Celebrated as the country with the best education system globally, Finland has also gained a reputation as one of the most racist countries in Europe for black people, especially people from Sub-Saharan Africa. The best education system in the world is built on the sweat and blood of racialised people whose experiences and roles they play as…

The existing literature on early childhood education (ECE) quality is predominantly from the US or other developed countries. In low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), systematic research on ECE quality, however, is very limited. In the present study, we explore variation in structural and process indicators of ECE quality in two Eastern…

This ethnographic study, carried out in public kindergartens in Finland, traces the enactments of the societal roles of early childhood education. It highlights how the intertwining of governing tools and discourses related to early childhood education's societal role participates in the formation of daily life in kindergarten. The concept of…

Research Findings: The aim of this study was to examine associations between two aspects of teachers' occupational well-being, i.e., teaching-related stress and work engagement, and the quality of teacher-child interactions in Finnish kindergarten classrooms. Participants were 47 kindergarten teachers with their classrooms of 6-year-old children.…

Research Findings: The aim of the present study was to identify profiles of kindergarten teachers based on the observed quality of interactions with the children in their classrooms and to explore possible differences between the profiles in terms of teachers' occupational well-being and teacher and classroom characteristics. Participants were 54…

This study examined kindergarten teacher students' images of teacher, of children, and kindergarten at the beginning of kindergarten teacher education in 1992, 2008, 2013, and 2017. Theoretical examination of images and studies of teachers' images formed the basis of this study. 156 students participated in the study voluntarily. Data was…

Kindergarten teachers from different cultural backgrounds attribute various meanings to children's autonomy. There seems to be cultural differences in early childhood education curricula with regard to how a child's autonomy is described and how it is supported. This qualitative study asks: how do teachers narrate their perspective and pedagogical…

Children's autonomy is a cultural ideal in Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC). In this article we examine autonomy in spatial terms. The theoretical background is developed by applying spatial sociology. Our starting point is that space is relationally produced, thus, we understand space as continuously negotiated, reconstructed and…

This study investigated the quality of teacher--child interaction and its effects on children's classroom engagement and disaffection in Vietnamese kindergartens. The quality of teacher-child interaction was measured using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System. Children's classroom engagement and disaffection were assessed by Engagement versus…

The aim of this socioculturally informed study is to explore teachers' insights into connected-learning activities and networks. An instructional approach based on design-oriented pedagogy (DOP) was employed for a teachers' in-service project in Finland. An open-ended design task for the participating teachers and educators from kindergartens (N =…

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…

Research suggests that bullying behaviour begins at an early age (three to six years) and that preventive practices should target early educational settings. However, no previous studies focus on early educational settings (kindergartens) as an arena for bullying behaviour. The aim of this study was to find what kind of organisational and…

This article focused on the pedagogy that enhances peer interaction in integrated special groups. In Finland, most children identified as having special educational needs (SEN) attend day-care in mainstream kindergarten groups; the rest are in integrated or segregated early childhood special education (ECSE) groups in public day-care centres…

Documentation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions has been developed for decades in various contexts. Today, documentation is preferred as an inclusive method of evaluating, planning, and developing ECEC in the curricula of many countries. Qualitative research on documentation has increased in past years, but quantitative…

The aim is to investigate the links between job satisfaction of Finnish early childhood professionals (ECPs) and the appreciation they receive for their work, and how these are associated with their competence to work with children with diverse needs and backgrounds. Data was collected via nationwide online survey for practitioners (n = 885)…