SECTION IV: REGULATIONS
7. REGULATIONS
7.1. Regulations in steering
IN THE early part of the 1990’s, Finland went through extensive deregulation.
Decision-making powers were increasingly delegated to the local level, for example. The
various collective, general and regulatory memoranda issued by the Ministries to local
authorities were abolished. Nowadays, operations of the local authorities are governed by
legislation, including acts, decrees and resolutions. The new Local Government Act came
into force in 1995. Early childhood education and care falling within the administrative
branch of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is governed by the 1973 Act on
Children’s Day Care and subsequent amendments. The legislation governing the
educational sector has been reformed as from the beginning of 1999. The new Basic
Education Act also contains provisions for pre-school education.
7.2. Structures of steering
THE BASIC structures of steering early childhood education and care exist on national,
regional and local levels. The main participants in steering include Parliament, the
Government, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Education, the
National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (Stakes), the National
Board of Education, the Provincial State Offices and the local authorities.
National level
The nature of steering conducted by Parliament, the Government and the two Ministries
is chiefly in the form of legislation through acts, decrees and resolutions.
The task of the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health,
operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, is to
monitor, evaluate and investigate the operations of and developments in social and
health care, to disseminate information and to conduct development activities. In respect
of early childhood education and care, its work has involved publishing activities,
preparation of the core curriculum for pre-school education together with the National
Board of Education and research and development activities.
The National Board of Education is an office operating under the control of the
Ministry of Education. Its tasks include preparation of the core curriculum for pre-school
education. The first Core Curriculum for Pre-school Education was confirmed in
Finland in 1996. A currently ongoing task is to formulate a new core curriculum for
pre-school education, which is to be confirmed in time to be available for pre-school
education for the 2000–2001 school year, when the reform of pre-school education for
six-year-olds comes into effect.
Provincial level
In the six provinces, responsibility for steering rests with the respective Provincial
State Offices. The task of the Provincial State Offices is to control, steer and
monitor the lawfulness and appropriateness of the local authorities’ activities.
At a provincial level, ECEC services have been assigned to two departments: the Social and
Health Care Department and the Education and Culture Department, depending on which is the
administrative sector where a particular activity is provided. The Provincial State
Offices are steered by the Ministries through target outcome agreements.
Local level
At a local (municipal) level, each local authority is responsible for both
implementation and steering of services. In Finland, local authorities are very autonomous
in administrative terms. At a municipal level, matters related to early childhood
education and care are dealt with within the social and health care, school, youth and
leisure administrations. The Local Government Act, which came into effect in the
mid-1990’s, also provides municipal inhabitants with more extensive opportunities to
influence.
Research organisations
Steering by information in the field of early childhood education and care is also
provided by institutions of higher education and other research institutes through
research. These organisations produce the latest research information on childhood,
growth, development and learning. Research in the fields of childhood and early childhood
education and care has increased considerably during the last few decades. At present,
about 10% of research into education concentrates on early childhood education and care.
The focus has gradually shifted from the detached study of early childhood education and
care towards closer and closer examination of a child’s everyday life and its
empathetic interpretation.
One of the most significant changes occurred in August 1995, when ECEC kindergarten
teacher training was finally, after years spent carrying out various experiments,
transferred to universities and established as an academic field of research and
instruction.
An important change and development trend can also be perceived in the dramatic
increase in research conducted in the field of early childhood education and care over the
last few decades. The increase in information on the essence of childhood, childhood
learning and the contextual nature of growth has introduced new challenges on the
development of staff education and training, which have subsequently led to changes in the
entire field of early childhood education and care.
SECTION V: STAFFING
8. STAFF
8.1. Staff qualifications and dimensioning at day-care centres
DAY CARE staff for Finnish children come from diverse educational backgrounds. However,
this occupational diversity has not been a disadvantage; instead, the multidisciplinary
character enables activities conforming with the EduCare philosophy, where
education, instruction and care form a natural integrated whole. The know-how of each
occupation is used in co-operation in order to achieve the educational objectives of day
care.
Almost all Finnish day-care staff have received training for their work that has
prepared them for early childhood education and care. The training aims at internalisation
of children’s growth and development and of the activities to support them.
The structure and dimensioning of staff at day-care centres is governed by the Decree
on Children’s Day Care. Previously, the Decree determined the group sizes for
day-care centres and family day care. Nowadays, regulation of the size of child groups at
day-care centres has been replaced by regulation of the staff to children ratio. In each
day-care centre, at least every third person operating in care and education assignments
must have professional qualifications conforming to the Decree on the Professional
Qualifications of Social Welfare Personnel – i.e. a post-secondary level
qualification. Other people with care and education duties must have an upper secondary
level qualification.
According to the Decree, there must be at least one trained member of staff to a
maximum of seven children in day care, who have reached the age of three. For younger
children, there must be at least one person with vocational education to a maximum of four
children.
With regard to children aged three or over in part-time care, the ratio of staff to
children is 1:13.
In the last few decades, the training and composition of staff in day-care centres have
changed on several occasions. In the early years after the Act on Children’s Day Care
came into effect, day-care centres had kindergarten teachers, social educators, practical
children’s nurses and day-care assistants discharging care and educational duties.
At present, care and education staff operating at day-care centres include
kindergarten teachers, special kindergarten teachers, social educators or Bachelors of
Social Sciences, Bachelors and Masters of Education, practical children’s nurses,
kindergarten practical nurses and practical nurses.
Heads of day-care centres are mostly kindergarten teachers or social educators
in terms of their educational background; in the near future, they will probably also
include Bachelors of Education and Masters of Education or of Early Childhood Education
and Care.
Children in need of special care and education must be taken into account in the number
of personnel with care and educational responsibilities, unless the day-care centre
concerned has a special assistant for any such children. There is usually a special
kindergarten teacher in an integrated special group or special group in the day-care
centre. In large municipalities there are also itinerant special kindergarten teachers and
other rehabilitation staff.
In addition, day-care centres include other staff mainly carrying out kitchen
and cleaning tasks.
The responsibility for planning and implementation of ECEC in day care and its
pre-school education rests predominantly with kindergarten teachers, Bachelors of
Education and social educators. Planning, organisation and implementation involve all
education and care staff in the day-care sector.
8.2. Staff qualifications and dimensioning in family day care
IN FAMILY day care, child minders usually
operate alone when caring for children at home. A family day-care home may care for a
maximum of four children at the same time, including the family child minder’s own
children under school age. In addition to these, such a group may include one child in
part-time care, who attends pre-school education or school.
In group family day care, there are usually two child minders; for specific
reasons and allowing for local conditions, there may also be three child minders with
their groups. In this case, one of the family child minders must have at least an upper
secondary level qualification.
The suitability of family child minders has not really been justified with vocational
or educational requirements but with personal qualities and traditional family know-how.
The steering of family day care plays a significant role in the development and
maintenance of family child minders’ vocational skills, as well as in the control of
the quality of care. This is the responsibility of the family day-care supervisor or the
head of the day-care centre. A person responsible for steering must also be able to give
support in issues related to how children’s learning difficulties are handled. An
important task of the supervisor is to arrange supplementary training for child minders
and to activate them in the development of their own work.
8.3. Staff qualifications and dimensioning in the educational sector
WHERE PRE-SCHOOL education is provided within the school sector, the qualifications
required of staff are governed by the Decree on the Qualifications of Educational Staff.
According to the Decree, where pre-school education is provided in a separate pre-school
class, people permitted to give instruction include those with a kindergarten
teacher’s degree or a Bachelor of Education degree – a lower academic degree
(min. 120 credits) – in addition to those with class teacher’s education.
Where pre-school education is provided in conjunction with forms 1–2 at
comprehensive school, teachers must be qualified class teachers. According to the Decree
on the Degrees in Education and Teacher Education, class teachers currently complete a
higher academic degree (min. 160 credits).
According to the pre-school reform (see Chapter 12), in addition to those mentioned
above, such social educators, social instructors and Bachelors of Social Sciences, who
have worked as teachers in pre-school education or started their training before the
amendment of the Act becomes effective, are qualified to provide pre-school education in
day care after completing 15–20 credits worth of studies, depending on their work
experience.
Provisions regulating group sizes have been abolished from the legislation governing
comprehensive schools. However, the law stipulates that the size of teaching groups must
be formed so as to achieve the objectives set forth in the curriculum.
In pre-school education within the educational sector, the main responsibility for
instruction rests with qualified class teachers. Where pre-school education is provided in
a separate pre-school class, the person responsible for instruction may also be a
kindergarten teacher.
8.4. The current state of training
AMONG DAY-CARE employee groups, kindergarten teachers and special kindergarten
teachers are currently the only groups receiving university education. Kindergarten
teacher education was definitively transferred to universities as of August 1995. At
present, kindergarten teachers complete the Bachelor of Education degree, which is one of
the lower academic degrees. This lasts 3 years (120 credits). The objectives are
determined in the Decree on the Degrees in Education and Teacher Education. The education
emphasises practice and research. It provides the ability to analyse the needs of children
and families in society and to meet them through pedagogy.
Special kindergarten teachers are trained by the Departments of Special
Education at the Universities of Helsinki and Jyväskylä. The basic educational
requirement for both departments is the kindergarten teacher’s degree or a Bachelor
of Education degree in kindergarten teacher education. The scope of the studies in both
departments is 23 or 35 credits, depending on previous studies. In addition, the
University of Jyväskylä offers a Master’s degree programme for special ECEC
teachers (160 credits), which provides the opportunity to specifically start studying to
become a special kindergarten teacher directly after completing the matriculation
examination at general upper secondary school.
Training for social educators has been discontinued, and education in the field has
mainly been transferred to polytechnics, with people graduating as Bachelors of Social
Sciences. The education they provide is extensive, and graduates may work in day care
and child welfare, as well as in social and youth work. The education lasts 3.5 years (140
credits). Professional competence in polytechnic degrees is built on the theoretical bases
of Social Sciences and Education. Early childhood education and care is not only
considered as being a cognitive process, but attention is mainly focused on the
child’s social growth. Polytechnic studies do not have a similar statutory basis as
university studies. Both polytechnics and universities prepare their own curricula and
degree programmes.
Training for kindergarten practical nurses and practical
children’s nurses has been discontinued. The present education is the upper secondary
level Vocational Qualification in Social and Health Care, with graduates qualifying as practical
nurses. This new qualification is an extensive initial vocational qualification.
Practical nurses employed in day care have specialised in their studies in the care and
education of children and young people. At present, the scope of education is three years;
specialisation studies have become more in-depth and extensive and practical training has
been increased.
Most family day-care supervisors, who are the administrative superiors of family
child minders, are qualified kindergarten teachers or social educators, as well as other
professionals in social and health care or education, such as Bachelors or Masters of
Education.
From the very beginning, the training of family child minders has been the most
poorly organised and the most incoherent of all educational alternatives in day care. At
present, the duration of family child minders’ training varies considerably in
different municipalities. The training is mainly provided at evening courses at social
welfare and home economics institutions, as well as in the form of apprenticeship
training. A Vocational Qualification in Family Day Care is currently being planned. The
intended scope is about 40 credits.
In the autumn of 1999, a working group was appointed within the National Board of
Education to deal with the guidelines for the Vocational Qualification in Family Day Care.
Preparatory training courses for the Vocational Qualification in Family Day Care may start
in August 2000 at the earliest.
8.5. Supplementary staff training
DAY-CARE STAFF participate primarily in short-term supplementary training – mostly
in their own time and at their own expense, as the training appropriations for day-care
centres are minimal. The basic responsibility for supplementary training rests, however,
with the employers, but, since 1992, employers have no longer had a statutory obligation
to provide in-service training. Local authorities arrange some short-term training for
their staff.
Within the educational administration, the collective agreement for civil servants and
employees in the educational sector includes in-service training, albeit modest in terms
of provision. For the time being, however, staff working in the day-care sector have not
been able to participate in such training.
8.6. Gender equality in the staff structure
VARIOUS SURVEYS have established that the
kindergarten teacher is one the occupations most clearly differentiated by gender. In
addition, the Equality Programme of the Finnish Government also states that the unbalanced
gender structure of day-care staff presents a special problem for early childhood
education and care provided in children’s day care.
The number of men in other occupational groups besides kindergarten teachers is not
known, but it is fair to say that the majority of men among day-care staff work as
kindergarten teachers. Male kindergarten teachers account for about 4% of the profession.
However, the number of men applying for and admitted to the training is higher than the
number actually staying in the field. In 1998, about 12% of the people who applied for
kindergarten teacher training were men. Furthermore, almost 9% of the people who started
the training were men. It has been observed that poor pay and weak status are
disadvantages that drive people to change occupations.
From the perspective of children, the small proportion of men in the day-care staff is
unfortunate, since men would be needed to alter the traditional gender roles and to offer
a masculine behaviour model. Furthermore, people working in the field of paediatric
psychiatry have become aware of boys showing symptoms that have been interpreted to be an
indication of a need for a male figure and a kind of father figure in a community
dominated by women.
8.7. Approach of day-care staff to their work
SURVEYS OF job satisfaction among day-care staff have observed some change in this
respect. Previously, employees were satisfied with their jobs and were satisfied
psychologically, and there were no differences between occupational groups. Even at
present, staff’s views of their work seem to be quite consistent, irrespective of
occupational group. However, as a result of the municipal savings programmes and the
earlier recession, the day-care framework has developed for the worse in the opinion of
staff. The situation was perceived to be particularly problematic among heads of day-care
centres, who have to strike a balance between financial savings and operational demands.
Parents of children have also noticed this. Now as society is recovering from depression,
municipalities direct additional resources to day care. This has reduced the hard workload
of the day care personnel.
Nevertheless, many employees feel that the quality of day care has improved, as the
activities have become more child-focused, taking better account of children’s
individual needs. Implementation of work is also more flexible and freer than previously
and, consequently, the atmosphere at work is perceived to be better. Co-operation with
parents also functions better than previously, partially because the educational awareness
of parents is increasing.
On the other hand, the work has become more difficult as problems of families and
children’s insecurity are growing. The anxieties that children have also show in day
care in the form of closer co-operation with municipal social workers. Demand for special
kindergarten teachers has also increased.
8.8. Wages, staff turnover, role of the trade unions
IN 1998, Finnish wage and salary earners’
average (gross) earnings for regular working hours were euro 1 899 per month (FIM 11 300).
TABLE 7. Average earnings in children’s day
care and basic education (situation in October 1998)
| Monthly earnings for regular
working hours |
| |
FIM |
Euros |
| Children’s day care |
|
|
| Head of day-care centre |
11442 |
1924 |
| Kindergarten teacher |
9393 |
1580 |
| Practical children’s nurse |
8857 |
1490 |
| Day-care assistant |
7543 |
1269 |
| Family child-care minder |
7747 |
1303 |
| Comprehensive school |
|
|
| Class teacher |
11547 |
1942 |