Rationalising public support for private early childhood education and care: the case of Finland

In Finland, early childhood education and care (ECEC) is traditionally publicly provided. However, private ECEC provision has increased during the past decade, largely as a result of financial support from the public sector. Drawing on qualitative interviews with municipal decision-makers, this article identifies three frames within which publicly subsidised private ECEC provision and marketisation are rationalised: the pragmatic frame, the government frame and the choice frame. The results show that even though market logics and tendencies seem to have gained a strong foothold in local policies, there is a keen interest in universalism and maintaining public control over local ECEC provisi…

Perhepäivähoito- ja päiväkoti-instituutio varhaiskasvatuksen kunnallisten viranhaltijoiden puheessa

Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin perhepäivähoito- ja päiväkoti-instituutioiden tuottamista varhaiskasvatuksesta vastaavien kunnallisten viranhaltijoiden puheessa. Tutkimus tehtiin kymmenessä suomalaisessa kunnassa, ja aineistona käytettiin teemahaastatteluja (N =42). Perhepäivähoito ja päiväkotitoiminta ymmärrettiin diskursiivisen institutionalismin näkökulmasta sosiaalisina käytäntöinä, joiden merkitykset ilmenevät ja muuttuvat varhaiskasvatuksen instituutioiden kielenkäytössä. Aineistoa analysoitiin diskursiivisesti, ja puheesta erotettiin vaihtelevia tapoja puhua perhepäivähoidosta ia päiväkotitoiminnasta. Löydetyissä puhetavoissa perhepäivähoidolle ja päiväkotitoiminnalle tuotettiin erilaise…

Varhaiskasvatuksen opettajien käsityksiä mediakasvatuksesta

Tutkimuksessa selvitetään, millaisia käsityksiä varhaiskasvatuksen opettajilla on mediakasvatuksesta. Tutkimusaineisto käsittää yhdeksän varhaiskasvatuksen opettajan teemahaastattelua, ja sen aineisto on analysoitu fenomenografista lähestymistapaa hyödyntäen. Tulokset osoittavat, että varhaiskasvatuksen opettajat käsittävät mediakasvatuksen ensinnäkin toimintana: lasten kanssa toteutettavana toimintana, tavoitteellisena toimintana sekä varhaiskasvatustoimintaan kuuluvana pedagogisena osa-alueena. Mediakasvatuksella käsitetään olevan lasten toimintaan ja toimijuuteen, mediaan liittyviin tietoihin ja taitoihin sekä muuhun oppimiseen liittyviä tavoitteita. Yksikään haastateltavista ei kuitenka…

Stabilise, balance and adjust : Framing the early years transitions of children whose parents work non‐standard hours

This study examined talk by parents about the early years transitions of their children (n = 7) in the context of parental non-standard working hours and Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. Parents were interviewed at three time points: when their child was aged one, four, five or six years (a total of 21 interviews). The third interview was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article focuses on the children's ECEC transitions and the interpretative frames used by parents when talking about their work and childcare. The frames used by the parents to discuss the children's transitions were stabilising the children's lives, balancing between staying at home an…

Yksivuotiaiden lasten huoltajien subjektiivisen varhaiskasvatusoikeuden rajaamiseen liittyvät asenteet ja niitä selittävät tekijät

Pedagogy in ECEC : Nordic Challenges and Solutions. Seminar Report, Helsinki Finland, 22 September 2016

Selectivity of clientele in Finnish private early childhood education and care

In accordance with the Nordic welfare model, the Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) system has traditionally been based on public provision and the idea of universalism. However, over the last twenty years the ECEC system has undergone market-oriented reforms. As a result, the share of private for-profit ECEC provision has grown significantly. By applying impression management theory, this qualitative research examines how representatives of private ECEC providers describe the selection and selectivity of their clientele and how they aim at managing the impression they convey through their descriptions. The study shows how three different mechanisms of selectivity are produce…

Markkinoistuvat varhaiskasvatuspalvelut

A Finnish viewpoint on professionalism in early childhood education

ABSTRACT This article discusses professionalism in early childhood education through the analytical tool of a research‐based multi‐level perspective that sees this as a cultural, communal, organisational, and individual phenomenon. Starting from an understanding of professionalism derived from a model of professional expertise, the article discusses the Finnish day‐care context at the social and cultural level, followed by a discussion of field‐specific knowledge as a tool for building professionalism. Professionalism is further examined as it plays out in the employees’ working environment, the day‐care centre and its working culture and from the perspective of the professionals themselves…

Epistemic governance in local policy debates : The case of entitlement to early childhood education and care in Finland

In Finland, children below school age have enjoyed the right to attend subsidised full-time early childhood education and care (ECEC). However, the attendance rate in Finland is low in comparison to other Nordic countries. Furthermore, the entitlement was restricted to 20 h per week in 2016 unless the child’s parents work or study full-time or unless it is believed that the child will benefit from full-time ECEC. The debates concerning restrictions in ECEC entitlement in three municipal councils serve as the data for this study. By using the framework of epistemic governance, we identify three differing constructions of the ECEC’s societal functions in the municipal policy debates. The simi…

Rationalizing early childhood education and care in the local context : a case study of Finnish municipalities

In this chapter, we focus on local early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy discourses by scrutinizing the rationalities given for ECEC in ten Finnish municipalities. The empirical data comprise qualitative interviews with local politicians and ECEC administrators (n = 78) and the analysis applies a discourse analytic framework. As a result, we highlight three interpretative frames – local, economy and function – through which the organization and provision of ECEC is discussed. We conclude our analysis by constructing three local rationalities – investing in education in a diverse environment; a personal service conditioned by working life; and the best possible quality of ECEC wit…