Systematic quality-work in preschool

• The purpose of this study was to investigate the meaning that Swedish preschool teachers ascribe to systematic quality work. In Sweden, all preschools are required to work systematically with quality issues. This involves several interdependent steps that follow each other in a specific order. Although the concept of systematic quality work might be novel, the practice of following up, documenting, and evaluating preschool activities has a long tradition as means of discovering whether and in what ways preschool has contributed to children’s learning and what children have learnt by being there. The study, which was performed in Sweden, is based on interactionist perspectives and draws on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and a critical ecology of the early childhood profession. The sample consists of 15 preschools in the country’s two major cities, Stockholm and Gothenburg, and 15 preschools from the rural area of Malardalen in mid-Sweden. From each of the 30 preschools, one preschool group and one preschool teacher were recruited as participants. To study teacher competence, individual and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The meaning given to systematic quality work in preschool is presented under three themes: documentation and evaluation in preschool; foci of documentation and evaluation; and how, why and when to document and evaluate in preschool, and for whom. The results reveal the complexity of documenting children’s learning processes and the need for development of competence in this area.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Preschool quality Documentation Evaluation Children

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