Kaksivuotisen esiopetuksen kokeilun seurannan ja arvioinnin tuloksia 2021–2022 : Osaraportti 2: Kokeilun järjestämistavat, toiminta lapsiryhmissä sekä oppimisen polun jatkumot ja siirtymät

Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön toteuttama Kaksivuotisen esiopetuksen kokeilu käynnistyi elokuussa 2021. Tämä raportti on osa kokeilun seurantaa ja arviointia. Sen tulokset perustuvat kahteen keväällä 2022 toteutettuun kyselyyn, joissa tarkasteltiin kaksivuotisen esiopetuksen kokeilun järjestämistapoja, toimintakäytäntöjä sekä lasten oppimisen polun siirtymiä ja jatkumoita kokeilun ensimmäisenä toimintakautena 2021–2022. Ensimmäiseen kyselyyn vastasivat kuntien varhaiskasvatuksesta vastaavat viranhaltijat (N = 120). Toiseen kyselyyn vastasivat kokeilu- ja verrokkiryhmien vastaavat varhaiskasvatuksen opettajat (N = 872). Tulokset osoittivat, että esiopetuskokeilu on voinut muuttaa sekä viisi…

Teachers' visual focus of attention in relation to students' basic academic skills and teachers' individual support for students: An eye-tracking study

This study investigated how teachers' visual focus of attention is associated with students' basic academic skills and teachers' individual support for students in basic academic skills in authentic classroom settings. Teachers' (N = 46) visual focus of attention in the classroom was measured with mobile eye-tracking, and students' (N = 879) literacy and math skills were tested in Grade 1. The results revealed that teachers' visual focus of attention in terms of fixation counts correlated with students' basic academic skills and teachers' individual support for students in literacy and math. Two case studies showed that teachers' visual focus of attention varied among students with differen…

Facilitators, teachers, observers, and play partners : Exploring how mothers describe their role in play activities across three communities

The present study explored the perspectives of mothers from three communities regarding their role in play activities with their toddlers. The mothers of two-year-old children from Muenster, Germany (n = 34), Chennai, India (n = 36), and New York City, USA (n = 36), participated in the study. Qualitative content analysis was utilized to analyze the mothers' responses to semi-structured interview questions. Four roles were identified as characterizing the mothers' narratives, namely mothers as facilitators, teachers, play partners, or observers. The goal of facilitator was to support children's autonomy; teachers often described educational learning goals; and play partners and observers hig…

Scaffolding patterns of dialogic exchange in toddler classrooms

The present study investigates how often episodes of dialogic exchange can be identified in educator–toddler interactions during play and emerging academic activities, what kind of scaffolding strategies educators use during the episodes of dialogic exchange and, ultimately, what kind of scaffolding patterns of dialogic exchange can be identified based on educators' use of scaffolding strategies. Educator–child interactions were video-recorded in seven European countries, in two toddler classrooms in each country. The video recordings of emerging academic and play activities were transcribed and analysed, combining the principles of theory and a data-driven content analysis. First, 69 episo…

Quality of educational dialogue and association with students’ academic performance

The study used a mixed-methods approach to examine the associations between the quality of educational dialogue and students' academic performance and to analyse what kinds of dialogic teaching patterns of different levels of quality can be identified in classroom lessons. A total of 158 Grade 6 lessons were video-recorded, and the quality of the educational dialogue was assessed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System-Secondary (CLASS-S) observational instrument. Multilevel modelling indicated that the quality of educational dialogue was positively associated with students’ academic performance (grades) in language arts and physics/chemistry. Qualitative analysis was subsequently use…

Professional vision in the classroom: Teachers’ knowledge-based reasoning explaining their visual focus of attention to students

This study investigated Grade 2 teachers' (N = 50) professional vision through eye-tracking methodology and retrospective think-aloud interviews. The study examined the extent to which teachers' knowledge-based reasoning explains their visual focus of attention to whole class and individual students. We found that teachers' descriptions of students' social relations and emotions associated positively with teachers' visual focus of attention to the whole class. Teachers' descriptions of teacher-related information/elaboration and pedagogy linked negatively with teachers' visual focus of attention to individual students. The findings suggest that teachers' visual focus of attention to student…

Educational dialogue among teachers experiencing different levels of self-efficacy

This study examines the occurrence and quality of educational dialogue in the Grade 1 classrooms of teachers with low, moderate and high self-efficacy beliefs. Video recordings of 24 teachers were analysed based on episodes of educational dialogue and were categorised with respect to patterns of dialogic teaching. Teachers with low levels of self-efficacy conducted educational dialogue the least; they also used less teacher-initiated, high-quality dialogue compared with moderate and high self-efficacy teachers. Teachers with high self-efficacy utilised more child-initiated high-quality dialogue compared with the moderate self-efficacy teachers. The findings are important because they provid…

Exploring types of educational classroom talk in early childhood education centres

Educational classroom talk is beneficial for children’s learning and communicative development (Alexander 2018); however, current research has focused predominantly on classroom talk starting at th...

Do teachers’ professional vision and teaching experience always go hand in hand? Examining knowledge-based reasoning of Finnish Grade 1 teachers

This mixed-method study explored 54 Finnish Grade 1 teachers' professional vision and teaching experience. Teachers' retrospective think-aloud interviews, conducted while watching their eye-tracking recordings of classroom actions, were analysed according to the domains of knowledge-based reasoning. Negative associations between teaching experience and amount of knowledge-based reasoning were found. The qualitative examination of three teachers with different amounts of teaching experience provided concrete examples and broadened the findings. We suggest that teachers’ knowledge-based reasoning should be seen not only as an ability that increases with experience but also as an ability that …

Knowledge-building patterns in educational dialogue

This study aimed to examine knowledge-building patterns in Grade 6 educational dialogues. The data consisted of 20 video-recorded lessons from the classes taught by seven teachers, selected by using a latent profile analysis and examined with a qualitative functional analysis of classroom talk. Episodes of educational dialogue were found to represent three main types of knowledge, based on facts, views and experiences. These three types were further identified as forming six diverse knowledge-building patterns in educational dialogues. The findings indicated that factual orientation dominated the Grade 6 lesson dialogues. However, factual knowledge building often occurred with the other two…

Opetusdialogi luokkahuoneessa : opettajan tarjoama tuki, yhteinen tiedonrakennus ja yhteys akateemiseen suoriutumiseen

Heli Muhosen kasvatustieteen väitöskirja ”Educational dialogue in the classroom: Scaffolding, knowledge building and associations with academic performance” (Opetusdialogin laatu on yhteydessä oppimiseen) tarkastettiin Jyväskylän yliopiston Kasvatustieteiden ja psykologian tiedekunnassa 4.5.2018. Vastaväittäjänä toimi professori Kristiina Kumpulainen Helsingin yliopistosta ja kustoksena professori Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen Jyväskylän yliopistosta. nonPeerReviewed

Dialogue through the eyes: Exploring teachers’ focus of attention during educational dialogue

Abstract This study explored teachers’ focus of attention during educational dialogue. Teachers’ focus of attention was recorded in 54 Grade 1 classrooms using Tobii Pro Glasses 2 mobile eye-tracking device. From the video recordings, episodes of educational dialogue were identified and categorised by quality. Teacher’s focus of attention on students was examined during the dialogue episodes. Results showed that teachers allocated their attention relatively unevenly among the students. More students got visual attention during high-quality educational dialogue than during moderate-quality dialogue. This study provides insight into the quality of educational dialogue by combining assessment …

Teachers’ Focus of Attention in First-grade Classrooms: Exploring Teachers Experiencing Less and More Stress Using Mobile Eye-tracking

This study investigated teachers’ focus of attention and stress in first-grade classrooms. Teachers’ (n = 53) focus of attention was recorded in fall and spring with a mobile eye-tracking device, and the teachers reported stress via questionnaires. Correlation analysis was used to examine association between teacher stress (exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy) and focus of attention. Then, one teacher reporting more stress and one reporting less stress were selected for a case study to examine variations in their focus of attention. The results showed positive associations between teachers’ perceived inadequacy and overall focus of attention (whole eye-tracking recording) both in fall and …

Professional vision of Grade 1 teachers experiencing different levels of work-related stress

This study explored teachers' professional vision by examining how teachers experiencing low, moderate and high work-related stress reason their eye-tracking recordings in terms of description, explanation and prediction. A qualitative analysis of retrospective think-aloud interviews with 24 Grade 1 teachers showed that teachers predominantly used description in their reasoning, while explanation and prediction were less frequent. The description mainly focused on teacher information/elaboration and classroom management/behaviour. Teachers with moderate stress utilised self-reflection most frequently, whereas teachers with high stress utilised it the least. The results suggest that the leve…

Scaffolding through dialogic teaching in early school classrooms

The present study examines what types of dialogic teaching patterns can be identified in the early school years, and how teachers scaffold children's participation and shared understanding through dialogic teaching. Thirty recorded lessons from preschool to Grade 2 in Finnish classrooms were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Two teacher-initiated and two child-initiated dialogic teaching patterns were identified. Teacher's scaffolding in teacher-initiated dialogues was characterised by high responsibility in maintaining the interactional flow and utilisation of diverse strategies. In the child-initiated dialogues, the teachers' scaffolding consisted of listening and inquiry, and …

Patterns of dialogic teaching in kindergarten classrooms of Finland and the United Arab Emirates

Abstract The present study explored patterns of dialogic teaching in kindergarten classrooms across two countries with different educational systems and cultural backgrounds: Finland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In each country, transcripts of thirteen learning sessions were analyzed by identifying episodes of educational dialogue and categorizing them with regard to previously identified patterns of dialogic teaching. Results showed that teachers, rather than students, initiated dialogue. Further, teacher-initiated teaching dialogue of high quality was the dominant dialogue pattern. Comparisons across countries revealed less educational dialogue and more teacher-initiated questions …

Educational dialogue in the classroom : scaffolding, knowledge building and associations with academic performance

The present thesis focuses on patterns of educational dialogue, their quality with respect to forms of teacher scaffolding and shared knowledge building, and the association between the quality of educational dialogue and students’ academic performance. The specific questions of interest are as follows: (1) to examine how teachers scaffold students in learning situations through dialogic teaching, (2) to identify patterns of shared knowledge building in educational dialogues, and (3) to investigate how the quality of educational dialogue is associated with academic performance. The data were drawn from the audio- and video-recorded lessons of the First Steps longitudinal study, which were c…

Opettajan ja oppilaan välisen suhteen yhteys oppilaan kouluun sitoutumisessa

Savolaisesta kirjastojohtamisesta kirjataivaaseen : STKS:n asiakaspalvelutyöryhmän seminaarin keskiössä tila- ja palvelusuunnittelu

”Onko kirjaston muutos palveluiden saneeraamista vai kehittämistä? Vastaan savolaisittain kyllä”, aloitti kirjastonjohtaja Jarmo Saarti (UEF) esityksensä STKS:n asiakaspalvelutyöryhmän seminaarissa. Näiden viime lokakuun lopulla lausuttujen sanojen lisäksi mieleen jääviä toteamuksia olivat myös: ”Älkää tätä kirjoittako ylös.” ”Pahvilaatikoiden leikkaaminen voi olla osa yliopisto-opiskelua”. ”Mitä tummempi väri, sen sosiaalisempi tila” ja ”Onhan siellä kirjoja ja rauhaa?”. Muutos-teeman ympärille rakentuneessa seminaarissa pohdittiin sekä palveluiden että tilojen suunnittelua ja se, kuka sanoi mitäkin, selviää seuraavassa. nonPeerReviewed

Teacher–student relationship and students’ social competence in relation to the quality of educational dialogue

Teacher–student relationship and students’ social competence were investigated in relation to the quality of educational dialogue. The data consisted of 151 video-recorded Grade 2 lessons. The teachers (N = 50) also rated their students’ (N = 664) social competence and the teacher–student relationship. In terms of teacher–student relationships, closeness associated positively while conflict associated negatively with high quality dialogue. Regarding students’ social competence, cooperation skills and empathy linked positively while disruptiveness linked negatively with high quality dialogue. The findings provide new knowledge on how different student-related factors may support or prevent t…