Holistic pedagogy throughout the day in early childhood education and care

Authors

• Tiina Lämsä Jyväskylän yliopiston avoin yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.102527

Keywords:

full-time pedagogy, learning environment, small group activities, pedagogical planning and scheduling, structure of holistic pedagogy

Abstract

In Finland, early childhood education and care, ECEC, is based on an integrated approach to care, education, and teaching, with special emphasis on pedagogy. Holistic pedagogy throughout the day, the “full-time pedagogy” model, has become a key practice in Finnish ECEC. It is also the starting point for many local ECEC curricula, although the concept lacks scientific definition and its practical interpretations vary. It is possibly for these reasons that the topic has aroused a great deal of discussion and interest. For the time being, full-time pedagogy (kokopäiväpedagogiikka) is the term used in ECEC to describe how pedagogy is implemented in all situations throughout the day. However, research could enable it to become a scientifically defined concept or, depending on the direction of development, it could simply remain a term referring to the pedagogical component of ECEC. In this paper, I outline the temporal characteristics and structure of holistic pedagogy in ECEC. The implementation of small group activities, the scheduling of pedagogy in the work plans of ECEC personnel, and the utilization of the learning environment are all guided by the goals of so-called full-time pedagogy. How we operate, for example, how we organize daily transition situations, forms the foundation for constructing a model of the organization of ECEC. The guiding principle is that pedagogical goals adapted to everyday life support the goal of delivering high quality ECEC. In full-time pedagogy, all daily situations are relevant to growth, learning and well-being. Clear, concrete, jointly agreed policies and a communal working culture will help achieve these goals.