The Multicultural Children and Adults in Day Care (MUCCA) Project is completed in co-operation between the City of Helsinki Social Services Department and the University of Helsinki Research Centre for Early Childhood and Elementary Education (ECEE). The project aims to find and develop functioning practices for the day-to-day running of the Day Care Centres, and thereby support the development of new communities of practice that would better serve the needs of the children, families and staff members.

The Day Care Centres in Helsinki area (for children of the ages 0-6) are becoming increasingly multicultural, in regards to both the children and the staff members. While cultural diversity is a highly valuable feature in the early childhood education and care environment, it also brings about new challenges, such as a need for a variety of new types of practices and support structures, e.g. in order to support the children’s language development. Besides the children and adults from multicultural backgrounds, also the native Finnish families and staff members are facing a change in their everyday environment. In particular the education and care personnel need added support as well as some new types of tools and resources for working with the culturally diverse groups.

The MUCCA research and development project is completed by the means of an action research, utilizing focus group interviews, questionnaires and observation. The starting point of the development process is in the present situation in the four Day Care Centres functioning as cases. Besides aiming to develop new practices, the process intends to make the presently used practices more transparent in the working community; both in terms of recognizing the value of the good work that is being done on the daily basis, and in supporting the culture of professional reflection and interaction and thereby the continuous development of daily practices.

The MUCCA Project Research Report ‘Kulttuurinen, kielellinen ja katsomuksellinen monimuotoisuus päiväkodissa: Haasteita ja mahdollisuuksia’ [Diversity of Cultures, Languages, and Worldviews in Kindergarten: Challenges and Opportunities] includes an English Summary on pages 129-132.

Contact details: Project Researcher Arniika Kuusisto (Email: arniika.kuusisto (a) helsinki.fi), P. O. Box 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 20 M), 00014 University of Helsinki