“Kaikki lähtee vuorovaikutuksesta” – Varhaiskasvatuksen ammattilaisten kieli-, kulttuurija katsomuspedagoginen osaaminen
Keywords:
early childhood education and care, professional competence, language, culture and worldview pedagogy, interactionAbstract
This article studies the language, culture and worldview pedagogical competence of early childhood education and care professionals and how it should be strengthened. The research task was to explore how professionals describe their professional language, culture and worldview pedagogical competence in relation to children and guardians. In addition, knowledge and individual and team-level skills professionals have in order to implement language, culture and worldview pedagogy were examined. The research data has been collected from professionals working as early childhood education and care teachers (N = 10) in focus group interviews. The research data is part of the wider “Keys to Shared Understanding” research project, which examines the good practices of inclusion, participation and diversity in early childhood education and care.
Based on the research results, the linguistic, cultural and worldview pedagogic competence of professionals emphasizes various interaction skills: interaction between children and professionals, cooperation with guardians, and mutual interaction between the team and personnel. In the interaction with children and families, the emphasis is on individual encounters. When building trust and succeeding in encounters, personnel from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds play a role in strengthening competence. The reflection and team skills of the professionals, the team’s commitment to the work in the expertise of the professionals are central, competence-strengthening factors in the implementation of pedagogy. Flexibility and adaptability were identified as essential. The professionals’ strong skills in language, culture and worldview pedagogy are an investment to the future of inclusive early childhood education and care.
