Search results for "early childhood education and care"
showing 10 items of 51 documents
Entre la equidad y la conciliación: similitudes y disparidades en el diseño institucional del primer ciclo de educación infantil en España
2022
Versión en castellano e inglés La provisión del primer ciclo de educación infantil (EI a partir de ahora) ha aumentado de manera sostenida en España desde el año 2000. A pesar de una considerable dispersión territorial, esta expansión ha tenido lugar en todas las comunidades autónomas (CC. AA.). En este artículo estudiamos cómo los distintos diseños institucionales a escala autonómica impactan en la equidad tanto en el acceso al servicio como en el coste para las familias. Tratamos de averiguar en qué condiciones puede el primer ciclo de EI ir más allá de una política de conciliación empleo/familia y considerarse una política redistributiva y de igualdad de oportunidades que favorezca acced…
Adaptation and implementation of the German social-emotional learning programme Papilio in Finland : A pilot study
2019
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…
Intertextual Voices of Children, Parents, and Specialists in Individual Education Plans
2019
Planning support and education services requires multifaceted information from professionals, parents, and children. Despite this, educators have emphasized professional opinions in individual education plans (IEPs), whereas the perspectives of children and parents have remained inconsequential. In this study, we examine the intertextual voices of children, parents, and specialists in IEPs (N = 287) drafted in Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC). The findings show that educators use intertextual voices to serve the following functions: (1) Creating a more multidimensional image of a child, (2) presenting evidence for their argumentation, and (3) assigning the responsibility to…
Early Childhood Education and Care System in Finland
2017
In Finland, Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) includes day care arrangements offered to families (care) along with goal-oriented early childhood education (early education and teaching) provided for children prior to transitioning to primary education. ECEC is therefore seen to build a coherent starting phase within the continuum of lifelong learning. ECEC follows the “educare” principle, which emphasizes the simultaneous consideration for children’s education, teaching, and care as the foundation of pedagogical activity, which is at the same time strongly rooted in the idea of learning and development as a holistic experience. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of th…
Rationalising public support for private early childhood education and care: the case of Finland
2019
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…
Documents in Interaction: A Case Study on Parent–Teacher Meetings (ECEC)
2020
Whilst the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) is being monitored increasingly closely, various documentation methods and practices that aim at recording and assessing children’s advancement and activities have expanded in ECEC. The research on the impact of such documentation methods on grassroots-level practices is however currently scarce. This chapter illuminates the role of a specific documentation method—that is, a child’s ECEC plan—in parent–teacher meetings in Finnish ECEC. This plan was implemented as a means to increase pedagogical quality of ECEC in Finland. The chapter considers the ECEC plan a participant during parent–teacher meetings and, by applying discursi…
Management in the 24/7-society raises concerns of fairness and social responsibility
2018
Purpose Despite the pressure on work-family polices arising from the increase in nonstandard working times in various sectors, only a few studies have addressed management practices in 24/7 workplaces. This paper aims to investigate the challenges Finnish managers face in meeting the various tensions stemming from nonstandard working hours and services operating 24/7. Two typical 24/7 work contexts are focused: the hospitality and retail industries and flexibly scheduled early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. The emphasis is on management practices relating to the planning of work shifts and children’s care schedules. Design/methodology/approach Study 1 comprises focus group i…
Privilege or tragedy? : Educators’ accounts of flexibly scheduled early childhood education and care
2017
This article explores accounts given by Finnish educators ( n = 31) on the topic of flexibly scheduled early childhood education and care (i.e. childcare provided during non-standard as well as standard hours). Previous research has shown this to be a sensitive topic because of the contradiction between what is deemed in the interests of children and the fact of providing childcare during non-standard hours. The research follows the principles of discursive psychology. Educators’ accounts were labelled as excusing, compensating, normalising and justifying. Accounts categorised as excusing and compensating shared concern over the effects of childcare during non-standard hours on children’s w…
Selectivity of clientele in Finnish private early childhood education and care
2021
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…
Perspectives on Leadership in Early Childhood Education and Care Centers Through Community of Practice
2021
This article investigates early childhood education and care (ECEC) leadership through the concept of community of practice (COP). The focus is on ECEC leaders’ perceptions regarding their leadership during the educational changes taking place in the context of Finnish ECEC. The purpose is to increase understanding of how leaders see themselves in relation to the ECEC multi professional working community and practices of distributed leadership. The data are five focus group interviews of ECEC leaders analyzed with directed content analysis within the theoretical frame of domain, practice, and community forming the core of COP in Lave and Wenger. The results show how all three COP component…