Teachers’ Perceptions of the Cultural Capital of Children and Families with Immigrant Backgrounds in Early Childhood Education
Abstract
Finnish society has become increasingly diverse relatively recently, notably during the past few decades. This paper explores the perceptions of early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers (n = 11) about the cultural capital of those children and families growing up in immigrant background families and their sense of belonging in early childhood settings in Finland. We draw on curriculum frameworks to understand these constructs. The paper utilises Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital to conceptualise the sense of belonging for children and families with an immigrant background in Finnish ECEC. The interviews consisted of two pairs and two group interviews with teachers from four ECEC centres, each including two to four ECEC teachers. The data analysis is based on a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) informed content analysis. This approach shows how ECEC teachers’ pedagogical practices guide immigrant families and children in Finland towards a national identity. The findings indicate that play and language learning facilitated the development of cultural capital. Nonetheless, it is crucial to investigate the family viewpoint in the future.
Main Authors
Format
Articles
Research article
Published
2023
Series
Subjects
Publication in research information system
Publisher
MDPI AG
The permanent address of the publication
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202309275278Käytä tätä linkitykseen.
Review status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
2227-7102
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13100977
Keywords
immigrant childrenbelongingnational identityearly childhood education and careculture capitallapset (ikäryhmät)varhaiskasvatuksen opettajatperheetmaahanmuuttajatkulttuurinen pääomakansallinen identiteettikulttuurimaahanmuuttajataustavarhaiskasvatus
Language
English
Published in
Education Sciences
Citation
- Lavanti, L., Harju-Luukkainen, H., & Kuusisto, A. (2023). Teachers’ Perceptions of the Cultural Capital of Children and Families with Immigrant Backgrounds in Early Childhood Education. Education Sciences, 13(10), Article 977. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13100977
Additional information about funding
Open access and language proofing funded by the Academy of Finland research project (grant no. 356905).
Copyright© 2023 the Authors