Piloting of the evaluation tool for Sámi early childhood education and care
The National Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) is developing an evaluation tool for evaluating the quality of Sámi early childhood education and care (ECEC). The tool is being tested in six municipalities in different parts of Finland that organise Sámi ECEC. The aim of the evaluation tool is to harmonise the quality evaluation of Sámi ECEC and support personnel and management in the evaluation.
The evaluation tool allows ECEC staff to evaluate their own activities in the implementation of Sámi ECEC pedagogy. The evaluation focuses on the key themes of Sámi ECEC, such as supporting the Sámi language development and learning of children, the connection to nature, traditional livelihoods and community orientation. The tool has been developed in cooperation with Sámi ECEC personnel and experts appointed by the Sámi Parliament. The development of the tool has been carried out with the aim of ensuring that its contents comply with national legislation and guidelines governing ECEC. The tool is available in Finnish as well as in all Sámi languages.
The piloting of the Sámi ECEC evaluation tool commenced in October 2022. The aim of the pilot is to test how well the form included in the evaluation tool supports the evaluation and development of Sámi ECEC. In addition to this, the pilot involves testing how material collected from different ECEC units and municipalities can be reported and used to support the self-evaluation of personnel.
The pilot is being carried out in cooperation with municipalities that offer Sámi ECEC and the Sámi Parliament. For participants, such as ECEC organisers, managers and personnel, the pilot provides an opportunity to develop quality evaluation with the support of FINEEC, as responses and feedback collected from personnel will be used to further develop the evaluation tool. In addition, the piloting of the evaluation will help the Sámi Parliament to develop Sámi ECEC. A report on the implementation of the pilot and personnel feedback will be published in 2023.
The implementation of the pilot and the staff feedback are described with the help of the summary below.
The Sámi ECEC evaluation tool will eventually be integrated into the digital quality evaluation system Valssi, which is currently under development. For more information on Valssi, please visit FINEEC’s website.
For more information, please contact:
Sivi Harkoma
