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Framing the Picture of the Child
Author(s) -
Alasuutari Maarit,
Karila Kirsti
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1111/j.1099-0860.2008.00209.x
Subject(s) - framing (construction) , unison , early childhood education , early childhood , sociology , child care , social constructionism , discourse analysis , sociology of education , childhood studies , gender studies , pedagogy , developmental psychology , psychology , social science , medicine , nursing , linguistics , philosophy , structural engineering , engineering , physics , acoustics
The paper studies the forms that are used in planning for a child’s early childhood education and care in Finnish day care from the perspectives of social constructionism and discourse analysis. It asks how childhood is conceptualised in these forms and what are the social functions of early childhood education and care as implied in the conceptualisations. The paper shows that the conceptions of childhood and the understanding of the functions of early childhood education and care are mostly in unison and are rooted in traditional discourses, approaches and practices of Finnish day care. Consequently, the child’s view and the child as an agent in her/his world are not present in the forms.