The implementation of positive pedagogy in Finnish early childhood education and care: A quantitative survey of its practical elements

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how positive pedagogical practices are implemented by early childhood education (ECE) teachers in Finland. A survey was conducted among 625 teachers, enquiring about specific positive pedagogical practices in ECEC. It was found that the correlation between the sum variables and principal components were strong. ECE teachers’ work experience and age had a mainly positive influence on how positive pedagogy was implemented. According to the findings from the surveys, the structure of a class influenced how the ECE teachers implemented positive pedagogy. It was found that 13 principal components had statistically significant correlations. These are introduced as key elements with which positive pedagogy can be further enhanced in ECEC. As a pioneering study about the implementation of positive pedagogy in ECEC, the research has significance not only to ECE teacher training in Finland but also internationally.