS). Furthermore, the study exploredthe participants’reflectionson their pedagogical interactions and theextent to which they alignedwith the CLASS framework. The data consistedof video recordings, written observation notes, and stimulated recall interview(SRI) transcripts. Thevideos were rated according to the CLASSmanual, and the data…

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KiMo valmentaa opiskelijoita monikielisessä yhtenäiskoulussa työskentelemiseen

KiMo on lyhenne kielitietoisuutta ja monikielisyyttä tukevan pedagogiikan koulutusmallista. KiMo-opinnoissa tutkitaan ja ratkotaan ajankohtaisia monikielisen ja -kulttuurisen koulun ja varhaiskasvatuksen kehittämishaasteita yli tiedekunta- ja laitosrajojen. Tämä uusi koulutusmalli murtaa koulutuksen rajaaitoja, kun varhaiskasvatuksen opettajaopiskelijat, luokanopettaja-opiskelijat ja kieltenopettajaopiskelijat työskentelevät yhdessä. Opettajuutta rakennetaan tutkivalla otteella, yhteisöllisesti ja yhteistyössä muun muassa päiväkotien, koulujen, vanhempien ja kolmannen sektorin toimijoiden kanssa. nonPeerReviewed

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Leikisti pelissä : pohdintaa lasten digitaalisesta leikistä

Artikkelissamme tarkastellaan esikouluikäisten lasten d¡gitaalista pelaamista leik¡n näkökulmasta. Vi¡me vuosina tieto- ja viestintäteknologia on tullut osaksi yhä nuoremp¡en lasten arkea ja herättänyt myös huolta s¡¡tä, m¡ten lisääntynyt pelaaminen vaikuttaa lasten leikkiin ja mahdollisesti he¡kentää leikin laalua. Toistaiseksi pienten lasten digitaalisesta leikistä on kuitenkin vain vähän tutkimustietoa. Tässä artikkelissa pohditaan per¡nteisen leikin määr¡ttelyä ja sen soveltumista dig¡taalisen leikin määrittelyyn. Peilaamme käytännön esimerkkejä lasten digitaalisesta leikistä Burghardtin (2012), Caillois'n (2001)ja van Oersin (2013) perinteisen leikin kriteer¡stö¡hin, joista valitsimme …

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Eksperttiopettajan kielikasvatuksen käyttöteoria monikielisten lasten varhaiskasvatuksessa

Tässä tapaustutkimuksessa tarkastelemme, millainen käyttöteoria kaksikielistä pedagogiikkaa (suomi-ruotsi) varhaiskasvatuksessa toteuttavalla eksperttiopettajalla on eri kielten käytöstä monikielisten lasten kanssa toimiessa. Käyttöteorialla tarkoitetaan tässä pedagogista näkemystä, joka ohjaa opettajan toimintaa. Käyttöteoriaa eri kielten käytöstä lähestyttiin kahden tutkimuskysymyksen kautta, joissa tarkasteltiin kielikasvatuksen käyttöteorian keskeisiä osa-alueita ja niiden ilmenemistä eri kielissä. Aineistona oli yhden eksperttiopettajan kaksi haastattelua, jotka analysoitiin laadullisella temaattisella analyysillä. Tulokset osoittavat, että opettajan kielikasvatuksen käyttöteoriassa ko…

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Reconsidering passivity and activity in children’s digital play

The discussion around children’s digital game culture has resulted in two contradictory images of children: the passive, antisocial children uncritically and mechanically consuming digital game content and the active, social children creatively using and interacting with digital game content. Our aim is to examine how these seemingly contradictory ideas of “active” and “passive” children could be considered. By means of empirical examples of children playing digital dress-up and makeover games, we will point out that for the successful use of these concepts, they need to be thoroughly contextualized. By discussing the context and referent of activity and passivity, it is possible to overcom…

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Digital Technologies and Early Childhood : Guest Editorial

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The digitalisation of early childhood education and the generational order in change? Tensions between early childhood educators and children in the midst of digital technology

Viimeisten vuosien aikana päiväkodit ovat olleet nopean teknologisen muutoksen kohteena. Digitaaliset teknologiat, erityisesti tablettitietokoneet, ovat tulleet lyhyen ajan sisällä osaksi varhaiskasvatuksen arkea ja pedagogiikkaa. Artikkelissamme tuomme haastatteluaineiston avulla näkyville teknologian käytön aiheuttamia jännitteitä varhaiskasvatuksessa, kun sekä lapset että lastentarhanopettajat koettavat navigoida muuttuneessa teknologiaympäristössä yksin, yhdessä ja erikseen. Jännitteet vaikuttavat myös varhaiskasvatusinstituution sukupolvijärjestykseen, sillä teknologian äärellä lapset näyttäytyvät aikuisia osaavampana sukupolvena. Artikkeli nostaa näin esille digitaalisen teknologian k…

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Building children’s sense of community in a day care centre through small groups in play

This study examines the process through which children build a sense of community in small groups in a day care centre. The study asks the following: how does children’s sense of community develop, and what are its key features? Data were collected by applying ethnographic methods in a group of three- to five-year-old children over eleven months. The results show that children’s sense of community developed through three stages. In the first stage, it evolved gradually through experiences in joint play. In the second stage, stable friendships were formed and strengthened in play. In the third and final stage, sense of community was fully established and children’s emotional bonding was stro…

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Finnish and Greek early childhood teachers’ perspectives and practices in supporting children’s autonomy

Kindergarten teachers from different cultural backgrounds attribute various meanings to children’s autonomy. There seems to be cultural differences in early childhood education curricula with regard to how a child’s autonomy is described and how it is supported. This qualitative study asks: how do teachers narrate their perspective and pedagogical support of children’s autonomy, and what kinds of similarities and differences in the pedagogy and practices can be found in Finnish and Greek early childhood education (ECEC) contexts? The data of this qualitative study consist of a semi-structured questionnaire of 14 kindergarten teachers and observations of their pedagogical practices in the da…

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Family and work-related risk factors in children's social–emotional well-being and parent–educator cooperation in flexibly scheduled early childhood education and care

Non-standard work schedules (NSWS) have become typical, but their associations with childcare arrangements and children's well-being are unknown. This study explores how risk factors are associated with the social–emotional well-being of girls and boys using flexibly scheduled early childhood education and care. Furthermore, the study investigates whether well-functioning cooperation between parents and educators buffers the negative effects of the risk factors. This study, which is a part of a larger survey carried out in three European countries, reports Finnish parents' (N = 146) perspectives. The results showed that high parental stress was associated with low child well-being. Strong p…

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Kieli ja osallisuus S2-lasten leikissä

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Lasten sosioemotionaalisten taitojen tukeminen varhaiskasvatuksessa

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Adaptation and implementation of the German social-emotional learning programme Papilio in Finland : A pilot study

This study investigated the cross‐national adaptation and implementation of Papilio, a German social–emotional learning programme, in Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres. Papilio is a developmentally focused, scientifically based intervention programme focused on preventing behavioural problems and fostering social–emotional competence in children aged 3–7. The aim of this study was to investigate and evaluate the cross‐national adaptation and cross‐cultural adaptation and implementation of Papilio in the Finnish ECEC context. Results from qualitative interviews with one Finnish Papilio trainer, 11 early childhood education (ECE) teachers, two ECE special education tea…

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Tunnepeikot Nyyhky, Äksy, Säikky ja Hymy tutustuttavat lapsia tunteisiin

Miltä sinusta tuntuu silloin, kun olet surullinen? Missä kohtaa suru tuntuu kehossasi? Mikä sinua auttaa, kun tunnet surua? Lapset pohtivat näitä kysymyksiä tunnepeikkojen Nyyhkyn, Äksyn, Säikyn ja Hymyn kanssa päiväkodeissa. Tunnetaidot eli tunteiden nimeäminen, tunnistaminen ja säätely ovat taitoja, jotka kehittyvät vuorovaikutuksessa toisten ihmisten kanssa. Tunnekasvatukseen on kehitetty useita interventio-ohjelmia, joista yksi, varhaiskasvatukseen kehitetty Papilio-ohjelma on tutkimuskohteena Jyväskylän yliopiston kasvatustieteiden laitoksella. nonPeerReviewed

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Children's social-emotional development and its support : guest editorial

This special issue of the JECER focuses on children’s social-emotional development and its support. From the associations between linguistic and social-emotional development to the role of early education teachers in supporting children, the issue covers a wide range of subtopics. The importance of children’s social-emotional learning (SEL) has been recognized already for a long time, but despite an extensive body of research, gaps, nonetheless, still exist in our knowledge. There are, for example, still a relatively limited number of intervention studies evaluating different SEL-programmes in early childhood education in different cultural contexts. We also need to know more about how high…

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Digiloikka ja ei-kenenkään-alue varhaiskasvatuksessa

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