Increasing Immigrant Children’s Participation in the Finnish Early Childhood Education Context

Abstract

The ongoing immigration flow poses challenges to the development of inclusive early childhood education (ECE) in Finland. This article focuses on immigrant children´s participation as a means to developing effective pedagogical practices in the Finnish ECE settings. The research method involves collecting large-scale observation data (N=316) based on a random sampling of immigrant children’s everyday activities in the ECE context. The results show that the children’s participatory action is correlated with their involvement, deepening their level of inclusion in the particular situation. Participatory action is also related to peer relations with a group of children or another child. Role play is positively correlated with participatory action. The results imply the need for more attention to jointly creating and supporting elaborated learning practices and contexts, as well as to understanding the crucial roles of peer relations and ECE teachers in promoting children’s interaction, participation and role play. Teachers should develop daily actions and practices to be more accessible and understandable for all children to participate. The results demonstrate that the participation of immigrant children and families needs more effective interventions in the Finnish ECE setting.