Rauman pikkunorssi as an innovation activity

Rauman pikkunorssi as an innovation activity – comprehensive development work in early childhood teacher education

1. Improving the quality of early childhood teacher education: teaching practices and research of early childhood teacher education will be reformed by including the large-scale activities at the ECEC centre in teacher education in Rauma.

2. A smooth link between working life equivalence and research-based education: education-related research activities are an integral part of the activities of the ECEC centre, which has been taken into account e.g. in the research technology equipment plan for the premises of Rauman pikkunorssi.

3. A new kind of learning environment for students: practical training, observation of activities on site or remotely on campus, implementation of projects of different courses in groups of children, diverse cooperation with staff, collection of thesis materials, utilization of new research information in the activities of the ECEC centre, taking simultaneously part in its development.

4. Implementer of the key reforms of the new Act on Early Childhood Education and Care 2018: dimensioning of staff and groups of children, qualifications of teaching staff, quality and development of professional competence by acting as part of in-service training. Fulfilment of the municipality’s obligation to cooperate with those responsible for education, sports, and culture.

5. Implementer of a flexible pedagogical continuum: a dense and flexible pedagogical continuum will be built between early childhood education and care, pre-primary, and primary education in teacher education and further in the field of education. For a child, this means a continuous learning path from the ECEC centre to school.

6. Internationalizer of Finnish early childhood education expertise: bringing together early childhood teacher education, international research and practice as a collaboration between Rauman pikkunorssi, the Rauma campus, and the early childhood education field. In addition, the ECEC centre will be a destination of international visits and one part of the implementation of international early childhood teacher education.

7. Environmental pedagogical actor in arts and physical education: the location of Rauman pikkunorssi in a culturally and historically interesting and valuable environment and in the immediate vicinity of the garden of the Department of teacher education enables multidisciplinary and multisensory pedagogy in accordance with the National Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care (2018). In addition, due to the research and development expertise of the Rauma campus, Rauman pikkunorssi has excellent opportunities to support situation and place-based pedagogy, which contributes to building children’s environmental competence.

Cultural and linguistic diversity, equity, and equality

Rauman pikkunorssi develops the competences of students of early childhood education and staff to implement linguistically and culturally diverse education and teaching at the individual and group level.

The ECEC centre implements partial English language immersion and Finnish as a second language education. Rauman pikkunorssi serves as a learning environment where child-centred pedagogical methods aim at the experience of belonging and togetherness among staff, students, and children. There is also a strong focus on cooperation with children’s parents. With this, the role of children and their parents in planning, implementing, and evaluating the activities of Rauman pikkunorssi will be central.

The project promotes equity and equality, e.g. implementing gender-sensitive pedagogy in both early childhood teacher education and early childhood education. Diversity of gender and sexuality is highly respected. Both children and adults are encountered as individuals, not as representatives of gender, nationality, faith etc.