The Literature Resources in Finnish ECEC Centers - Confirming a Solid Ground for Future Readers
Submitted by:
Juli-Anna Aerila
Abstract:
In this study, we investigated the literature resources of 10 ECEC centres in Western Finland. The the engagement in reading is enhanced by appropriate and interesting literature (Cremin et al., 2009) which offers the readers possibilities to empathize with the characters and other details of literature (Alsup, 2015). Children's relationship to literature and reading is based on positive reading experiences in early childhood (Aerila & Kauppinen, 2021; Levy & Hall, 2021). Therefore, the quality and number of books in ECEC centers is of importance. The data of the study data were collected during the year 2023 by a research assistant who visited the ECEC centres and counted as well as photographed all the books present in the ECEC groups and other spaces like daycare libraries. The data of the study consists of information on the authors, illustrators, titles, publishers, covers and the publication years of the books organized by the ECEC groups and centres. The data were analyzed via qualitative analysis (Krippendorff, 2019) but supported with quantifications. The aim of the study was to investigate the quality of the literature resources in daycare centers from the perspective of diverse child-readers. The preliminary results indicate that the quality and the number of books vary between groups and ECEC centers. It seems that the literature in the daycare centers concentrates on the most popular authors and book series as well as books aimed at socioemotional learning. In addition, the books are quite old and do not meet with the diversity of children and their needs in ECEC groups. The results of the study accord with previous results on literature resources (Lähteelä et al., 2022). In general, it seems that the personnel and administration of ECEC centers value children's literature differently: at best, there is high-quality and age-appropriate books for children.
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