2021

Kangas, Jonna; Ukkonen-Mikkola, Tuulikki

Finnish early childhood education (ECE) policy has been undergoing a reformation since 2013 under the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Culture and as part of the educational system. Thus, the pedagogical significance in the educational policies has been emphasized more than before. The most recent reform starting at August 2021 starts piloting two-year pre-primary education. Through this the transition process from ECE to primary education in Finland is extended to cover four years of children’s life from 5 to 8 years. In this study we consider the transition process from the perspectives of teacher education and qualifications, organisational and working cultures, learning environment, implementation of curriculum, and assessment and evaluation. We address the view that the threat of schoolification, and test-driven education lingers above the current political transformations and express the conclusion that more holistic evaluation processes should be implemented to perceive the ongoing reformation from wider perspectives.