Moments of Withdrawal: Children’s Withdrawn Orientation and Well-Being in Finnish ECEC

Children’s social withdrawal has been associated with an increased risk of social exclusion. As promoting participation and preventing exclusion are central goals of Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC), understanding withdrawn behaviour in everyday ECEC contexts is of particular importance. This study examines how young children’s withdrawn behaviour is associated with well-being, operationalised through involvement (Laevers, 1994), emotions (Ekman, 2003) and physical activity (Brown et al., 2006). Drawing on social orientation theory (Reunamo, 2009), withdrawal is conceptualised as a situational orientation characterised by non-social and non-interactive behaviour. The data consisted of 314,221 observations collected in the Finnish Progressive Feedback research and development project between 2017–2025. Quantitative analyses were used to compare withdrawal with other, more socially engaged orientations in relation to children’s well-being. The results revealed statistically significant differences, with withdrawn behaviour being associated with lower involvement, lower physical activity, and fewer positive emotional expressions in comparison with social interaction. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for understanding early pathways of social exclusion and supporting inclusive pedagogical practices in ECEC.