Socio-spatial practices in a Finnish daycare group for one- to three-year-olds

Abstract

This qualitative case study approaches early childhood education and care practices from a socio-spatial point of view. One Finnish daycare group for one- to three-year-olds participated in the study. The ethnographic observations from the practices are analyzed together with the ECE practitioners’ audio-recorded team meetings and video-elicited interviews. The analysis focuses first on the practitioners’ role in structuring the physical and symbolic space, then on how age is used as a category to construct divergences in spatio-temporal practices. The practitioners constrained children’s use of the physical space and directed children’s attention and interests with different emphases on ‘activities with predefined objective and location’, ‘transitions’ and ‘activities with flexible objectives and locations’. Age was used to justify differentiated spatio-temporal practices. Practitioners supported children in their developmental tasks to enhance adaptation to the institutional order and routines.

Keywords:

• socio-spatial practices
• one- to three-year-olds
• ethnography
• daycare center
• qualitative case study

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland, project (In)visible Toddlerhood? Global and Local Constructions of Toddlers’ Places in Institutions 2010–2012 (project 133345). In addition to the anonymous reviewers, the author is also grateful to Kaisu Hermanfors, Kirsti Karila, Päivi Kupila, Raija Raittila and Mari Vuorisalo for helpful comments and to Kaisa-Reeta Laitila for her assistance in the data transcription.

Notes

1. The National Curriculum Guidelines on Early Childhood Education and Care (2004) provide a national tool for planning at the local levels. Municipal-level and unit-specific curricula as well as child-specific plans are all being developed.