Jarmo Kinos

Professionalism – a breeding ground for struggle. The example of the Finnish day‐care centre

ABSTRACT This article examines the Finnish day‐care centre out of a neo‐Weberian‐Bourdieuan frame of reference. The leading idea is that the day‐care centre field is continuously shaping as a result of both inner struggles and struggles with other fields. The state, the education system, and trade unions act as the dealers of professional playing cards. Struggles are fought with strategies of social closure over capitals and positions. The study aims at not only describing the object but at understanding the dynamics involved. The concept of professionalism refers to the ideology of a professional group, according to which the group acts purposefully and in an organised manner to pursue their own interests within the rules of the game of the society. The aim of the professional group is, on the one hand, to maintain the advantages obtained and, on the other, to strengthen their position by allying themselves with the élite of the society. This project of professionalisation entails that professional groups are aiming at a professional status, distinctive from the ‘ordinary work’ and/or semi‐professional status, in order to increase their influence in society and their expertise, and to gain better working conditions. During the process, professional groups easily enter into conflicts with various others, such as professional groups in the field, especially with the professions closest to them (e.g. day care and early childhood education). Professional status is backed up by the state and the educational system in particular. The special features of the process are: (1) the project of professionalisation takes a long time; (2) in each country the project of professionalisation has features specific to that country; and (3) the professional groups meet both supporters and opponents on the way. RÉSUMÉ: Cet article analyse l’accueil de la petite enfance en Finlande dans un cadre de reference néo wébérien‐bourduisien. L’idée conductrice est que ce champ est en constante configuration par les débats existant à l’interne comme avec d’autres champs. L’Etat, le système éducatif et les syndicats sont les négociateurs princeps dans ce jeu de cartes professionnel. Les débats se heurtent aux stratégies de fermeture sociale aux capitaux et positions. L’étude vise non seulement la description de l’objet énoncé mais encore la comprehension des dynamiques sous jacentes. Le concept de professionnalisme se réfère à l’idéologie d’un groupe professionnel selon laquelle ce groupe agit et poursuit ses propres intérêts, de façon organisée, au sein des règles du jeu de la société. Le but du groupe professionnel est d’un côté de maintenir les avantages acquis et de l’autre de renforcer sa position en faisant alliance avec l’élite de la société. Ce projet de professionalisation exige que les groupes professionnels visent un statut professionnel, distinct du ‘travail ordinaire’ et/ou du statut semi professionnel, afin d’augmenter leur influence dans la société, leur expertise, et d’obtenir de meilleures conditions de travail. Au cours du processus, les groupes professionnels entrent facilement en conflit avec différentes instances, notamment les autres groupes professionnels exerçant dans le champ et en particulier les professions les plus proches (par exemple, crèche et jardin d’enfants). Le statut professionnel est grandement profilé par l’Etat et le système éducatif. Les caractéristiques particulières du processus sont les suivantes : (1) le projet de professionnalisation se fait sur la durée, (2) dans chaque pays, ce projet présente des caractères spécifiques au pays et (3) les groupes professionnels rencontrent au passage des supporters et des opposants. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Finnische Kindertagesstätte aus einer Neo‐Weberianischen‐Bourdieuschen Perspektive. Der Leitgedanke dabei ist, dass das Feld der Kindertagesstätte sich kontinuierlich als Ergebnis interner Auseinandersetzungen sowie Auseinandersetzungen mit anderen Feldern konfiguriert. Staat, Erziehungssystem und Gewerkschaften erscheinen als Akteure in einem professionellen Kartenspiel. Kämpfe werden mithilfe von Strategien Sozialer Schließung über Kapital und Positionen ausgetragen. Ziel der Untersuchung ist es, den Gegenstand nicht nur zu beschreiben, sondern die treibenden Kräfte zu verstehen. Das zugrunde liegende Professionalitätskonzept bezieht sich auf Ideologien professioneller Gruppen, denen zufolge sie absichtsvoll und in organisierter Weise handeln, um, innerhalb der Regeln der Gesellschaft, eigene Interessen zu verfolgen. Ziel der Gruppe der Professionellen ist es, einerseits die errungenen Vorteile zu erhalten, und andererseits ihre Position durch Allianzen mit gesellschaftlichen Eliten zu stärken. Dieses Projekt der Professionalisierung bringt es mit sich, dass professionelle Gruppen einen Status anstreben, der sich sowohl von gewöhnlicher Arbeit als auch von Semi‐Professionen abhebt – mit der Absicht, ihren gesellschaftlichen Einfluss und ihre Expertise zu erweitern und bessere Arbeitsbedingungen zu erreichen. In diesem Prozess geraten professionelle Gruppen leicht in Konflikt mit verschiedenen anderen Instanzen, insbesondere mit benachbarten Professionen (z.B. in Kindertagesstätte und Vorschule). Der professionelle Status wird besonders vom Staat und vom Erziehungssystem gestützt. Besondere Kennzeichen dieses Prozesses sind: (1) das Projekt der Professionalisierung erstreckt sich über einen längeren Zeitraum und zeigt (2) in jedem Land spezifische Merkmale. RESUMEN: Este articulo examina los centros finlandeses del cuidado de niños a partir de un marco de referencia neo‐Weberiano‐Bourdieuano. La idea central es que el campo del cuidado de niños esta continuamente formándose como consecuencia de luchas internas y de luchas con otros campos. El estado, el sistema educacional y las organizaciones laborales actúan como repartidores de cartas en el juego de naipes. Las luchas se dan con estrategias de encierre social sobre capital y posiciones. El objetivo del estudio es no solo de describir el objeto sino de comprender las dinámicas envueltas. El concepto de profesionalismo se refiera a la ideología de un grupo profesional, de acuerdo a la cual el grupo actúa intencionadamente y de forma organizada para resguardar sus propios intereses dentro de las reglas de juego de la sociedad. El objetivo del grupo profesional es, por una parte, mantener las ventajas obtenidas, y por otra, fortalecer su posición aliándose con la elite de la sociedad. Este proyecto de profesionalización implica que el grupo profesional ambiciona una condición profesional, diferente del ‘trabajo ordinario’ y/o condición semi‐profesional en orden de aumentar su influencia en la sociedad, su condición de expertos, y de obtener mejores condiciones laborales. Durante el proceso, el grupo profesional entra fácilmente en conflicto con varias instancias, tales como otros grupos profesionales en el campo, especialmente con profesiones cercanas a el (por ejemplo cuidado de niños y educación pre‐escolar). La condición profesional es respaldada por el estado y el sistema educacional en particular. Los aspectos especiales del proceso son: 1) el proyecto de profesionalización demora mucho tiempo y, 2) en cada país el proyecto de profesionalización muestra aspectos específicos propios del país y 3) el grupo profesional encuentra en el camino tanto aliados como adversarios.

Curricula of Finnish Kindergarten Teacher Education: Interpretations of Early Childhood Education, Professional Competencies and Educational Theory

SUMMARY The presentation is based on the ongoing research project The Pedagogical Formation of Early Childhood Education in Finland. The data of the first stage consists of all written kindergarten teacher training curricula drawn up in 1973–2002. The aim is to discover the nature of the expertise that the kindergarten teacher training programmes delivered over this period were intended to generate and also to discover what kinds of outlines, divisions and tools concerning the pedagogics of early childhood education the curricula of kindergarten teacher training have offered to the students in the different phases of the training. The curricula are placed in a context comprising the history of training in Finland and its main stages (institute phase, college phase, university phase). The training objectives have been closely linked with the development of day care and pre-school education provision. The objective texts reveal three dimensions in the expertise expected of a kindergarten teacher: a systemic and community-oriented perspective, promoting and supporting the childrens development, and improving the kindergarten teachers own critical thinking and the preparedness to acquire new information. Central subjects include early childhood education and developmental psychology. The curricula contain no intentional definition of early childhood education which would describe its most central features. Instead, they are grounded on extensional definitions, which list the phenomena covered by the domain of early childhood education. Developmental psychology has served kindergarten teachers as a source of theoretical tools for making sense of early childhood education, but now they should be able to analyse their work also on the basis of educational theory. Nevertheless, the union of education and development has been the strength of kindergarten teacher education.

Acting as a Professional in a Finnish Early Childhood Education Context

This chapter describes and analyses the Finnish case study and begins by illustrating the macro-level context in which Finnish early childhood education practitioners work. In analysing the teacher’s day, it is possible to see that a typical day is constructed around a number of meaningful episodes. The findings show that being an early childhood professional at the current time in Finland is challenging as practitioners face new expectations for professionalism in the early childhood field due to changes in society and working life. Supportive environments are required to renew professional identities and develop everyday practices based on these new expectations. In future, more discussion is required about the resources practitioners need when implementing new expectations and requirements, and also about their own reflections related to their working practices so that their voices are clearly heard.

Academisation of Early Childhood Education

Finnish early childhood education can be defined as practical educational activity, as a discipline, or as a field of science. This study focuses on the academic connections of early childhood education and concentrates on the identification of actors according to Bourdieus field theory. The roots of academic early childhood education go back only a short way, to the 1970s. The study is of current interest as early childhood education established its position in the field of education as late as the middle of the 1990s when a number of chairs were founded. The material of our study consisted of documents in connection with the appointments of professors, in particular the expert statements. Our study method was material‐based content analysis. The mainstream of early childhood education can be defined, in the same way as sciences of education, as a multidisciplinary field of science where the most favoured substance of educational psychology approaches and is integrated into the social capital; early childhood education is always linked to the family, lifespan and society in a complex way.

Value-creating E-Government business Models for Early childhood Education in Finland

In many cases, e-government is considered a name for transforming informative public services into electronic mode, although the focus of e-government should be on creating value for citizens as well as public organizations. In this article we apply Amit and Zott’s (2001) e-business value creation methods to an egovernment environment, namely early childhood education in Finland. The objective of the collaborative action research study was to find out what kind of business models in e-government would create value for citizens. The methodological result based on the collaborative nature of the study is a method for analyzing and generating business models. Amit & Zott’s framework also seems to be applicable to the e-government environment, and we were able to draw many viable business models for early childhood education, which forms the practical contribution of the study.

Child-Initiated Pedagogies: Moving toward Democratically Appropriate Practices in Finland, England, Estonia, and the United States.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child calls for children to be treated as human beings with a distinct set of rights, instead of as passive objects of care. They can and should be agents in their own lives. Child-initiated pedagogy recognizes this by respecting childrens individual and collective views, interests, and motivations. Instructional practices that support child-initiated activities promote childrens self-determination and their cognitive and social development. By allowing young children to choose their own pursuits and learning explorations, take ownership of planned activities to adapt them to their own purposes, and incorporate their own experiences into learning opportunities, educators are moving toward implementation of democratically appropriate practices. The authors of this article examine how child-initiated pedagogy manifests in the different contexts of Finland, England, Estonia, and the United States.