Lasten osallisuuden jännitteet varhaiskasvatuksessa

Authors

• Eija Sevón University of Jyväskylä, Finland
• Paula Hautala University of Jyväskylä, Finland
• Merja Hautakangas University of Jyväskylä, Finland
• Minna Ranta University of Jyväskylä, Finland
• Olli Merjovaara University of Jyväskylä, Finland
• Marleena Mustola University of Jyväskylä, Finland
• Maarit Alasuutari University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Keywords:

children’s rights, lasten oikeudet, participation, osallisuus, early childhood education and care, varhaiskasvatus, equity, yhdenvertaisuus

Abstract

In the Finnish ECEC context, children’s participation may be a stated aim, but its actualisation with young children may be challenging owing to vagueness in the definition of children’s participation, the lack of more specific guidelines for participation-based practices, or to economic austerity measures introduced by municipalities. Simultaneously, an urgent need exists to develop educators’ expertise in how to work with diversity among children, that is, how to meet the demands of participation in increasingly heterogeneous ECEC groups. This study explores how professionals and students taking part in the “Oiva – Children’s rights and participation in early childhood education, pre-school and first grades” educational project talk about the promotion of young children’s participation rights, the situations that limit children’s participation, and exclusive or discriminatory practices in ECEC. The data comprise the evaluation interviews and group tasks of the participating students. We observed many tensions in their talk about the enhancement of children’s participation. However, The Oiva project was perceived as adding to the participants’ understanding of these tensions.