Children’s Initiatives in the Finnish Early Childhood Education Context

Abstract

Pedagogical practices in early childhood education, which embrace children’s initiatives and agency, have been found to have an effect on children’s learning and competence skills. These initiatives can be seen crucial for children’s well-being and self-motivation. However, children’s initiatives are sometimes considered only as wants and that children are incapable to express meaningful initiatives in educational settings. In this chapter, we introduce children’s initiatives in their educational settings and examine the gap between children’s experiences and teachers’ observations. Children’s initiatives exist in a myriad of ways through the daily practices and processes that nourish motivation to ultimately create meanings through actions. It is essential to focus on children’s participation as it encourages and promotes agency and motivation within early childhood development.