Learning by Working

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Sudip Joshi [email protected] www.silcreation.org

LEARNING BY WORKING

First Exposure to Finnish Professional Life in Louhela Day Care Centre.

PLACEMENT REPORT

4th August 2009

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Practical placement report submitted by Sudip Joshi to:

Degree programme in social services (DSS C25)

DIACONIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

Järvenpääntie 640, 04400, JÄRVENPÄÄ

FINLAND

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CONTENTS

1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………...3

2 Understanding the environment........... ...............................................3

2.1 Child Care Services in Finland

2.2 Working Skeleton of Day Care Centre

2.3 Interaction of Different Actors

3 Fragile Foundations……………………………………………………….10

4 Personal Professional Developments and Learning………………...13

5 Lists of Reference………………………………………………………….16

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1 Introduction

This report is written in account of the placement done in Louhela Settlementi

Kindergarten during week 16 to week 19. The report will thoroughly discuss the

placement environment, a case study during the work, personal and professional

development which will also be followed by the learning from Finnish child care

and welfare system.

2 Understanding the Environment

Louhela Kindergarten stands at the heart of Jarvenpaa city along the Jarvenpaa-

Helsinki railway track in the Manilantie Street. Established as one of the three first

day cares of Southern Finland in 1952 AD, it has been a greater assistance in the

welfare of the state till today. The day care supposedly started in late 50s and

has been a great help to the working parents of Jarvenpaa till today. This day

care has already passed its silver years of establishment and with its growing

year this has always been a first priority for the parents. Louhela day care is run

by Louhela Settlementi, which is a private sector. Louhela Settlementi was

established in the 18th century in London by a priest on the grounds of Christian

religion and for Christians but today it has no influences from any religion, beliefs

and culture. However, the values coming from Christianity to take care of the

weaker is a strong foundation still today. This kindergarten is solely a private

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sector however, the government has been buying service from it since the

establishment. This phenomenon exhibits the visible picture of welfare mix in

Finland and this concept is growing rapidly every day. Looking at the recent

figures, Jarvenpaa municipality pays Euro six hundred fifty thousand per annum

to this day care.

The day care has been constantly growing bigger with its service and the number

of children being enrolled is increasing as well. It has shown a steady progress by

increasing its day care groups and enrolling more professionals. This institution

aims to provide quality day care to the children and to up bring them with proper

biological, cognitive and psychological development. When it started in 50’s, there

were 2 groups comprising 30 children and 5 workers. Today there are four groups

consisting of 21 children and 3 workers in each.

2.1 Child Care Services in Finland

A law with far-reaching effects was the 1973 Child Day Care Act, which stipulated

that all local governments were to provide good child day care for all families that

desired it. The care for children up to seven years of age could be given either in

day-care centers, sometimes private but generally run by local governments, or

by accredited baby-sitters, either at the child's home or outside it. Although the

number of places for day care had more than doubled by the mid-1980s, it would

have had to double again to meet total needs. A 1985 law set the goal of being

able to allow, by 1990, all parents of children up to the age of three the choice

between home-care payments or a place for their child in a day-care center. One

parent could also take unpaid employment leave until the child's third birthday.

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The Child Welfare Act of 1983 enjoined local governments to look after children,

and it empowered them to take a variety of measures if a child was being

seriously neglected or abused. (The library of congress- country studies.)

Similarly, the act on Children’s Day Care has provided a framework for the

implementation of day care. The Act clearly defines the physical setting for the

provision of day care and the educational objectives. According to the act the

objectives of day care promote the balanced development of children together

with their parents. For its part, day care shall provide children with safe and warm

relationships; activities supporting children's development in a versatile manner,

as well as a favorable growth environment based on individual children's

circumstances. Well-educated and multi-disciplinary staff is one of the strengths

of the Finnish day care system. The staff in day care centers is required to have

at least a secondary-level degree in the field of social welfare and health care.

One in three of the staff must have a post-secondary level degree (Bachelor of

Education, Master of Education or Bachelor of Social Sciences). The adult-child

ratio in day care centers is one to seven for 3-6-year-olds and one to four for

children under the age of three in full-time day care. When arranging part-time

day care the ratio for 3-6-year-olds is one to thirteen and for children under three

the ratio is the same as in full-time care. (Early childhood education and care in

Finland.) Summarizing the child act, it ensured each child with proper care

required during its development.1

1 ECEC; Early Childhood Education and care, Finland

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2.2 Working Skeleton of Day Care Centre

The day care is managed by group of professionals who have sound knowledge

on child care and child social work. The workers are divided into different groups

of children. This group is divided in accordance to different age bar and in regard

of the proper care these children require. These groups comprise 21 children and

3 workers in each which comes in accordance to the day care law introduced in

1970 (Day care law 1970). In addition, the day care has employed a nurse to

meet the needs of emergency primary medical assistance if required. These

numbers of children are merely head count but also accounting the proper care it

would require in different age categories. A child under the age of 1 year is

equivalent to 3 head counts and a child within the age limit 1 to 2 years is counted

as 2 head counts. By doing so, each child is offered adequate care during their

development. The day care groups are further sub divided as three day care

groups and a preschool group. As I had my placement with the ordinary day

care groups, the preschool group will not be discussed in this report.

The working day in this day care is 12 hours, starting from 6 am till 6 pm. These

working hours are adjusted to meet the need of majority of the parent who work in

Helsinki, who either leave early to work or return late from work. For the first two

hours, the children are gathered in one common room. The idea is to allow the

children to interact and socialize with other children from different groups. Then

they are separated for their respective groups.

The feeding habit of children are a routine, they are fed with breakfast at 0800hrs

in the morning, the lunch at 1130 hrs and again at 1500 hrs after their bed rest in

the afternoon. Similarly, the day care has a good understanding in the

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psychological and cognitive development of the children. Early in the morning the

children have an interactive discussion about the general timeline which includes,

time, day, date, month and year. They are taught to recite and identify the names,

words and numbers. The process includes the usage of pictures, symbols and

mnemonics which help the cognitive understanding of these children. More to

this, the recreational activities are conducted both indoors and outdoors. When it

is indoor activities, the children are provided with interactive games, drawings and

puzzles with pictures and words. This seemed to be a scientific way to help the

child develop psychologically building their reasoning and identifying skills. While,

these children enjoyed outdoor recreation two times a day each of 1 hour

duration. Children have biological need to sleep adequate hours during the day

time and the day care has properly included this requisite also in its routine. The

whole events are closely monitored, supervised and evaluated by the workers. In

overall, the day care has helped the child develop properly during its stay there.

2.3 Interaction of Different Actors

The day care is officially bound to the Jarvenpaa municipality as it is supported by

the government directly despite its private nature of organization. The beautiful

fact of welfare mix in Finland is the process where these private organizations are

financially and professionally supported by the state. The actions and decisions

regarding children are closely watched by the government. The day care is

responsible to identify the problems and need of the children, while the decisions

are only taken by the social workers with the consultation of day care workers.

The social workers represent the state and work indoors in the Jarvenpaa city

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office. But when doing so, the whole process includes the opinion and situation of

the parent as well. It is an important part to equally include parent in all these

progress.The parents (guardians) bear the main responsibility for the upbringing

of their children. Public ECEC services support the parents in the upbringing of

the child. 2Parents and workers work together as partners to support the child's

growth, development and learning. This partnership is characterized by

interaction on equal terms, combining the expertise and knowledge of both the

parents and the staff. Parents participate in their child's ECEC and in the planning

and assessment of activities. An individual educational plan is made for every

child as a basis for co-operation between the day care service and parents. (Early

childhood education and care in Finland.) Furthermore, any assistance or help for

the child is always a blend effort of the day care, the parent and the state, so

these all institutions can be termed as partners in their work.

Day Care (worker)

State Parent Fig: Diagram illustrating partners in child work

Moreover, the existing day cares in Jarvenpaa are linked together with a common

network where they discuss and share different issues and ideas. This has been

a useful platform for learning and enhancement of these institutions. The common

baseline of this network is to work for the better services and support for the

children. Referring to the statement from one of the workers, children are the

pillar of this nation so; they have to shape them with proper care and culture. The 2 ECEC; Early Childhood Education and care, Finland

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role of the day care in Finland comprises care, education and teaching to support

children's balanced growth, development and learning (Ministry of social affairs

and health). They are also equally responsible for child guidance and family

counseling alike the social workers representing the state.

On the next half, the state or the social workers representing the state are

responsible for the child welfare and in decision making regarding different cases.

Child welfare is divided into preventive child welfare services and child and family

specific services. A key role in prevention is played by municipal maternity and

child health clinics, child guidance and family counseling clinics, day care,

schools, youth work, and family centers that assemble family services. Child

protection directed at children and families becomes applicable in municipal

social work when

a child welfare report has been made about a child

there is an application for child welfare service

a child welfare worker has otherwise received information that a child is in

need of protection

Urgent needs assessments are made immediately. In other cases, social workers

have seven days to evaluate whether needs assessment is necessary. In

addition, children may be taken into care and placed in foster care with a foster

family or foster home. Municipalities have to compile plans for the promotion of

child welfare and the organization and development of child welfare and

protection. (Ministry of social affairs and health.)

It is visible that the child care in Finland has been possible with the interrelated

roles and responsibilities of these different actors.

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3 Fragile Foundations

This child whom I am particularly focusing for my case study is a boy of 4 years. His

name is Petri (changed name) and he lives with his grandmother despite having his own

mother. He has been coming to this day care since he was 9 months old.

In the Nordic countries, the expansion of welfare state has decreased individual’s

dependence on the family. As women’s social rights have become more extensive, they

have acquired a more independent status, which for its part is reflected in the family

structure. (Forssen 1998, 131.) This has brought an ease environment for increasing

numbers of single mothers. This case comes in the same scenario. Petri was born to a

single mother in her early teens. Until today she is unaware of her child’s responsible

father as she had numerous physical relationships with strangers after getting drunk. She

always lacked proper motherhood and care to the child since its birth. The mother who is

21 now, had series of careless mistakes while growing the child. She often went to the pub

with the young boy, got drunk and even left him there for number of occasions. This was

followed by events when the kindergarten quite often had to call the mother to come and

pick the child in the evening. Additionally she started drinking in home and had also

depression problems; this was enough for the social worker to be concerned. Being aware

of the situation, the social worker decided to take the child in custody for the safety.

However, luckily the grandmother wanted to take care of the child as it was too young.

Now, Petri has been living with her since almost 3 years. The grandmother is at her late

50s and is an active working woman. She has to leave early in the morning for work to

Helsinki, for this reason he happens to be one of the children who come early to the

kindergarten.

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The development of the child is influenced by the development psychology which

depends on the environment of raising it. This fundamental factor of child psychology and

behavior is indicated as the matter of nature and nurture. On the same hand the parent

especially mother have a big role to culture and set them with rules of social life. (Delfos

2003, 23.) Petri has always missed proper care and attention from his mother. At this

point of time, when this boy is growing quite fast, now he has a search for belonging to

his father and a desire to live with his mother. His moods are very versatile, he can laugh

and enjoy for a moment and within fractions of time he will look depressed. The

grandmother accounts this pattern of behavior similar to her adult daughter now. It is

obvious for this young child to have gained such behavior from his mother. While, he

seems to be a disobedient and undisciplined child; this is quite normal as he has missed

his basic social lessons at home from his mother or even grandmother now. The

grandmother is busy at home with the house chores and doing her official works. When

she finally agreed to meet me once during my 1 month stay there, she admitted her

immense love for the grandson but she also mentioned her exhaustion in raising the kid

because of her old age and hectic work. Now she wants the mother to take care of him as

she has grown older but all in vain. It’s hardly once a week when the mother comes to see

Petri. In the weekdays the mother is busy with her work. And during the weekends she

has her night life going to bars with her friends for which during the day time she has to

sleep.

In this due course, Petri has even missed weekends to share with his mother. Recently, she

has planned a vacation to S. Africa with her friends, she is ready with tickets and travel

plan but she is not taking Petri with her. On the other hand, the grandmother is busy with

her work this summer and she is not taking any vacation. This fundamental factor of

raising environment has strong outputs in his behavior in daily life.

Some children go back to the stages that were suppressed when they were younger. They

can act violently if their emotional needs are not met. Just remember that most of these

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children are noisy, energetic and bratty. They will give you a headache because you're

different from them. (Dealing with difficult children.) Petri makes similar situation. The

child is getting aggressive day by day, and it is affecting other children to a greater deal.

He usually gets jealous and angry when the other children come with their parents. He has

been expressing his desires to have loving parents with the day care workers. He often

compares his situations, food and amenities with other children. And to the difference he

observes, he usually acts violently and starts crying.

Now, the workers in day care understand the vulnerability of this situation. They are

aware that their actions can make a difference. Petri has always been one of their bulls

eye. The challenge for these workers is not only to monitor him but also to prevent other

kids from his violent attacks. They are encouraging Petri to play in different groups each

day so that he keeps on socializing and increases his tolerance toward other children.

Raising him with care and trying to make him follow rules – be disciplined- are in one

hand whilst they are also taking proper consultation on this regard from child psychologist

to make better approaches. In weekly basis, the workers also sit together with the

grandmother to discuss about the current situations; they are counseling her to raise such

difficult children. On the secondary level, the day care is working together with the social

worker in city office. The social worker is also meeting Petri’s grandmother at least once

a month. While, the social worker is concerned to include the mother in this task as well,

they are giving her options and possibilities to get involved in raising the child. She has a

big and important role and they are encouraging her to participate in this development.

The social worker is aware of the situation and the progress with the child. The social

worker is always capable of taking immediate or safety action if needed.

In this scenario, all these three actors- day care, parent and social worker are working

together to bring positive results. The process looks to be appropriate and well managed.

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After being involved in this practice, it is visible that the parent has the important and

main role for the future of the child. Children are like clay, the mother especially is

responsible to shape them with culture, rules and behavior for other fellow beings. Home

is the first school and mothers are the first teacher for the children. During this course, the

mother has missed to perform her basic duties, her tasks and the outcome is the growth of

this difficult child. While, the day care and social worker have significant role now but

this work is rehabilitative in nature. So, the favorable idea for the state and families will

be to prevent teen pregnancy – or birth from teen mothers. But in this particular case, the

results will likely be positive and the child is developing better with these efforts from all

actors. I personally wish Petri grows better and his fragile foundations of childhood will

strengthen with this course of effort.

4 Personal Professional Developments and Learning

This stay in Louhela day care has brought me with ideas on Finnish working life and in

the same time exposed me to the child welfare here. This has been quite informative and

the learning shall be important for a life time. It has been positive but also a blend of

shock and exhaustion observing the culture from near glance. My roots have brought me a

strong sense of power distance between different age groups which follows degree of

respect as well. The first week was harder in this sense, where the kids would act rudely

or when they exhibited low degree of respect to the elders. However, this was the moment

which taught me lessons of tolerance and patience. The ethical competences in social

work were well understood and it has been a practice to understand the distinction

between personal and professional relationship. One of the important learning was to

share the information of my case with fellow colleagues without disclosing personal

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matters of the client. Workings abide by the act on the openness of government activities

is a professional betterment. This duration has increased my understanding of emotions,

their limitations and boundaries of personal and professional life. While working with

Petri and other children in the day care I always had to be aware not to develop an

intimate emotional belongingness and personal expectations in them. Adding in this

context, dealing with this particular case I have developed the importance of both

rehabilitative and preventive work. The next professional skill is been to acquire psycho-

social working skills while dealing with young group of children. I have understood my

simple actions can leave different images in cognitive level of these kids. Children imitate

habits from elders, I was therefore conscious of how I am presenting myself to them and

what I do for them. I have developed my communication skills during this placement. In

general, I have gained self development on moral, personal and professional levels.

Nonetheless, Finnish language has always been a challenge for this timeline. But, my

strengths of non verbal communication have helped me a lot. Non verbal communications

and making an ease atmosphere is an important requisite dealing with clients, this has

always been my strength. My Nepali roots make me exhibit high degree of respect for

elders and affectionate care for the younger, it has made the situations easy and

comfortable when I am dealing with the clients; the children and their parents.

This reside in Louhela day care, I have lived up to my expectations, my aims to

understand the working life as a professional in social work have met. Now, I have

known the roles of a socionom in child care, which is an achievement to me personally. I

have recognized the way child care and child welfare runs in Finland, this shall be

important to share it when I go back to my homeland. I have abided by the legislations

and rules of the day care; this should be significant gain in my professional work.

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Louhela kindergarten was an important part of learning. In countries like Nepal- which is

trying to build good child welfare- Finland will be a good system to learn while also

acknowledging the importance and primary role of family to be the first and foremost

need for up growing children.

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5 Lists of Reference

Day care law, 1970.

Dealing with difficult children.

http://bloggerparty.com/dealing_with_difficult_children

accessed 5th August 2009.

Delfos, Martine F. 2003. Children and Behavioral Problems, Jessica

Kingsley Publishers.

Early childhood education and care in Finland.

http://pre20031103.stm.fi/english/pao/publicat/earlychildhood/brochure02_3.htm

accessed 3rd August 2009.

Forssen, Katja. 1998. Children, families and the welfare state, Gummerus

Printing, Jyvaskyla.

Ministry of social affairs and health

http://www.stm.fi/en/social_and_health_services/children/services

The library of congress- country studies

http://reference.allrefer.com/country-guide-study/finland/finland78.html

accessed 3rd August 2009.

Learning by Working

Self Improvement

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