Acting as a professional in a finnish early childhood education context

Abstract

This chapter describes and analyses the Finnish case study and begins by illustrating the macro-level context in which Finnish early childhood education practitioners work. In analysing the teacher’s day, it is possible to see that a typical day is constructed around a number of meaningful episodes. The findings show that being an early childhood professional at the current time in Finland is challenging as practitioners face new expectations for professionalism in the early childhood field due to changes in society and working life. Supportive environments are required to renew professional identities and develop everyday practices based on these new expectations. In future, more discussion is required about the resources practitioners need when implementing new expectations and requirements, and also about their own reflections related to their working practices so that their voices are clearly heard.