Diversity discourses in the Finnish National Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care

Authors

• Heini Paavola University of Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6754-3523
• Jaana Pesonen University of Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5520-0902

Keywords:

 diversity, culture, identity, equity, equality

Abstract

The paper examines how diversity is constructed and considered in the Finnish National Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2018) by employing critical multicultural theory with a focus on essentialist and non-essentialist views of diversity. The text is examined through critical discourse analysis using concepts such as culture, identity, diversity and equity and equality. The results mainly point to the use of non-essentialist discourse within the Core Curriculum; however, the ambiguity of some expressions nevertheless allows for a more essentialist interpretation. An effort has clearly been made to recognize children’s diversity, and strong emphasis has been placed on the Non-Discrimination Act (1325/2014), which states that members of the community should be encountered and treated as equals, independently of personal characteristics. Despite this commendable aim, however, the complexities related to the language of diversity are not recognized. Consequently, the pedagogy that recognizes diversity is left for the individual teacher to interpret and implement.