In this study, written assignments from preservice early childhood teachers were examined to find answers to the following research questions: (1) What beliefs do preservice teachers have about children and technology at home? (2) How are parents represented in preservice teachers' beliefs about children and technology? (3) What are the…

This article explores the deployment of numerical criteria in the practices of steering by presenting a local case of governing early childhood education (ECE). In this case, a specific numerical tool for governance, namely, child-staff ratio is used in various ways in the everyday life of preschools. This paper uses data from interviews of…

This study examines the two kindergarten teachers' shared professional identities in teamwork in an effort to clarify what constitutes their shared identities and how these identities affect the teachers' professional practices and beliefs. The relational nature of identity maintains that individuals are not the only constructors of their…

This qualitative study demonstrates the kinds of pedagogical pitfalls that are included in simplistic understandings of child-centeredness in the context of media education, an emerging field of early childhood teacher education with only a little empirical research done so far. Course diaries from 15 preservice teachers were analyzed to find…

The goal of early childhood programming is to provide children with high-quality early care and to support educators' understanding and ability to implement high-quality practices on behalf of children and their families. Quality in early childhood care is an ambiguous concept, relative to various social and context-specific factors, making it…

The six papers in this special issue focus on how values and values education are embedded in the everyday life at Nordic preschools. The studies in this special issue provide stimulating theoretical and methodological knowledge to inform further study of values education internationally. A key contribution of the papers is that there is…

Teachers have an agentive role as they interpret, evaluate and develop language policies and practices. In the current study we interviewed a bilingual pre-school teacher in Finland during the first year of implementing a new way of working bilingually with a class of monolingual children. Applying nexus analysis, we explored the teacher…

The goal of Indigenous education is that it should be approached on the basis of the Indigenous language and culture; this is also the case with Sami education. The Sami School Board has stated that all teaching in Sami schools should be culturally based, despite the fact that Sami culture-based teaching is not specifically defined. Therefore,…

The aim of this study is to provide insights into the social construction of participation in joint activities in Finnish preschool and primary school classrooms. The article deals with two issues: How do teachers promote participation in a preschool classroom as compared with a primary school classroom? What similarities and differences are…