Reflexivity in early childhood education

Building a broader understanding

Authors

• Mirja Köngäs Helsingin yliopisto
• suomi suomi Helsingin yliopisto
• suomi suomi suomi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.119402

Keywords:

early childhood education, reflectivity, reflection, child perception, mentalization

Abstract

A reflective approach has been seen as an integral part of the early childhood education teacher's expertise. In the reflection discourse, adult orientation is emphasized, thus reflection appears as a one-way interpretation of an activity directed from adult to child. In this dialogical discussion by three early childhood education researchers, we ask how reflection discourse should be developed and whether the child's voice has a place in the reflection process. Reflection as a phenomenon in early childhood education and reflection's relationship to mentalization and children's perception form the subject of our special examination. In our article, we consider reflection as an opportunity to build a broader understanding. If reflection were used to create and strengthen the connection between a child and an adult, reflection would change more toward the direction of reaching the child's own voice. A broader understanding of reflexivity would thus change reflection from only a binary child-adult perspective to a dialogical interaction relationship towards more social practices in which children are understood as interpreters of social reality, comparable to adults.