Aino Ugaste

Tallinn University | TLU · School of Educational Sciences

Play is an important part of child development, learning and the lives of children; however, access to the space and time necessary for play has dramatically changed in recent years. The aim of this study is to examine memories about childhood play from three generations of people in Estonia. Individual interviews were used to retrospectively explo...

A teacher supervising the school practice of student teachers is regarded as an expert who sets an example of good teaching to future teachers and chooses teaching practices that support pupils’ cognitive and social development. This study examines the implementation of teaching practices and the interpretation of these practices by school-based te...

School-based teacher educators (SBTEs) should be able to set goals in two roles – as a teacher and as a supervisor of student teachers. The purpose of the study was to investigate school-based teacher educators’ teaching and supervising goals and to identify how teachers in the role of supervisors perceived university expectations. Thematic analysi...

This study examined Estonian and Finnish teachers’ conceptions of their own learning and of possible ways to learn. Altogether, 70 teachers participated in the study. Theoretical and methodological solutions were directed according to the phenomenographic approach. For most teachers, learning appeared to be at the surface level and focused on the q...

The Estonian National Curriculum for Preschool Child Care Institutions values learning through games, observation and research in various environments. There are no official guidelines regarding the frequency of outdoor learning or the content that children should experience, but outdoor learning creates the best opportunities to accomplish this pu...

Õpetajatöö on stressirohke ja pingete tõttu võidakse ametist loobuda. Ühed pingete põhjused on kiired muutused haridussüsteemis. Uuenevate olude ja ootustega toime tulek eeldab õpetajalt õppimist ja sotsiaalse keskkonna tuge. Et mõista, kuidas õpetajate õppimist muutuste taustal toetada, on meie eesmärk kirjeldada, kuidas kajastuvad neoliberaalsed...

Alusharidusel ja algõpetusel on suur mõju lapse arengule ning hilisematele saavutustele koolis. Praeguse erinumbri artiklites käsitlevad autorid selliseid valdkondlikke probleeme, mis ootavad edasilükkamatut lahendust mitte ainult teadusartiklite lehekülgedel, vaid ka tuumakaid otsuseid riiklikul tasandil, õpikeskkonna korralduses ja nende rakendam...

Viimase aja rahvusvaheline tendents alushariduses on koolistumine ehk õppe- ja kasvatustegevuse suurem sarnanemine üldhariduskooliga. See avaldub eelkõige õppimise esmatähtsustamises ja laste arengu pidevas hindamises. Paljude uurijate hinnangul põhjustab seda ühiskondlik surve tagada laste koolivalmidus ja alusharidusasutuste konkurents eri huvirü...

Teachers' beliefs about teaching goals and practices are influenced by several factors, including teaching and mentoring experiences. To identify which teaching goals and practices are preferred for the social and cognitive development of pupils, 112 student teachers and 73 school-based teacher educators were questioned. In contrast to teacher educ...

This article explores how some children in Denmark, Estonia, Germany and Sweden describe their perspective on learning. The aim of the international study is to gain knowledge of how preschool children in Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Germany reflect and perceive their learning in preschool and other surrounding social contexts. The results are base...

Üha enam riike kehtestab alus- ja üldharidusastmes riiklikke õppekavu. Samas suureneb tähelepanu õpetaja omanikutundele õppekava suhtes ning õpetaja kaasamisele õppekava arendamisse, kuna mõistetakse, et need on riikliku õppekava eduka rakendamise eeltingimused. Seega on õpetaja tegevus õppekava arendamisel oluline uurimisteema. Uurimuse eesmärk on...

The purpose of this study is to describe Finnish and Estonian preschool teachers’ thoughts on the problems they encounter in their pedagogical work in the preschool context. The study involved interviews with 80 preschool teachers (40 in each country). The theoretical framework of the study is based on quality as a pedagogical phenomenon, whereby t...

Beliefs about teaching are integrated into teaching practices and instructional goals that impact teachers’ professional development. The aim of the research was to identify the beliefs that student-teachers and school-based teacher educators have about the development of pupils’ cognitive and social competences. First-year student-teachers and sch...

This comparative study investigated the perspectives of preschool teachers in Australia, Denmark, Estonia, German, Greece and Sweden about learning and participation in preschool. A structured survey questionnaire investigated four main questions: What situations can be characterised as learning? What activities are important for learning? What are...

Establishing national framework curricula is a growing tendency in early childhood education internationally, and is considered to be part of the regulatory requirements framework for enhancing preschool teachers’ professionalism. A topical issue in this context is whether and how teachers themselves see these practices as contributing to their pro...

The teaching profession has always been affected by the changes in society. During the period under consideration (1986-1996) the Estonian education system experienced a change of ideology as in all Eastern Europe, after the collapse of Soviet Union, began the time of rapid changes both in society and education in form of democratisation and reform...

According to contemporary preschool pedagogy, it is important to create opportunities that involve indoor as well as outdoor learning, thus ensuring varied and creative activities that also provide good conditions of socialization for children. The Estonian national curriculum for preschool childcare institutions (2008) emphasizes the importance of...

Unlike in England, since the late 1980s the rhetoric of curriculum reforms has been overwhelmingly decentralist in many countries. However, decentralisation has often involved the delegation of centrally appointed tasks, rather than a real shift in power. The Estonian case demonstrates how a decentralised curriculum policy with centralised control...

Kooskõlas muutustega mujal maailmas on viimastel kümnenditel hoogustunud ka Eestis indiviidi uurimine, kasvanud õpetaja elu ja tööd käsitlevate uurimuste hulk ning paranenud nende kvaliteet. Haridusvaldkonna üheks keskseks uurimisobjektiks on kujunenud õpetaja isiksus, tema käitumine ja tegevused ning nende koosmõju õpilaste arengule ja õppeprotses...

In multicultural societies, much attention is given to children's language learning possibilities. In Estonia, the early language immersion programme for kindergarten children was started in the year 2000. The programme, while considered to be successful, has raised the question of whether the children participating in it are adequately prepared fo...

As in many Western countries, children’s learning in the curriculum of Estonian Early Childhood Education is seen as a lifelong process, wherein the teacher is primarily a guide to children’s active learning. Thus, a child-centred approach to learning is valued in the national curriculum, but our interest was whether this approach is fixed in the t...

This paper presents findings of a qualitative interview study of the role of emotions in the professional identity of student teachers. Strong positive and negative emotions (mostly related to pupils and supervisors) were expressed about personal teaching experiences. The results confirm that emotions play an important role in social learning and,...

This article explores the changes in Estonian parents’ subjective feelings about the sufficiency of time they spend with their children and the factors related to their assessments. The study uses data from the population surveys Work, Family and Leisure (WFL) conducted in Estonia over five-year intervals, from 1993-2008. Using the historical chang...

This article explores the changes in Estonian parents' subjective feelings about the sufficiency of time they spend with their children and the factors related to their assessments. The study uses data from the population surveys Work, Family and Leisure (WFL) conducted in Estonia over five-year intervals, from 1993-2008. Using the historical chang...

Broadening the role of teachers in curriculum development was among the fundamental objectives of educational reforms in the formerly communist Eastern Europe in the 1990s. The research done so far, however, calls into question the degree to which teachers perceive the relevant changes in curriculum and their new role. This article first describes...

The purpose of this study is to describe the conceptions of the Finnish and Estonian pre-school teachers' goals, and the achievement of these goals in their pedagogical work. The study consisted of 60 (30 from each country) interviews with pre-school teachers. The interview data was analyzed phenomenographically. The findings showed that children p...

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative interview study of the professional identity of 45 student teachers. The students described their personal experiences in teaching their own subject and the positive and negative emotions that were evoked. Students emphasized failure or success but not what they had or had not learned. Broader socia...

The aim of this study was to examine how teachers in the Step by Step and traditional kindergartens assess their child-centred activities. 308 teachers participated in the study and a questionnaire was used. The results of the study showed that teachers in the Step by Step programme used a child-centred approach more in their work than teachers in...

Over the past decade great changes have occurred in the Estonian system of education, including changes in the content and organisation of early childhood education. The aim of the present study is to find out about the views of staff of early childhood institutions on educational objectives, some aspects of the educational process and the role of...