Description
How is quality and assessment in early childhood education perceived and addressed in Finland?
Finland is known for top-quality early childhood education and care. When ensuring quality, Finland is known to rely on development work made by organizations and individuals instead of outside quality inspection. How is this done? What does quality and assessment in early childhood education mean? What are the factors of quality in Finnish early childhood education and care?
Ensuring quality needs continuous reflection, assessment, evaluation and development work. This course explores the relationship between quality, evaluation and development in Finnish ECEC and provides practical examples of assessment. Holistic and complementary approach to evaluation in Finnish ECEC is introduced. The course also addresses pedagogical documentation as a means of learning and communication.
Goal: To introduce how the concepts of quality and assessment are viewed in Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC)
Learning outcomes:
- Participants will understand the relationship between several different factors of quality in ECEC and aligned evaluation practices
- Participants will get aware of several pitfalls of evaluation practices
- Participants will get equipped with ideas and practical tools for developing the pedagogical approach to evaluation
Contents:
- Defining the concept of quality in early childhood education
- Factors of quality in Finnish ECEC
- Quality – evaluation – outcomes
- Redefine quality – redefine evaluation
- Evaluation of quality of Finnish ECEC aiming at the overall development of ECEC operation and at the steering of pedagogy
- Developmental evaluation in Finnish ECEC
- Assessment tools for developmental evaluation process
- Practical examples of evaluation and assessment in Finnish ECEC
Completion methods: 39 mins video lecture, additional learning material, learning assignment
Duration: in total 5h
Target group: ECEC / Kindergarten principals
Produced by: Learning Scoop
Course platform: Claned Online Learning Platform
Access to the course: 30 days
Recommended products to combine with this course: E1 The concept, purpose and mission of the Finnish early childhood education system (ECEC), E8 Many roles of a kindergarten leader, Assessment Beyond Tests – online webinar and TinyApp.
Mahippathorn Chinnapha, Thailand –
I find most interesting in the course are one, the explanation for pitfall where you point out why we need to move away from the things we have been doing, and two, assessment should include the parents and wider community.
All the ideas in the modules can definitely be applied to my own work, yes, in Thailand. Your team has certainly thought about the different culture settings and therefore kept the topics wide.