Päiväkodin työntekijöiden näkemyksiä taaperopedagogiikasta

Abstract

<p>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.<br></p>