Maiju Paananen

Exploring the foundations of visual methods used in research with children

The growing interest in researching and documenting young childrens perspectives and experiences, has led to an increasing use of visual methods, such as photograps and videos. Studies to date, however, have seen artifacts as neutral tools, and have not revealed the differences between the functions of visual artifacts in the research process, and their functions in childrens lives more broadly. In view of this, we scrutinize the function of visual artifacts, using Wengers notion of reification, Vygotskys idea of mediation, and Wartofskys historical epistemology. We enliven the theoretical discussion by featuring illustrative vignettes from our previous study conducted at a Finnish preschool. We then discuss the consequences of our analysis in terms of documentation, and joint reflections that capture and construct the childrens experiences. A number of educational implications are highlighted.

Connecting Learning across School and Out-of-School Contexts

Understanding and promoting learning across school and out-of-school contexts have received increased attention in recent educational research and practice. Children and young people spend considerable time in out-of-school learning settings. Whether it be outside in the park playing with friends, fishing with an uncle, taking part in everyday family chores, or engaging in virtual communities, these everyday learning environments form a rich and complex learning ecology within which children build a variety of experiences, competencies, and interests (Barron, 2006; Erstad & Sefton-Green, 2013; Ito et al., 2013; Kumpulainen et al., 2010).

Hybridisation or ousterisation? The case of local accountability policy in Finnish early childhood education

Drawing on the analytic concept of imaginary, this study investigates policy hybridisation in the Finnish early childhood education. Specifically, it illuminates how the interplay between different imaginaries enabled the neoliberal imaginary to oust the social-democratic imaginary through a tripartite process in a case of local productivity policy in the early childhood education sector. The confrontation of the historical trajectories and analyses of a localised hybridisation process suggests that even though historical trajectories play an important role in defining future policy solutions, hybridisations may have the power to transform their direction. We suggest that focusing on both discursive features of policy deliberation and material-technical ways of governing policy directions provide valuable information concerning policy reforms.

Quality drift within a narrative of investment in early childhood education

This study contributes to the discussion of the policy discourses related to the investment narrative in early childhood education. The article begins by contextualizing the concept of ‘quality’ in a narrative of investing in early childhood education. Employing techniques drawn from the tradition of discourse analysis, the paper highlights the fact that the era of the OECDs inclusive liberalism is fading. Additionally, the study illuminates the fact that the transparent conceptualization of ‘quality’ resonates poorly with these new directions. Finally, the consequences of the inconsistent use of the concept of ‘quality’ will be discussed. In all, this study addresses the need for a profound empirical analysis of the investment narrative that current international early childhood educational policies have adopted and provides a more nuanced understanding of the construction of the concept of ‘quality’ within it.

Children’s Perspective to Curriculum Work: Meaningful Moments in Finnish Early Childhood Education

Recently, and especially in early childhood education, there has been a transition from understanding child perspective to understanding children’s perspective. Taking children’s perspective as a foundational starting point, we explore and identify moments that children find important, meaningful, and positive in their daily life at the context of preprimary education. We use empirical evidence from our research situated within the cultural context of Finnish early childhood education where children documented their preprimary education experiences with digital cameras and reflected upon them in joint discussions with their peers and researchers. We discuss to what extent these documentation and reflection practices can be used as tools for understanding children’s perspective to meaningful moments in the Finnish preprimary context and what implications this kind of approach would set for curriculum, curriculum assessment, and curriculum development.

Pedagogical documentation as a lens for examining equality in early childhood education

ABSTRACT In this paper, we consider pedagogical quality particularly as equal opportunities for participating in decision-making in preschool. Relying on Ferraris’ [2013. Documentality: Why it is necessary to leave traces. New York: Fordham University Press] theory of Documentality, we demonstrate how pedagogical documentation can contribute to understanding children’s perspectives and discuss how it may help facilitate children’s perspectives to become part of their everyday lives at preschool. In addition, we examine, using a multi method approach, how our conceptualizations help critically examine equality in early childhood education (ECE). The study was conducted in Finnish preschools. The data source for this study is composed of the researcher’s observation diary, self-documentation conducted by teachers (n = 13), individual ECE plans of 104 2 to 7-year-old children and document-aided interviews with their teachers (n = 13). Finally, we critically discuss the consequences of our findings in terms of documentation, pedagogy and the equality of ECE.