Tuija Anneli Turunen

Mind the gap. Combining theory and practice in a field experience

In this article, we describe a collegial case study conducted in one Finnish university during the last field experience in a primary school teacher education program and discuss pedagogy of supervision from university supervisors’ perspectives. The aim of the study was to clarify the role of university supervisors and try out a collegial supervision approach to combine theory and practice in a field experience. We aimed to develop student teachers’ understanding of curriculum as an enacted phenomenon in which they have agency, and enhance their understanding of the development of language skills when working with young children. Our supervision was based on the importance of situated learning and Kolb’s experiential learning model. The results showed that a theory-based approach is possible and collegial supervision can add extra value to supervision. The student teachers became more aware of the different levels of curriculum and their meaning in teachers’ planning processes. They also gained more comprehensive understanding of primary school teachers’ possibilities to develop children’s language skills every day and in all subjects.

Individual plans for children in transition to pre-school: A case study in one Finnish day-care centre

This paper outlines a case study on teachers’ and parents’ perspectives on childrens individual plans in transition from early childhood education to pre-school in Finland. The study was based on the importance of continuity as a part of positive educational transition experiences. The national curricula, educators’ interpretations and parents’ perspectives were investigated in one day-care centre. Individual planning is mandatory in early childhood, but there is little information about using the plans in transition to pre-school. At the local level, individual planning occurred in discussions with parents and various planning forms. Familiarity and good relationships between the educators and the parents were important. The educators and the parents had different perceptions of the usefulness and use of individual planning. On the basis of this study, individual planning can be recommended as an appropriate tool to strengthen continuity in transition, but more discussion between parents and educators is needed to build a shared understanding about it.

Memories about starting school: What is remembered after decades?

This study explores the memories of starting school that remain in a persons mind throughout the decades. The data were collected from elderly/retired people in Finland. The participants were recruited through two magazines and were asked to write a story on their memories about starting school. Eight stories about starting school in 1937–1957 were received and were analyzed using discourse analysis. The results showed that memories about starting school included memories of leaving home and saying goodbye, signs of the schoolchild, feelings of uncertainty in new situations and realizing differences. The Second World War also had an impact on the memories. The results indicated that both positive and negative memories related to starting school remained after decades.

What constitutes the pre-school curricula? Discourses of core curricula for pre-school education in Finland in 1972–2000

The focus of this article is on Finnish pre-school curricula from the early pioneering years to the start of the new millennium (1972–2000). Pre-school has been part of the Finnish education system for nearly 40 years. It has been undergoing a challenging reconstruction process and changes influenced significantly by the increasing call for pre-school education. From 2001, all Finnish municipalities have the obligation to offer and arrange free pre-school education for all six-year-old children a year before compulsory schooling. In this article, pre-school curricula are analysed by examining five written curricula between 1972 and 2000 using qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis. How are the curricula written and how are they changed? The results show that often implicit concepts of the child and childhood determine the content of pre-school curricula. The answers have implications for the development of pre-school education, as well as curricula-related research.

Changing voices in early years curricula. An example from Finnish pre-school education

This paper aims at investigating the changing constructions of childhood in two Finnish pre-school education curricula during the time of pre-school reform in the late 1990s and early 2000s. These constructions are part of the underlying curriculum containing postulates and values that influence the written curriculum documents. They determine the positions of children and educators and help define the purposes of education. Discourse analysis was used to identify the constructions of childhood in the curriculum documents from 1996 and 2000. The results indicate a paradigm change in a relatively short period of time. The agreed-upon notion of an innocent, capable, and self-contained child transformed into a multifaceted view of the child in relation to the educator and to the outside world. The changing constructions of childhood had an impact on how the functions of pre-school education were seen and how educators and children were positioned. Tracking changes in the early years curricula is important, because these shifts both reflect and construct how education is viewed and enable discussion about the desired future of early years education. The authors argue that it is important that traditional curriculum styles evident in compulsory education not be allowed to be recontextualised in early years education.

Researching memories about starting school: autobiographical narratives as a methodological approach

This article reports on methodological issues in the study of autobiographical narratives about transition to school within a life course approach. The data consist of 89 Australian participants’ recollections of starting school between 1928 and 1995. These narratives are considered as life reviews and part of the story of ‘continuing me’. They are combinations of memories about childhood experiences, stories told in the family, photos and other artefacts, influenced by the times and places of starting school and of recalling it. This research approach provides one strategy for investigating the ways in which starting school links other life events within individual and family contexts and how the recollections of transition to school are part of each persons constructed life story. The results indicate that narratives of starting school often form an education marker in ones life course and may have an intergenerational impact.

Forty years of Finnish pre-school education: the development of curricula between 1972 and 2000

Since 2001 in Finland, all six year olds have had the right to free pre-school education, and almost all pre-school-aged children take advantage of this opportunity. The purpose of this article is to dissect the development of Finnish pre-school education curricula within the societal context and within the changes in trends of curriculum planning between 1972 and 2000. The study analysed five curricula texts through qualitative content analysis by paying attention to the functions of pre-school education and the positioning of children and educators. The development of pre-school education consisted of four phases: (1) the era of pre-school education trials; (2) the era of heterogeneous pre-school education arrangements; (3) the era of changes in curriculum policies; and (4) the era of pre-school education establishment. The results indicated that the changes in pre-school education curricula related to the changes in Finnish society and in basic education.

Experienced and recalled transition: starting school as part of life history

This chapter considers memories about starting school as part of a person’s autobiographical narrative. The stories reported here are extracts from narrative interviews in Finland and Australia and are used to highlight the implications of life course theory and ecological models. The results indicate that memories about starting school play an important role in a person’s autobiographical narrative. Starting school happens in different contexts which are intertwined in memories. They also contain different kinds of autobiographical knowledge and self-defining memories which can be referred as turning points in one’s life course. This study approach draws attention to a wide landscape of starting school within multiple contexts and an elastic sense of time. It can help educators and parents to become more aware of the impact of their own memories when they work with children in transition to school. It also highlights the importance of starting school in one’s life course with long-lasting recollections.

Developing "the Wings to Really Fly": The Experiences of Four Postdoctoral Research Fellows within an Australian University Faculty of Education

Postdoctoral research fellowships are a recent phenomenon in teacher education and little has been documented about them. This paper presents findings from a study in which the experiences of research fellows in a rural university were investigated. The data were gathered as audio recordings from peer mentoring meetings, notes from these meetings, individual reflective journals, and interviews conducted with six key informants. The analysis highlights that the experience of research fellowships was marked by a need to negotiate four competing, though not necessarily exclusive, demands related to the institute’s research productivity, its research culture and teaching, and personal professional goals. A range of institutional practices and individual characteristics mediated these negotiations.

From the Countdown to an Intermediate Stopping Point

Three people are having a coffee break in the Faculty of Education at the University of Lapland: a professor, a senior researcher, recently graduated as a doctor and me, a lecturer who had just started writing her doctoral thesis. While drinking coffee, we talk about this and that and then our conversation turns to the writing of scientific articles. The professor and senior researcher discuss their articles and the feedback they have received. They talk about the reviewing procedure.