A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Päiväkodin työntekijöiden näkemyksiä taaperopedagogiikasta




AuthorsViitala, Riitta; Pihlaja, Päivi; Heinonen, Marianna; Puolakka, Suvi

PublisherSuomen varhaiskasvatus

Publication year2025

JournalJournal of Early Childhood Education Research

Volume14

Issue1

First page 285

Last page315

eISSN2323-7414

DOIhttps://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.58955/jecer.147503

Web address https://journal.fi/jecer/article/view/147503

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/498680666


Abstract

This study examines the early childhood educators’ views on pedagogy in kindergarten groups for children under 3 years old. The aim was to find out how the educators verbalize pedagogy, how they describe its implementation and how they justify their pedagogical choices. The data was collected by interviewing 25 educators. The data was analyzed according to reflective thematic analysis (RTA). The educators found it difficult to verbalize pedagogy, and it was also challenging for them to describe how planned and goal-oriented their pedagogical activities were. The educators described the pedagogy by talking about caring, their presence, training and guidance in the early childhood education group. In particular, educators spoke of caring, presence and training as "everyday pedagogy". By that they meant the pedagogical utilization of daily situations, which was not planned in advance. Most planning and goal-oriented aspects of pedagogy were included in guidance. As justifications for their pedagogical solutions, the educators mentioned the importance of considering children's age and individuality, child orientation and obedience. In previous studies, they have found out that planning and setting goals for pedagogy according to National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education  are not yet optimally implemented. The results of this study confirm what previous studies have noticed. In addition, the results provide additional information about issues that need highlighting in the pedagogy of children under 3 years old. The research also brings out the educators' ability to utilize the small moments of the early childhood education day in a child-oriented way.


Downloadable publication

This is an electronic reprint of the original article.
This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. Please cite the original version.




Funding information in the publication
Opetushallitus


Last updated on 2025-03-07 at 12:12