Cooperation with imprisoned parents in early childhood education and care in Finland
Avainsanat:
early childhood education and care, diverse families, equity, cooperation with parents, parent´s imprisonmentAbstrakti
Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a public service for all children and families living in Finland. To advance the child´s growth, development and learning, cooperation with parents is an essential part of ECEC. According to the National Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care, one of the underlying values in ECEC is the diversity of families. However, according to various studies, the curricula for ECEC reproduce a family-centered discourse based on a hegemonic and ideal nuclear family. Although there are a lot of children in Finland who are affected by their parent´s imprisonment, very few studies on how parental incarceration is dealt with in ECEC exist. It is common that ECEC staff do not know that a parent is in prison, which makes providing support to the family almost impossible; hence more openness is needed. Additionally, at an institutional level, ECEC should be much more inclusive and focus on diversity, equality, and equity. Culturally relevant pedagogy considers the diverse sociocultural worlds the children live in – including parental incarceration. Educators should reflect on their own personal views about parents who have committed crimes and remember that children are always innocent. Lastly, more societal discussion on prejudices and discrimination against parents who are or have been in prison is needed.
Lähdeviitteet
Alanen, N. (2021a). Unrecorded telephone interview by Maarit Suomela. 12 October 2021.
Alanen, N. (2021b). ”Miirun isä on vankilassa” – oma kirja lapsille, joiden vanhempi on vankilassa [Miiru´s father is in prison – a book of their own for children whose parent is in prison]. Kriminaalihuollon tukisäätiö.
Alasuutari, M. (2010). Suunniteltu lapsuus: keskustelut lapsen varhaiskasvatuksesta päivähoidossa [Planned Childhood – Children´s ECEC Discussions in Daycare]. Vastapaino.
Brown, C.P., & Mowry, B. (2016). “I wanted to know how they perceived jail”: studying how one early educator brought her students’ worlds into her standardized teaching context. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(2), 163–173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0776-z
Clopton, K. L., & East, K. K. (2008). “Are there other kids like me?” Children with a parent in prison. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(2), 195–198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-008-0266-z
Criminal Sanctions Agency (2020). Statistical yearbook 2020 of the Criminal Sanctions Agency. Criminal Sanctions Agency. https://www.rikosseuraamus.fi/material/collections/20210630150000/7RRzdD4Tp/RISE_Criminal_sanctions_agency_Statistical_yearbook_2020_EN_1.pdf
Eerola, P., Paananen, M., & Repo, K. (2021). ‘Ordinary’ and ‘diverse’ families. A case study of family discourses by Finnish early childhood education and care administrators. Journal of Family Studies, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2021.1939100
Enroos, R. (2021). Lapsisuhteet vankien elämässä [Relationships with children in prisoners´ life]. In S. Kainulainen & J. Saari (Eds.), Suomalainen vanki: arjen rakenteet ja elämänlaatu vankilassa [A Finnish prisoner: the structures of everyday life and quality of life in prison] (p. 241–262). Vastapaino.
Eskelinen, M., & Itäkare, S. (2020). ”Pidetään huolta ettei erotella tyttöjen ja poikien juttuja”. Tasa-arvoa, yhdenvertaisuutta ja sukupuolisensitiivisyyttä rakentavat diskurssit paikallisissa varhaiskasvatussuunnitelmissa [”Let´s take care that we don´t separate girls´ and boys´ stuff.” Discourses that construct equality, equity, and gender sensitivity in local ECEC curricula]. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research 9(2), 197–229. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202101131230
Fantuzzo, J., Perry, M. A., & Childs, S. (2006). Parent satisfaction with educational experiences scale: A multivariate examination of parent satisfaction with early childhood education programs. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21(2), 142–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2006.04.002
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (2021). Varhaiskasvatus 2020 [Early childhood education and care 2020] (Statistical report 32/2021). Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. https://thl.fi/fi/tilastot-ja-data/tilastot-aiheittain/lapset-nuoret-ja-perheet/varhaiskasvatus
Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI) (2018). National Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care (Regulations and guidelines 2018:3c). Finnish National Agency for Education.
Hujala, E., Turja, L., Gaspar, M. F., Veisson M., & Waniganayake, M. (2009). Perspectives of early childhood teachers on parent–teacher partnerships in five European countries. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 17(1), 57–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/13502930802689046
Hypén, K. (2004). Vankilasta vuosina 1993–2001 vapautuneet ja vankilaan uudestaan palanneet [The persons released from prison between 1993−2001 and returned to prison again] (Rikosseuraamusviraston julkaisuja 1/2004). Rikosseuraamusvirasto.
Kultti, A., & Pramling Samuelsson, I. (2016). Investing in home–preschool collaboration for understanding social worlds of multilingual children. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 5(1), 69–91. https://journal.fi/jecer/article/view/114051/67250
Nesmith, A., & Ruhland, E. (2008). Children of incarcerated parents: Challenges and resiliency, in their own words. Children and Youth Services Review, 30, 1119–1130. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.02.006
Niemelä, R. (2015). Inclusionary practices in a Finnish pre-primary school context [Doctoral Dissertation, University of Helsinki]. Department of Teacher Education, Faculty of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-51-0196-9
Närvi, J., Salmi, M., & Lammi-Taskula, J. (2020). Home care and early childhood education in Finland: policies and practices of childcare. In K. Repo, M. Alasuutari, K. Karila & J. Lammi-Taskula (Eeds.), The policies of Childcare and early childhood education: Does equal access matter? (p. 133–151). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Repo, L., Paananen, M., Eskelinen, M., Mattila, V., Lerkkanen, M.-K., Gammelgård, L., Ulvinen, J., Marjanen, J., Kivistö, A. & Hjelt, H. (2019). Varhaiskasvatuksen laatu arjessa. Varhaiskasvatussuunnitelmien toteutuminen päiväkodeissa ja perhepäivähoidossa [Everyday quality in early childhood education and care – ECEC curriculum implementation at ECEC centres and in family day care] (Julkaisut 15:2019). Kansallinen koulutuksen arviointikeskus. https://karvi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/KARVI_1519.pdf
Roberts, S., & Loucks, N. (2015). The Role of Schools in Supporting Families Affected by Imprisonment. Law in Context 32, 126–146. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/ielapa.041350693637677
Ryynänen, H., & Suomela, M. (2011). Lähelle. Selvitys yhteydenpitokäytännöistä ja niiden mahdollisista esteistä vankien ja heidän läheistensä välillä [Closer. A report on communication practices and their possible obstacles between prisoners and their close ones](Kriminaalihuollon tukisäätiö, raportteja 1/11). Kriminaalihuollon tukisäätiö.
Santanen, J. (2013). Poissaolon tarinat. Vankilassa olevien vanhempien ja vanhemman vankeuden kokeneiden lasten kertomaa [The stories of absence. Narratives of imprisoned parents and children who have faced parental imprisonment]. Pro gradu -tutkielma [Masters Thesis]. Yhteiskunta- ja kulttuuritieteiden yksikkö, Tampereen yliopisto.
Tobin, J., Arzubiaga, A., & Adair, J.K. (2013). Children crossing borders: Immigrant parent and teacher perspectives on preschool. Russell Sage.
Trout, M. (2018). They took my parent away. Little ones affected by incarceration speak. In L. Gordon (Ed.), Contemporary research and analysis on the children of prisoners: invisible children (p. 116−132). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Uusimäki. L., Yngvesson, T.E., Garvis, S., & Harju-Luukkainen, H. (2019). Parental Involvement in ECEC in Finland and in Sweden. In S. Garvis, H. Harju-Luukkainen, S. Sheridan & P. Williams (Eds.), Nordic Families, Children and Early Childhood Education (p. 81−99). Palgrave Macmillan.
Vandenbroeck, M., & Van Laere, K. (2020). Parents as objects of interventions: what they have to say about early childhood education and schoolification. In K. Repo, M. Alasuutari, K. Karila & J. Lammi-Taskula (Eds.), The policies of childcare and early childhood education: does equal access matter? (p. 92–107). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Venninen, S. T., & Purola, K. E. (2013). Educators’ views on parents’ participation on three different identified levels. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 2(1), 48–62. http://jecer.org/fi/educators-views-on-parents-participation-on-three-different-identified-levels/
