{"title":"Enrichment and safety -the parents of young children constructing early childhood education and care institution in Finland","authors":"Mirka Kivimäki, Kirsti Karila, Maarit Alasuutari","doi":"10.1080/1350293x.2023.2274537","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Parents` significance in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is emphasized in the research, but primarily from the perspective of ECEC professionals. Drawing on discursive institutionalism, we analysed what parents of young children in Finland constructed as essential in ECEC from the child`s point of view in their discussions concerning the forms of ECEC services. We found that parents constructed ECEC through two interconnected frames: enrichment and safety. The frames indicate that an individual child and her well-being here and now are considered essential in ECEC for Finnish parents. Parents’ interpretations differ from one of the global discourses of ECEC, which emphasizes children`s development for the future. On the other hand, parents’ discourses maintain the cultural distinctions traditionally present in the Finnish ECEC institution. Our study underscores the significance of scrutinizing the construction of educational institutions in the discourses of those whose everyday lives these institutions are.","PeriodicalId":47343,"journal":{"name":"European Early Childhood Education Research Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Early Childhood Education Research Journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2023.2274537","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Parents` significance in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is emphasized in the research, but primarily from the perspective of ECEC professionals. Drawing on discursive institutionalism, we analysed what parents of young children in Finland constructed as essential in ECEC from the child`s point of view in their discussions concerning the forms of ECEC services. We found that parents constructed ECEC through two interconnected frames: enrichment and safety. The frames indicate that an individual child and her well-being here and now are considered essential in ECEC for Finnish parents. Parents’ interpretations differ from one of the global discourses of ECEC, which emphasizes children`s development for the future. On the other hand, parents’ discourses maintain the cultural distinctions traditionally present in the Finnish ECEC institution. Our study underscores the significance of scrutinizing the construction of educational institutions in the discourses of those whose everyday lives these institutions are.
期刊介绍:
The European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (EECERJ) is the publication of the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA), an international organisation dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of research in Early Childhood Education throughout Europe and beyond. CREC is the UK base for the European Early Childhood Research Association. EECERA welcomes and encourages membership and contributions from across the world to share and participate in its European perspective. EECERJ aims to provide a forum for the publication of original research in early childhood education in Europe.