Early childhood education teacher takes pride in her work

In general upper secondary school, Sari Sillanpää dreamed about becoming a biology teacher. In a way, her dream came true. Today, she teaches early childhood skills to pre-primary pupils at Tiistilänraitin päiväkoti day care centre – often outdoors in nature.

Sari Sillanpää’s career path to becoming a pre-primary teacher has taken a few twists and turns. She has worked at a bank and as a district manager in the commercial sector. She is also a qualified gardener and teaching assistant. In all these professions, she has also worked as a trainer and in teaching positions.

Once Sari started working as a teaching assistant, she felt she had found her home. She decided to apply to study education, as she was especially interested in early childhood education and the promotion of inclusion and team-building in the school community.

Last autumn, 59-year-old Sari completed her bachelor’s degree in education at the University of Helsinki. In the autumn, she will continue to study alongside her work to become a special needs teacher.

Sari became familiar with Tiistilänraitin päiväkoti during her studies. She appreciates the multicultural environment of the day care centre and enjoys getting to know children and adults from different backgrounds. The staff is also multicultural.

“We have speakers of English, Japanese, Somali, German and French. The pre-primary teaching language is Finnish, but we also want to help children learn their mother tongue. Children read books in their mother tongue and teach other children songs in their language.”

At Tiistilänraitti, children are active agents who participate in teaching and have a say in the planning of their own activities. This is why Sari values her job so much.

Sari works with a group of 21 children. Twelve of them belong to Sari’s pre-primary education group, more than half of whose mother tongue is not Finnish. Some of the children speak elementary Finnish, some none at all.

“The group is supported by a language buddy childcarer who supports children as they learn Finnish.”

The field of early childhood education has its challenges in Finland. There is a shortage of staff, and pay in the field is an ongoing topic of debate. What is the situation like in Tiistilänraitti?

“I can’t really see any of the issues that have been in the media here in our day care centre. But maybe you shouldn’t be asking me, as I have such a passion for this work. However, staff shortage is not as bad here as it is in many other day care centres. I believe that many things can be achieved through good management.”

Sari acknowledges that much remains to be done in the field, but she is confident that the pay issues will be addressed over time. She feels, however, that Espoo offers many benefits in addition to pay: exercise vouchers, a commuting benefit, flexible working hours and the opportunity to study alongside work.

Sari feels that the best thing about her work is to speak on behalf of children in creating equality.

“Childhood forms the foundation for the future: it is the time to build self-confidence, experience the joy of learning and feel important and valued. I take great pride in my work.”

(Text: Jaana Kalliokoski. The text was edited from an article published in Espoo’s personnel magazine Espressi 2/2023.)

Read more about working in early childhood education in Espoo