For several years, the shortage of qualified early childhood education (ECEC) teachers and the work-related dissatisfaction of many ECEC staff have been topical in public discussion. At the same time, there has been a decrease in the number of applicants to university-level ECEC teacher training. The SIMO Project examines what motivates ECEC teacher training students to apply to the program and what factors are associated with their commitment to the studies and later to the work and profession of an ECEC teacher. Up-to-date, research on the subject is scarce.
The SIMO Project aims to produce information to develop ECEC teacher training in supporting students' commitment to the training and future ECEC work. Moreover, the project aims to influence societal and political decisions concerning the ECEC field by highlighting factors related to the commitment to the ECEC teacher profession.
The study utilises qualitative interview data and survey data. Qualitative interview data are collected as cross-sectional and longitudinal data with ECEC teacher training students during their studies and after they have started to work as ECEC teachers. The survey target group comprises all students who began the ECEC teacher training studies in 2018 and 2019 in Finnish universities (including Swedish language institutions).
