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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Voicing the child? A case study in Finnish early childhood education

Maarit Alasuutari

subject

Early childhood educationDocumentationDiscursive psychologyParent-teacher conferencePedagogyDevelopmental and Educational PsychologyVoiceta516Context (language use)Developmentally Appropriate PracticePsychologyRelational viewDevelopmental psychology

description

Contemporary Nordic early childhood education and care takes as its starting point the individual and ‘competent’ child and emphasizes the aim to take account of children’s views. It is also common in educational settings that the child’s views are documented and thus transformed into contexts in which they are discussed between the adults. In light of a case study of 22 parent–teacher meetings in Finnish early childhood education and care the article discusses the position of the child’s voice in this context. The theoretical framework is based on a relational view of childhood and the child’s voice, on theories of face-to-face and institutional interaction and on discursive psychology. The article highlights the multifaceted relational processes in which the child’s participation is embedded in adult-led institutional practices.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2013-06-20Childhood
https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568213490205