Educators’ views on parents’ participation on three different identified levels

Ongoing discussions emphasize parents’ participation as a pivotal element of early childhood education. In this paper, we will discuss the challenges to supporting parents’ participation in Finnish day care centres. The article is based on the qualitative inquiry (2011) about parents’ and staff participation in the metropolitan area day care centres. The participants were 1,588 working teams representing 5,262 employees. The questionnaire was returned by 77.6% of the intended population. The results showed, there were roughly three different respondent groups. Most of them listed different matters in which parents could not participate, but they thought that there were also some areas, in which parents could participate more than they do today. Some of the respondents had a broader view on those issues, and they thought that it is possible to support parents participating in the day care centre. Indeed, some of the respondents thought that if parents came along to the activities in the day care centres, it would complicate and disturb the work of professionals. The different attitudes concerning how educator`s view their selves in relation to the parents become apparent and three different groups were identified: the Professional standpoint, Customer standpoint, and Partnership standpoint

Designing learning experiences together with children

Children’s participation in early childhood education context has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Participation means involving and enabling children to take part in decision-making processes about their everyday life. Educators are supporters and enablers of participatory practices. The process of planning activities is an important part of educator’s profession in early childhood education and it can be viewed as a designing learning process. But not only as adults designing children’s learning, but also children’s participation should be designed and finally children should be taken to take part in designing their own learning. In this paper we focus on children’s chances to participate the design learning process in Finnish day care groups. The research data was collected from teams of educators working in day care groups via survey. It was found that children’s participation to the design learning process is average: In evaluation of activities they can participate more than in planning or implementing activities.Peer reviewe

Tunteet palautetilanteessa: ”Herne patjan alla vai leskenlehti tien pientareella?”

Artikkeli käsittelee tunteiden merkitystä päiväkotityöyhteisön palautteenannossa. Palautteen jakamisen yhtenä suurena esteenä koetaan pelko vastapuolen tunteiden loukkaamisesta ja omien tunteiden kaaoksesta tällaisen kokemuksen jälkeen. Empaattinen ja herkkä ammattikunta ei haluaisi loukata eikä asettua itse uhkaavaan asemaan antamalla työtoverille rehellistä palautetta tämän työskentelytavasta. Oman ja toisten työn avoin arviointi on vaarassa ja näin toiminta saattaa ohjautua kunkin henkilön oman ”mutu”-tuntuman kautta. Sijaiskärsijöiksi joutuu itse työn kohde, lapset

"I have more often thought over what I am thinking and also I have often told it to others" : professional development and collegial feedback on kindergartenteams

I have more often thought over what I am thinking and also I have often told it to others - professional development and collegial feedback on kindergarten teams. The need for professional feedback surfaces year after year in enquiries made among staff members in the field of early childhood education. Because the pressure to be effective adds to the workload of the heads of kindergartens, there are few opportunities to give staff concrete feedback on a daily basis. Because peers are able to observe each other close at hand, their reciprocal feedback can compensate for that of the kindergarten head. In this study the practical training process of collegial feedback is studied and also the opportunities for feedback as a means of supporting professional development in the context of kindergarten. The development project involving the entire kindergarten community (N=21) was implemented in 2003-2004 through three developing cycles. The Johar´s Window , produced by Luft and Jung with the Model of Situational Leadership by Hersey and Blanchard, acted as a theoretical frame of reference. It has been used in this study both for its qualitative and its quantitative methods. The data were carried out through questions, interviews, diaries, written descriptions and monthly evaluations. The qualitative and quantitative methods were also used in analysing the data. The results showed that during the training process, the staff as a giver of feedback moved from the professional basic level to the professional maturity level. Their awareness of both their own and their peers´ know-how expanded from the initial state to the final state. It became evident that team size is the essential key element in the practise of giving feedback to team members. The team atmosphere and the commitment of the team members are in significant factors in the training of giving and receiving feedback. As a result of analyses, delivering feedback was grouped into three categories: developmental feedback, descriptive feedback and either supportive or destructive feedback. Receiving feedback was likewise groupped into three categories: aspiring to develop, unaccommodating and accepting. The ability to control feelings improved along with the skills of giving feedback; it was possible to analyse development through the professional development model represented in the theory of the study. The results showed that professional know-how of other kinds also developed during the process. Giving feedback among fellow workers enables team members to receive feedback everyday. Training to give feedback means examining a field of professional know-how and also formulating shared rules. The results of this study give support to previous studies that have emphasised practical training in natural circumstances. Keywords: feedback, professional development, learning at workPalautteen tarve nousee työntekijöiden parissa suoritetuissa kyselyissä vuodesta toiseen esille. Tehokkuuspaineiden lisääntyessä johtajien työmäärät kasvavat ja tilanteita konkreettiseen, arkityön lomassa tapahtuvaan palautteen antamiseen on yhä vähemmän. Kollegat pääsevät seuraamaan toistensa työskentelyä läheltä. Siksi heidän keskinäinen palautteensa voi osaltaan korvata johtajan jakamaa palautetta. Tässä toimintatutkimuksessa selvitettiin yhteisöllisen palautteen jakamisen harjoitteluprosessia sekä itse palautteen mahdollisuuksia ammatillisen kehittymisen tukemisessa päiväkotityöyhteisössä. Koko työyhteisöä (21 jäsentä) koskeva kehittämishanke toteutettiin kolmessa jaksossa vuosina 2003─2004. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin monimenenetelmäistä tutkimusotetta, ja aineistoa hankittiin kvalitatiivisesti ja kvantitatiivisesti kyselyiden, haastattelujen, oppimispäiväkirjojen, kirjallisten kuvausten ja kuukausittaisten arviointien avulla. Tutkimustulokset osoittivat, että kehittämishankkeen kuluessa henkilökunta siirtyi palautteenjakajina ammatilliselta perustasolta ammatilliselle kypsyydentasolle. Heidän tietoisuutensa sekä omasta että toistensa osaamisesta kasvoi selvästi. Tutkimuksessa ilmeni, että tiimin koko vaikutti sen jäsenten mahdollisuuksiin harjoitella palautteen antamista ja vastaanottamista. Tiimeissä vallitsevalla ilmapiirillä ja yhteisellä sitoutumisella oli merkittävä vaikutus palautteen harjoitteluun. Analyysin tuloksena palautteen jakaminen voitiin jakaa kehittävään, toteavaan ja myötäävään tai vaihtoehtoisesti estävään palautteenantoon. Vastaavasti palautteen vastaanottaminen voitiin jakaa kehittymään pyrkivään, mukautumattomaan ja hyväksyvään vastaanottoon. Kehittävä palaute ja kehittymään pyrkivä palautteen vastaanottaminen tukevat parhaiten ammatillista kehittymistä, sillä ne tuovat viestit esille sellaisina, että niiden pohjalta on helppo jatkaa yhteistä keskustelua palautteen antajan ja vastaanottajan kesken. Tunteiden merkitys palautteen antamisen ja vastaanottamisen harjoittelussa tuli voimakkaasti esille. Tunteiden hallinta kehittyi palautteenjakotaitojen myötä ja sen kehittymistä voitiin tarkastella etenevänä prosessina. Palautteen jakaminen työtovereiden kesken mahdollistaa konkreettisen palautteen saamisen arkityön lomassa. Harjoittelu vaatii paneutumista ammatillisten osaamisalueiden tarkasteluun sekä yhteisten pelisääntöjen rakentamista. Tutkimustulokset tukevat aikaisempia tutkimuksia, joissa painotetaan aidoissa tilanteissa tapahtuvan harjoittelun merkitystä

Children’s participation in Finnish pre-school education - Identifying, Describing and Documenting Children’s Participation

Peer reviewe

Distributed leadership as administrative practice in Finnish early childhood education and care

In this article, we describe the professional development towards distributed leadership among different organizational levels in Finnish day care centres within the Helsinki metropolitan area. The aim of the study was to monitor the progress of professional development between educational administration and practitioners. The data was based on descriptions of reflective practices used in the development projects of each research day care centre. Participants were asked to describe developing practices and reflect on their own contributions to the process as both individuals and together as working teams during the two years of the development project. The researchers collected these reflections, analysed them to produce results and then delivered this evidence to participants for utilization in reflection and further processing of working practices with the support of the mentor. Directors and mentors viewed distributed leadership as a good way to encourage development practices and brought out the role of staff as important agents in the development process. The distribution of leadership seems to be best realized among the participants at the lowest and middle hierarchical levels.Peer reviewe

Creating Conditions for Reflective Practice in Early Childhood Education

In our article, we describe the development of working practices in Finnish day care centers within the Helsinki metropolitan area, which has 500 day care centers. Every two years, 21 of them are selected for a study to be included in a development network. The Development Unit of Early Childhood Education (VKK-Metro), which includes the University of Helsinki and four municipalities in the metropolitan area, coordinates the development of working practices. The objective is to collaborate on the development of day care pedagogy. The objectives and operating structure of VKK-Metro and the principles of developing practices included within it are described and the operation itself is illustrated in the context of the research results. The leading idea is the development of working practices and pedagogy through a reflective and open dialogue. Research results will be utilized in the development of the day care network studied and in workshops arranged for educators in the region.Peer reviewe

Children´s participation in Finnish pre-school education - Identifying, Describing and Documenting Children´s Participation

Article was first published in: Nordisk Barnehageforskning 2014. Copyright (c) 2014 Jonna Leinonen, Annu Brotherus, Tuulikki Venninen. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Kollegiaalinen palaute tukee ammatillista kasvua

Feedback from colleagues supports professional growthErityisen tärkeää on saada ammatillista palautetta sellaisessa työssä, missä ei ole yhtä ainoaa oikeaa tapaa toimia. ”Jokaisen olisi saatava selkoa omista sokeista kohdistaan”, kirjoittaa kollegiaalista palautetta päiväkodeissa tutkinut Tuulikki Venninen. Koska tilannekeskeisessä johtamisessa päähuomio kiinnittyy havaittuun käyttäytymiseen, soveltuu tilannejohtamismalli kirjoittajan mielestä hyvin apuvälineeksi myös palautteenannon tarkasteluun

Koskenlaskua työyhteisössä

Artikkelissa kuvataan päiväkotityöyhteisössä toteutettua toimintatutkimusta