University of Jyväskylä introduces new research methods to study daily life in early childhood education and care
The daily life at a day care centre and in homes with children can include many brief moments that interest researchers of children’s learning, participation and interaction. Research on early childhood education and care (ECEC), however, faces a particular challenge: Young children are not always able to verbalise their experiences. The result, according to Professor Niina Rutanen, is that some children are easily left with less attention.
At times, young children have remained surprisingly invisible in research,” Rutanen states. “It is important to ask who receives attention in a group and who does not.”
Especially toddlers and multilingual children who lack a common language with adults have received less attention in ECEC research.
Using technology to gain more specific situational knowledge
When delving into the daily life of young children, the research situations can be fast paced. Traditional real-time observation is often insufficient, since it does not capture all the gazes, small gestures and brief interactions that can occur. Video recording of research situations makes it possible to look at the situation again and from multiple perspectives.
In recent years, new dimensions and perspectives for research have been opened by the development of eye-tracking technology. In Jyväskylä, this method is now being applied in, for example, the With sensitive eyes -research project, which examines teachers’ gaze in groups of children under the age of three during play and guided activities. A doctoral dissertation resulting from the project deals with the targeting of a teacher’s gaze during interaction with a child during play and guided activities.
The study revealed that the teacher’s gaze during play was focused on the child’s face and body, whereas during guided situations the teachers sought to interpret the child’s participation and varying motivation on the basis of facial expressions in particular.
Eye-tracking cameras reveal the targets of gazes
Rutanen, a professor of early childhood education, believes that technology helps us approach children’s experiences in a way that has not been possible before.
Eye-tracking cameras can be used in research for adults and children alike. Eye-tracking glasses reveal the actual focus of a gaze. For example, a child may seem to participate in joint activities, even though the child’s attention is actually on another child’s play or other activities taking place around them.
When eye-tracking data is combined with video and audio, interaction can be examined in more detail,” Rutanen explains.
“We can thus see, for example, who notices whose initiatives, and when an adult supports children’s participation.”
Child and Family Lab: a unique research facility
The Opinkivi building on the JYU campus is home to a new research laboratory, the Child and Family Lab, a facility for child groups. The facility resembles a day care centre and is designed for research and teaching purposes so that children can behave as naturally as possible there. When the surroundings are familiar to the child, it makes the research situation more natural as well.
The new facility brings research and education closer together. Both teacher training in early childhood education and child and family research will benefit from the new possibilities.
We hope that the potential applications of the lab will be noticed in other disciplines as well,” Rutanen says. “The facility is equally applicable for research on adults.”
The laboratory is equipped with fixed cameras, microphones as well as movable research devices, such as iPads and eye-tracking cameras. The construction of the facility was funded by the Faculty of Education and Psychology, the Department of Education, the MAGICS infrastructure, and the university’s Digital Services.
This innovative approach to ECEC research opens up new perspectives and possibilities for deeper understanding of children’s learning and interaction.
