Relational approach to infant-teacher lap interactions during the transition from home to early childhood education and care

The transition from home care to early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a period of intense change and development in young children's socio-spatial worlds. This article focuses on infant–teacher lap interactions during this transition period. This investigation applies a relational approach to the study of infant–teacher lap interactions. In doing so, it highlights the inherently social and contextual nature of interaction. From a relational perspective, actors, context, and situation are seen as constitutive of each other, and their interrelationality is considered central to the emergence of interactions. The data, regarding infants' first months attending ECEC in Finland, is compo…

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…

Conclusion: Discourses and Dreams on Becoming

The contents in the chapters in this book have shown how ECEC institutions are both globally linked and locally constructed within networks of powers, discourses, philosophies, paradoxes and practices. The kinds of ‘becoming(s)’ that arise for these young children as a consequence are different – in an increasingly globalised world, we think, these are of great significance in thinking about the present and future realities that are posed accordingly. Thus, with this concluding chapter, we seek to address existing and future challenges, dreams and opportunities in contemplation of a future that we can only imagine, in consideration of the practices and discourses that structure becoming(s) …

Infantologies. An EPAT collective writing project

Infantologies is a collective writing project designed to express and summarise important ideas, approaches and forms of advocacy in a short and condensed method, in order to present a network of d...

Tensions and challenges concerning ethics on video research with young children : experiences from an international collaboration among seven countries

This article and the four videos linked to this article are a result of the earliest experiences in establishing an international research collaboration among seven countries in the Project Social and emotional experiences in transition through the early years. We draw attention to the complex issues surrounding the many processes, beliefs and attitudes about infants in research that permeated our processes of gaining ethical approval for the international study and which posed many challenges for our project. Through a process of reflective analysis, we have identified a range of ethical tensions and issues which the different countries involved in this international study faced in gaining…

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…

Negotiating Ethics-in-Action in a Long-term Research Relationship with a Young Child

AbstractThis article continues the discussions of relational ethics put forward in Human Arenas in “Arena of Ethics” (Hilppö et al., 2019). Our aim in this article is to explore and discuss relational ethics, as ethics-in-action, in a long-term research relationship with a child. Our question is: How is ethics-in-action negotiated during critical incidents in the construction of a research space that involves a long-term research relationship with a young child? This article is based on a research project that focused on children’s transitions in early childhood education and care (ECEC). These transitions include the transition from home care to ECEC as well as transitions from child group…

Overview of Childhood (Finland)

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…

Beginning Becoming: The First 1000 Days

Thomas Balmes’ (Babies. Studio Canal documentaries, 2010) ‘Babies’ (Baby(ies) or Bebes) provides a glimpse into the earliest experiences of four infants from four different localities in the world. Although this movie offers no interpretation of what takes place, the discerning viewer is left in no doubt of the significance of these powerful images about infants and their ways of being, doing and knowing in the earliest phases of life. The provocations of ‘Babies’ offer a useful beginning orienting place for a book – almost 10 years later – that promises to focus on becoming in the first 1000 days across a different set of five countries – this time Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Norway a…

Finland: Becoming and the Youngest Children at Home and in ECEC

This chapter will focus on the youngest children and the everyday contexts and practices of their lives in Finland. The chapter explores the concept of ‘becoming’ within childhood, particularly within early childhood education and care (ECEC) in our country. For the youngest children, their homes and nuclear families have been historically and culturally constructed as the first and most important social and emotional growth environments. For families, the discourses concerning the ‘best or right place’ for their young children to be cared for and learn in are fuelled by the extensive system of financial incentives for home care (e.g. maternity, paternity and home allowances). Only about 40…

Äitien luottamuksen rakentuminen kasvattajiin varhaiskasvatuksen aloituksessa

Vanhempien ja kasvattajien kasvatusyhteistyön sujuvuus heijastuu siihen, millaiseksi varhaiskasvatuksen aloitus muodostuu lapsen kokemuksena. Parhaimmillaan yhteistyön alkuvaihe tukee luottamuksen rakentumista vanhempien ja kasvattajien välille. Tässä artikkelissa kiinnostus kohdistuu luottamuksen rakentumisen prosessiin äitien näkökulmasta. Tarkastelemme miten luottamus kasvattajiin varhaiskasvatuksen instituutiossa rakentuu äitien puheessa heidän pohtiessaan lapsensa ensi kuukausia varhaiskasvatuksessa. Teoriasidonnaisen sisällönanalyysin tuella tutkimme, onko puheesta löydettävissä Rempelin, Holmesin ja Zannanin (1985) kuvaamia luottamuksen rakentumisen tasoja. Aineistona ovat viiden noi…