Special Needs and Disabilities in Childhood (Finland)

Peer reviewe

Changes and stability in daily cortisol values and their correlation to attention measured in a prolonged working task among Finnish six-year-old day-care children

Peer reviewe

Children’s self-regulation and coping strategies in a frustrated context in early education

Background: A large body of earlier research has focused on studying children's self-regulation (SR) skills and frustration with different methods. However, considerably less attention has been given to hearing children's own voice. The current study sought to demonstrate children's own comprehension and highlight it as a valuable and unique tendency to fill the scientific gap in the research area. Aim: This research aimed to contribute the empirical understanding of how SR, as mental ability, supported children's coping strategies and comprehensions which they will possibly use in a hypothetical frustrated context in the Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) environment. Setting: Self-regulation and strategies in a frustrating context were studied with mixed methods in a sample (n = 383) of 48-87-month-old children in Finland. Self-regulation was assessed by their own teachers with an evaluation form. The coping strategies of frustration were studied by interview where the children's open-ended descriptions provided the strategies told by themselves. Methods: The study's was conducted by using mixed methods. Two independent instruments to measure SR and strategies for frustration were used. Self-regulation was assessed by teacher with an evaluation form. The coping strategies of frustration were studied via child interview. Results: Good SR skills were related to persistent coping strategies and not giving up in a simulated situation. Weak SR skills related more with uncertain or withdrawal coping strategies, like giving up, or abandoning the situation. Conclusion: Self-regulation skills have an important role in guiding children with their use and narration of suitable coping strategies on overcoming the frustration effectively. The concrete strategies would allow teachers to work concretely with children in enhancing their SR skills and coping strategies further.Peer reviewe

Children’s stress activation in integrated early childhood special education and its connections to special educational needs and temperament

The aim of this study was to examine how children’s stress activation is related to special educational needs (SEN) and temperament in early childhood special education (ECSE). The study had 76 participants from 17 integrated ECSE groups. At the beginning, the children were divided into four status groups as follows: children without SEN, children with language disorders, children with self-regulation difficulties, and children with severe disabilities. The children’s temperament was assessed by their parents. Stress activation was examined by collecting and studying saliva samples from the children on two consecutive days. The results showed no differences between stress activation in the children’s status groups, nor any connections between stress activation and temperament. The high quality of the ECSE groups might explain these results. Further research based on these findings is needed.Peer reviewe

Occupational well-being and teamwork in Finnish early childhood education

The study examined Finnish early childhood education professionals’ (ECEP) (n = 107) experiences of occupational well-being and systems intelligent teamwork. Occupational well-being was measured with basic psychological job satisfaction, work engagement and burnout. In the analysis of variances by rank, the ECEPs’ had high work engagement, felt competent and relatedness in a working community. By contrast, their autonomy was low, and they felt exhausted, even though the overall burnout level was low. Extensive working experience increased work-related well-being and perceiving socioemotional systems in work. The ECE teachers had the highest work engagement, basic psychological need satisfaction and lowest burnout, but didn’t feel strongly competent in perceiving systemic interaction structures. On the other hand, the ECE social pedagogues felt most competent in systems intelligence behavior. The ECE childcarers valued the support of the systems intelligence team. In the cluster analysis, we identified two different clusters representing the level of occupational well-being and systems intelligence. The solution presented a connection between the ECE teachers with high work-related well-being and systems intelligence. We suggest that the multi-professional teamwork should be developed according to the ECEPs’ diverse educational background and that professional responsibilities be made more consistent with their education

Impact of pedagogical intervention on early childhood professionals’ emotional availability to children with different temperament characteristics

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of pedagogical intervention on early childhood education professionals’ emotional availability to children with different temperament characteristics. Participants were 136 children (intervention group = 87; control group = 49) aged 1–6 years from 16 early childhood and care centres in Finland. The PedaSens intervention was a 9-month programme that included theory and video-based training for the professionals. Adult–child interaction was assessed with the Emotional Availability Scales before and after the intervention, and children’s temperament was assessed with the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire. According to results, early childhood professionals’ emotional availability increased in the intervention group, especially to children with high levels of activity and pleasure seeking and with low levels of attentional focusing. We argue that the quality of interaction in early childhood education and care can be increased by targeting professional trainings to support children with different temperament characteristics.Peer reviewe

Enhancing Peer Interaction : An Aspect of a High Quality Learning Environment in Finnish Early Childhood Special Education

The aim of this article is to investigate the pedagogical learning environment in early childhood special education (ECSE). The theoretical framework is based on a conception of interaction being as well a basic human need as, according to sociocultural theories, the basis of learning. Our study was conducted in ECSE kindergarten groups (N = 17) in the area of Helsinki, Finland. We were interested in the overall quality of the pedagogical environment, the quality of enhancing peer interaction (EPI) and the pedagogy for EPI amongst children with diverse characteristics and needs. Quality was evaluated using the quantitative Learning Environment Assessment, completed with qualitative data, which consisted of the researcher's observations and interviews. The quantitative data were presented with descriptive statistics. Qualitative content analysis was used to make a closer examination of EPI pedagogy. The study indicated good pedagogical quality. EPI quality was predictably good due to high overall quality. Our findings highlighted ECSE professionals' versatile pedagogical modes in structuring activities and space and intensive methods in EPI and participation, especially in scaffolding communication (with augmentative or alternative communication systems when needed) and supporting social competence.Peer reviewe

Children's biological givens, stress responses, language and cognitive abilities and family background after entering kindergarten in toddlerhood

We aimed to investigate stress response regulation, temperament, cognitive and language abilities and family SES in children who entered kindergarten before two years of age. Whilst childrens stress regulatory systems are vulnerable to environmental influences little is known about how temperament and family characteristics impact on stress regulation in early years. Participants were 129 children (age 7 to 23 months) from 29 kindergartens. Stress response regulation was assessed by measuring salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase activity. Cognitive and language abilities were assessed using Bayley-III and children temperament with ECBQ-questionnaire. Family characteristics were assessed with surveys. Results suggest that children are alerted during kindergarten day, but their stress response regulation is balanced. Girls and boys differed in cognitive and language abilities. We propose that childrens individual needs should be better acknowledged in kindergartens.Peer reviewe

The effects of PedaSens intervention on early childhood professionals’ emotional availability

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a pedagogical group sensitivity (PedaSens) intervention on early childhood professionals’ (ECPs) emotional availability (EA) in group interactions. A total of 61 ECPs and 264 children 1–6 years of age were included in the follow-up study. To measure the effects of the intervention, participants were randomized to intervention and control groups. The intervention consists of raising ECPs’ knowledge of PedaSens both with theoretical information and video observations collected from the study groups. The quality of interaction was assessed with the Emotional Availability Scales before the intervention and the following assessments were approximately 6 and 9 months after the first assessment. Statistical analyses were used to test the differences in EA between the study groups. According to the results, intervention had a positive effect on ECPs’ EA sensitivity and non-intrusiveness. The results suggest that PedaSens intervention is effective in supporting the emotional availability of ECPs. In-service training for ECP teams aiming to enhance interaction skills and reflective processes offer an effective way to improve the quality of early childhood education and care.Peer reviewe

The effects of PedaSens intervention on early childhood professionals’ emotional availability

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a pedagogical group sensitivity (PedaSens) intervention on early childhood professionals’ (ECPs) emotional availability (EA) in group interactions. A total of 61 ECPs and 264 children 1–6 years of age were included in the follow-up study. To measure the effects of the intervention, participants were randomized to intervention and control groups. The intervention consists of raising ECPs’ knowledge of PedaSens both with theoretical information and video observations collected from the study groups. The quality of interaction was assessed with the Emotional Availability Scales before the intervention and the following assessments were approximately 6 and 9 months after the first assessment. Statistical analyses were used to test the differences in EA between the study groups. According to the results, intervention had a positive effect on ECPs’ EA sensitivity and non-intrusiveness. The results suggest that PedaSens intervention is effective in supporting the emotional availability of ECPs. In-service training for ECP teams aiming to enhance interaction skills and reflective processes offer an effective way to improve the quality of early childhood education and care.Peer reviewe