Having, loving, and being: children's narrated well-being in Finnish day care centres

Abstract

The aim of this study is to answer the following question: what do children tell about their well-being in Finnish day care centres? The theoretical and methodological framework of this study is based on a narrative approach. The research material was collected by participating in the everyday life of three groups of children and listening to their narratives. The research material, consisting of observations and tape-recorded conversations, is reflected in a model of well-being developed by a Finnish sociologist, Erik Allardt. This model consists of three dimensions: having, loving, and being. With the intention of understanding children's well-being, the meanings of having, loving, and being are explored. Instead of arguing for one objective truth, this study offers diverse narratives, conveying both positive and negative experiences of children's well-being. The most positive experiences deal with inspiring and enabling material environment, responsive adults, good friends, and opportunities for meaningful activities. Darker shades permeate the narratives characterised by unyielding institutional structures, children's separateness from adults, the exclusion from peer relationships, and not being respected as a subject. This study demonstrates both potentials and limitations involved in narrative methodology when exploring young children's experienced well-being.

Democracy, caring and competence: values perspectives in ECEC curricula in the Nordic countries

“…Recently, Nordic researchers have carried out studies related to the value of democracy with a special interest on the perspective of children's rights and a focus on children's participation and influence, through which children can construct power for self-determination and solidarity (Bae 2009;Broström 2006bBroström , 2012Einarsdottir 2005Einarsdottir , 2010Emilson 2007Emilson , 2008Jensen 2013;Puroila, Estola, and Syrjälä 2012). The findings have shown that children's opportunities for participation and influence seem to be rather limited and depend on a variety of dimensions, such as practitioners' attitudes, communication between children and practitioners, institutional practices and cultural routines of preschools (Emilson 2007).…”

“…In the past few years, discussion on children's rights and participation has increased both in Finnish society and in early childhood education research (e.g., Karila 2012;Puroila, Estola, and Syrjälä 2012;Venninen et al 2014). Yet, this Nordic study calls for further research and discussion on democratic values in Finnish early childhood education.…”

Building on the positive in children's lives: a co-participatory study on the social construction of children's sense of agency

“…These include agentive experiences, social support, loving and nurturing relationships, emotional warmth and stimulating activities (see, e.g. Johnson, 2008;Kim-Cohen, Moffit, Caspi, & Taylor, 2004;Luther & Zelazo, 2003;Puroila, Estola, & Syrjälä, 2012). Positive events in children's lives, child-centred interventions, academic success at school as well as empowering hobbies or interests have also been shown to help children overcome and compensate for potential risk-factors to their well-being (Rutter & Rutter, 1993).…”

The early childhood education and care partnership for bilingualism in minority language schooling: collaboration between bilingual families and pedagogical practitioners

“…The descriptions of partnerships given by both parents and practitioners in our study showed that bilingualism was considered to be the natural state of affairs and that the language choices between practitioners and parents were open to negotiation. Furthermore, the idea of 'the best for the child in the form of loving care' (Puroila, Estola, and Syrjälä 2012) was generally considered to be more important than any strict observance of official language policies. Such attitudes allowed language mixing practices between all stakeholders and gave some linguistic freedom even to the children.…”