Freinet’s pedagogy as an important component of Finnish curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care
Sirjajeva, Jelena (2021)
Sirjajeva, Jelena
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021112922447
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021112922447
Tiivistelmä
With every passing decade educators are drawing more attention towards alternative schooling because it seems that on many occasions it wins over the classic way of education. Celestin Freinet is one of the representatives of the alternative way of teaching. That is why this thesis was dedicated to study Freinet’s educational approach in more detail and to find out how his pedagogy is incorporated in Finnish Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care.
The starting point for this thesis was a literature review on Freinet’s educational methods and its comparison with Finnish Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education. Already at this point it was visible that there are many similarities in these two approaches. Freinet strongly believed that the psychology of a child development should guide education, the same thought lays in the bases of Finnish education philosophy. That is why obligatory education in Finland starts with pre-school when a child reaches six years old (pre-school group may be provided by a daycare or school) and at seven children start their first grade.
Having collected previous information I decided to see how carefully teachers of one of the local daycares are following the curriculum and if some improvements, which can be done by using more of Freinet’s pedagogical approach were needed. In order to receive the needed information a questionary was made, and data was collected. In some areas the daycare routines indeed needed some improvement. Now focusing on Freinet’s pedagogy I proposed several ways of how improvement may be done in the “Suggestions for improvement” chapter.
The main purpose of this thesis to show and highlight the fact that an incorporation of the strong pedagogical approach in the National Curriculum may be highly beneficial not just for the children but for the educators as well. Also, this thesis may be a starting point for another research in the same field.
The starting point for this thesis was a literature review on Freinet’s educational methods and its comparison with Finnish Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education. Already at this point it was visible that there are many similarities in these two approaches. Freinet strongly believed that the psychology of a child development should guide education, the same thought lays in the bases of Finnish education philosophy. That is why obligatory education in Finland starts with pre-school when a child reaches six years old (pre-school group may be provided by a daycare or school) and at seven children start their first grade.
Having collected previous information I decided to see how carefully teachers of one of the local daycares are following the curriculum and if some improvements, which can be done by using more of Freinet’s pedagogical approach were needed. In order to receive the needed information a questionary was made, and data was collected. In some areas the daycare routines indeed needed some improvement. Now focusing on Freinet’s pedagogy I proposed several ways of how improvement may be done in the “Suggestions for improvement” chapter.
The main purpose of this thesis to show and highlight the fact that an incorporation of the strong pedagogical approach in the National Curriculum may be highly beneficial not just for the children but for the educators as well. Also, this thesis may be a starting point for another research in the same field.