International open access webinar about ECEC research and practices (panel with Finnish researchers)

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In this video, Finland’s leading researchers on the field of early childhood education and care discuss broad themes, such as: – developing and understanding today’s teacher education programmes – developing pedagogical practices – critical reflection of the processes and future orientation The panelists are following: Professor Heidi Harju-Luukkainen Professor (Emerita) Eeva Hujala Docent, University Lecturer, Jyrki Reunamo Docent, University Lecturer Jonna Kangas University Lecturer Merja Koivula Postdoctoral Researcher Jenni Salminen Postdoctoral Researcher Samuli Ranta This international open access webinar is hosted by JECER (https://jecer.org/) and is posted by Early Childhood Education Association Finland (https://eceaf.org/).

The link to the video: https://youtu.be/tPO9gdhRkUQ

How can physical activity be measured in a valid and reliable way?

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JOYPAM (PIILO in Finnish) is a research and development project on monitoring the joy of motion, physical activity and motor skills of young children, Piilo in Finnish. The project was implemented in 2019–2021 through multidisciplinary expert work. It was used to select and develop measurement methods based on population-level data collection, which were used to assess physical activity and motor skills of 4–6-year-old children and the factors related to movement. Progressive Feedback was one of the evaluated methods. Measuring physical activity is not an easy task and it is important to compare different methods and measures to increase reliability and validity. The report is available at https://www.likes.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Piilo_tulosraportti-1.pdf

Children’s social orientations in Taiwan

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Professor Hui-Chun lee from Tzu-Chi University and Li-Chen Wang from Chung Gung University in Taiwan have written an article about children’s social orientations in Taiwan based on the Progressive Feedback data. The participants were 366 Taiwanese three- to six-year-old children in day care centers. The children were interviewed to collect their perspectives. The results indicated that the adaptive-accommodative
orientation is the most frequent in the teacher situations. The second most frequent response was the agentive-accommodative orientation. Responses in the agentive-accommodative orientation increased with age while the adaptive-assimilative and agentive-assimilative orientations decreased with age. The most frequent response to peer situations was agentive-accommodative, and this orientation increased
steadily with age; children were more and more likely to express themselves with peers. The young children actively tried to control and change their environment. They displayed their emergent agency. The Table shows the social orientation among peers (同儕情境) and with teachers (師長情境).

 

Music linked with well-being for 1-3-year-old children

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The data of the Progressive Feedback reveals that, especially for young children, music and singing have clear and important connections to children’s well-being. Children in groups with an emphasis on music/singing expressed more positive emotions and were more committed to the activity. In addition, these children were more socially adaptive and had more participatory interactions with adults. The music was thus connected to a strong, lasting, and creative interaction. The same positive effect was not observed in older children. At the age of 1-3, music is associated in many ways with quality pedagogy, when the same was not observed in older children. This suggests that for younger children, music is better integrated into the pedagogical enhancement. However, for the older children, the connections between music and pedagogy were invisible. The results highlight both the importance of music for the well-being of young children and the low pedagogical integration of music in older children, which needs attention. Article can be accessed at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14613808.2021.1965564. Article information below:

Ruokonen, I., Tervaniemi, M. & Reunamo, J. (In print). The significance of music in early childhood education and care of toddlers in Finland: An extensive observational study. Music Education Research. DOI 10.1080/14613808.2021.1965564.

Children’s time use and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in early childhood education and care in Finland

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Anna-Liisa Kyhälä with Jyrki Reunamo and Juha Valtonen have written an article about children’s physical activity in different children’s activities. The article will be published in South African Journal of Childhood Education. The article highlights rule plays as important factors in increasing children’s physical activity in early education.

Children with special needs in the everyday interaction of early childhood education

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An article based on the Progressive Feedback data has been published in the European Journal of Special Needs Education. In the research, the most common reason why children had a need for support in ECEC was difficulties related to self-regulation. Effective self-regulation is fundamental to an individual’s functioning and early childhood is an important period for the development of self-regulation. Professionals working in ECEC are responsible for supporting children in situations in which self-regulation skills are needed. Our results were in line with studies indicating that children with low self-regulation skills are at increased risk of being left outside joint play. This result is worrying because joint play supports the development of self-regulation skills while solitary play does not have that effect. This means that the very children who need to practice their self-regulation skills are missing a potential opportunity to do that. Children prefer prosocial peers and neglect antisocial peers, which makes establishing friendships even more difficult if the child already has difficulties in forming peer relationships and does not have the skills to act in situations that require social skills. Being left outside causes negative feelings towards peers and negative feelings may cause antisocial behaviour or vice versa. This may cause a vicious circle that is difficult to break. Therefore, early intervention is essential. Click the link to read the article:

Kuutti, T., Sajaniemi, N., Björn, P., Heiskanen, N. & Reunamo, J. (2021). Participation, involvement and peer relationships in children with special educational needs in early childhood education. European Journal of Special Needs Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2021.1920214. Available at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08856257.2021.1920214.

Dissertation on Culturally and linguistically diverse children’s participation and learning

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The Faculty of Education of the University of Turku has granted Outi Arvola a dissertation permit to defend her dissertation “Can you play with me? Culturally and linguistically diverse children’s participation and learning in the context of Finnish Early Childhood Education” in a public dissertation. Congratulations!

The material of the dissertation is the Progressive Feedback data. It highlights in a unique way how broad structural factors are clearly reflected in the close interaction of early childhood education as mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion. The future of the inclusion of children from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds is being built right now in early childhood education.

Indigenous children’s early education in Taiwan

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Indigenous peoples in Taiwan are widespread in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, although today they are a small minority, mainly in the mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan. Pictured is a children’s teacher with a map depicting areas where Taiwan’s indigenous genetic heritage still lives strong. The impact extends as far as Hawaii. The heritage and culture of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples are thus still strong in an area that covers more than 10% of the world’s surface! A wonderful teacher, aware of her and children’s roots, who guides children to face the challenges of the future.

Professor Elaine Shih and her team at Taitung University have just completed an observation on early childhood education for Indigenous peoples in Taiwan using Developing Feedback Observation. The material provides a unique picture of the current situation and upbringing of Indigenous children in Taiwan. Direct, random observations provide information about the daily life of these children and the factors that affect their well-being. This knowledge is important for these children, who are threatened in many ways and at risk of exclusion. The results include a wealth of clear development opportunities for children growing up in a vulnerable situation. A total of 1556 observations were made this time.