A Quantitative Analysis of Quality in Finnish Kindergarten
For the purposes of conducting a quantitative evaluation of kindergarten quality, timesampling was used in 474 observations of a cohort of 20 kindergarten children. Leuven Involvement Scale of Young Children (LISYC) was among the tools used to assess kindergarten quality based on learning values.
Children’s involvement is related to kindergarten activities (eating, playing, caring for the children, outdoor activities and educational activities), the children’s own play activities, the objects of their perceptions and their involvement between the hours of 08.00 and 12.00. The relationship between the distance of the nearest adult and the children´s involvement is taken into account.
Laever’s scale shows promise as an intrument for evaluating constructive learning in kindergarten, however it may be too narrow for general use in measuring kindergarten quality. In addition, constructivism defines learning so narrowly that the term is difficult to apply to early learning. In studying learning, we should look for more than just the development of the child’s understanding or actions, and place more stress on the fact that each child’s understanding and actions affect the world and its conditions. Keywords: Preschool education, quality, assesment, constructivism, learning.
