Encountering diversity: educators’ ways in mediating toddler’s inclusion in the Finnish early childhood classroom
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This study explores educator-child interactions and their relationship with educators’ approaches to diversity and inclusion during the mealtimes in Finnish early childhood education and care. Based on video-recordings of mealtimes, a mixed-method approach was adopted to analyse 539 moments of educator-child interactions. The results suggest diverse educator-child interaction patterns mediating children’s inclusion. In educator-child interactions, children’s diverse agency for participation is considered by educators. Educators’ approaches to diversity suggest their open attitudes towards inclusion which are not limited to ethnicity but relate to children’s individual needs. During moments of tension within educator-child interactions, children’s agency contributes to transform educators’ attitudes towards inclusion. However, there seems to be a tendency to understand equality as uniformity which contradicts the core principle of equity as social justice in multicultural inclusive education.
Authors: Lijuan Wang, Katri Jokikokko
Institutions: Hunan University, University of Oulu
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4410831759