Abstract
Early Childhood Education (ECE) as an academic discipline has gained an academic legitimacy in Finland in 2005. In accordance with internationally established practice, Early Childhood Education as an academic field and a field of research has been set to cover the period from birth to eight years of age. The focus of ECE re- search is to analyse and define the development and upbringing of young children, including such themes as learning and teaching and the complex connection between child development to the growth environment. In recent years in Finland, the internal paradigmatic discussions within academic ECE have been both enlightened and critical. The emergence of an academic Early Childhood Education paradigm has been apparent in the discussions of early pedagogy, professional growth, leadership, management and quality and as a definer of pedagogy to support children’s learning. The challenge of academic Early Childhood Education is to introduce into the discussion ontological and epistemological issues of early childhood and thereby activate teachers and other professional educators and parents to consider personal and professional conceptions of the child, of learning and of the role of adults in the upbringing of young children from birth to eight years of age.
Highlights
Childhood Education (ECE) as an academic discipline has gained an academic legitimacy in Finland in 2005
The so-called “temporary training” of kindergarten teachers which had operated for 20 years in affiliation with the universities set the stage for transferring early education to the legitimate part of the university institution. This move led the way to academic Early Childhood Education and the establishment of ECE as a legitimate discipline in 2005
After transferring early childhood training programs to the university institution the objective set for academic Early Childhood Education became the further analysis and development of the content of this field of study, including ontology, epistemology and argumentation of ECE paradigms
Summary
Childhood Education (ECE) as an academic discipline is the most recent newcomer to the family of education sciences in Finland. Teachers and researchers require a more profound knowledge to respond to the challenges of the rapidly changing world, a knowledge and understanding of education that is appropriate and relevant to an increasingly multidimensional and international community as reflected in the European Union for instance. These complex growth environments and networks are reflected in government policy that appears to promote partnerships between parents and professionals. In Finland, it is easy to see that cooperation in child rearing has assumed centre-stage in early education policies and practices (Varhaiskasvatussuunnitelman perusteet 2005)
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