| 1. |
- Alatalo, Tarja, 1961-, et al.
(författare)
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Transition between Swedish preschool and preschool class : a question about interweaving care and knowledge
- 2016
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Netherlands. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 44:2, s. 155-167
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study highlights teachers’ experiences with transition from Swedish preschool to preschool class, i. e. from the daycare centre to the formal school. One assumption was that transition activities, to favour continuity in the long-term, need to focus on children’s learning within the target areas that the policy documents specify for preschool. Empirical data were collected through a combination of a questionnaire and interviews. The study shows that transition activities occur between institutions. These are in place to allow for a safe transition for children rather than to allow for continuous and long-term learning in the target areas in the curriculum. Care for children and beliefs about the types of school activities have an impact on the activities and standpoints in the transition processes. Professional assessment of children’s learning and the need for greater consensus within various types of schools in terms of the learning of the individual child in different fields are discussed.
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| 2. |
- Andrews, Paul, 1954-, et al.
(författare)
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Identifying opportunities for grade one children to acquire foundational number sense : Developing a framework for cross cultural classroom analyses
- 2015
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 43:4, s. 257-267
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is known that an appropriately developedfoundational number sense (FONS), or the ability tooperate flexibly with number and quantity, is a powerfulpredictor of young children’s later mathematical achievement.However, until now not only has FONS been definitionallyelusive but instruments for identifyingopportunities for children to acquire its various componentshave been missing from the classroom observationtools available. In this paper, drawing on a constant comparisonanalysis of appropriate literature, we outline thedevelopment of an eight dimensional FONS framework.We then show, by applying this framework to three culturallydiverse European grade one lessons, one English,one Hungarian and one Swedish, that it is both straightforwardlyoperationalised and amenable to cross culturalanalyses of classroom practice. Some implications arediscussed.
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| 3. |
- Brodin, Jane, 1942-, et al.
(författare)
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Early Childhood Educators' Perspectives of the Swedish National Curriculum for Preschool and Quality Work
- 2015
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - New York : Springer Science+Business Media B.V.. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 43:5, s. 347-355
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is today an increasing global interest in early childhood education, especially with regard to curriculum and quality work. The aim of this article is to study preschool teachers’ and child care workers’ views on the revised national curriculum for preschool in Sweden (Lpfö 98, rev. 2010), and if the educators perceive that they can conduct quality work based on the curriculum. This article is based on a web-based questionnaire distributed to all municipal preschool teachers and child care workers (in this study called educators) employed in a small municipality (n = 111). The questionnaire consisted of eight questions with 54 sub-items with five reply alternatives, including ‘don’t know’. The reply frequency was 58.6 % (n = 65). Data were compiled and processed in a computer based program. The results showed that the preschool educators were positive to the curriculum and regarded it as a tool for improving the quality in preschool. The most important factors for increasing the quality were, according to the results, the educators’ attitudes, the number of children in the group and the teacher-to-child ratio.
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| 4. |
- Kultti, Anne, 1976, et al.
(författare)
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Bring Your Own Toy: Socialisation of Two-Year-Olds Through Tool-Mediated Activities in an Australian Early Childhood Education Context
- 2015
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 43:5, s. 367-376
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study focuses on how young children are socialised in early childhood education practice in activities with and around toys. A premise of this study is the theoretical notion of sociocultural theory that people do things with artefacts and other cultural tools, and tools do things with people. This is captured in the unit of analysis, tool-mediated activities. Two activities, documented by video observations, are analysed. The empirical data are illustrated through images and transcripts, and the analysis is grounded on an interactional approach. The analysis illustrates that play activities in this practice offer opportunities to use toys in individual ways. Yet, the toys also provide ways of participating in activities together with other children when there is a common artefact within the activity, for instance a parking lot for driving cars on. Therefore, even when playing individually and with individual toys, children can participate in a joint activity. How toys mediated knowledge and practice on individual, interpersonal, and institutional planes is discussed. The findings suggest that toys support communication before children have developed verbal language skills and that certain types of tools facilitate both individual and collective use.
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| 5. |
- Ljunggren, Åsa
(författare)
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Multilingual Affordances in a Swedish Preschool : An Action Research Project
- 2016
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 44:6, s. 605-612
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article summarizes the work and the main findings of an action research project that was conducted in an early childhood education and care setting in the city of Malmo ", Sweden in the autumn of 2013 and spring 2014. Ronnerman's model (Aktionsforskning i praktiken: for-skola och skola pa vetenskaplig grund [Action research in practice: preschools and schools on scientific basis]. Studentlitteratur, Lund, 2012) for action research was applied, and the article responds to the research question What happens when parents are involved in constructing a multilingual environment through the use of digital tools in the daily activities in preschool? The analysis was performed collectively by a researcher from the Swedish Research Schools for Preschool Teachers; a teacher with graduate diploma in special needs education, specialized in children's language development and the staff from the participating preschool. The children were aged from 1 to 3 years and had different first languages. By following, documenting, and analyzing the children's encounters with digital tools that recorded parents' verbal monologues, three main themes were identified: Moving from a question-answer pedagogy to new ways of interaction, children's awareness of the different languages in preschool, parents' and teachers' feeling of togetherness.
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| 6. |
- Palmér, Hanna, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Integrating Mathematical Learning During Caregiving Routines : A Study of Toddlers in Swedish Preschools
- 2016
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 44:1, s. 79-87
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent years the interest in preschool mathematics has increased. However, studies seldom focus on children under the age of three and research is scarce on the early use of mathematics observed in natural settings. This article reports a study of mathematical possibilities during diaper changing in a preschool setting. A diaper change can be a communicative moment when the child can experience mathematics with a professional preschool teacher, but it can also be a moment of mechanical routine with no pedagogical context. The intention of the study presented here was to investigate the mathematical potential preschool teachers described in relation to diaper changing and to examine the ways this potential was put into action. Both similarities and differences emerged regarding the mathematical potential preschool teachers described in relation to diaper changing and the mathematical content that they were observed to communicate. The results show that it is possible to communicate mathematical content in a pedagogical way during diaper changes, making this routine a learning opportunity for children. However, the results also show variations in the observed range and context of such communication, and therefore the potential for mathematical learning during diaper changes seems to differ widely.
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| 7. |
- Sandberg, Anette, et al.
(författare)
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Children's Perspective on Learning : An International Study in Denmark, Estonia, Germany and Sweden
- 2017
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 45:1, s. 71-81
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article explores how some children in Denmark, Estonia, Germany and Sweden describe their perspective on learning. The aim of the international study is to gain knowledge of how preschool children in Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Germany reflect and perceive their learning in preschool and other surrounding social contexts. The results are based on 51 focus group interviews from 181 children. The results indicate that, in general, children from all four countries seem to be aware of their own learning. One can conclude that encouraging children to think about what they are doing and why they are doing it makes the activities more goal-oriented from the children's perspective and thus more conscious. Children are able to describe their own perspectives on learning.
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| 8. |
- Sheridan, Sonja, 1952, et al.
(författare)
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Preschool as an Arena for Developing Teacher Knowledge Concerning Children’s Language Learning
- 2017
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 45:3, s. 347-357
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The most important benefits of international comparisons are the indications that make hidden national characteristics visible and shed new light on the system in each country. From a comparative perspective, this article explores what Swedish and Norwegian preschool teachers emphasise as important to preschool student teachers about preschool as an arena for children’s language learning. The theoretical framework of the study is based on ecological system theories (Bronfenbrenner in The ecology of human development, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1979; Bronfenbrenner in Dev Psychology 22(6):723–742, 1986) and socio-cultural theories concerning language learning (Vygotsky in Thought and language, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1986). The data are produced through interviews with 69 Swedish and 35 Norwegian preschool teachers. The analyses focused on what the preschool teachers stated to be the most important elements to work with concerning children’s language learning, how and why they worked like this, and what rationales may have led to their pedagogy. The two countries seem quite alike in terms of the values embedded in early childhood education and political ideas concerning a rich childhood based on play and democratic ideals. By comparing the two countries, the results reveal differences that can lead to a deeper knowledge of cultural concepts that are often taken for granted, such as pedagogical approaches, and how these create different conditions for children’s preschool language learning.
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| 9. |
- Svensson, Birgitta, et al.
(författare)
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A Survey of Swedish Teachers' Concerns for Preschool Children at Risk of Maltreatment
- 2015
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 43:6, s. 495-503
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to investigate a problem that is related to pre-school teachers' prolonged and temporary concerns for children's home situations and the extent to which these children were in need of special support in pre-school and/or were reported to the CPA. Data were obtained from a Swedish prospective study (the SOFIA-study) including 2,017 pre-school children. In this specific study, data from pre-school teacher and parent questionnaires were analyzed (baseline 2010, follow up 2011). Four groups were compared: no concern (85 %), newly arisen concern (6 %), previous concern (5 %), and prolonged concern (4 %). When pre-school teachers expressed prolonged concerns for the children's home situations they not only expressed lasting multiple concerns for children's health and development but also reported long-term problems in the contact between staff and parents. There was an obvious association between concern for the home situation and assessed need of special support in pre-school (37 % in the prolonged concern group). Reports to the child protection agency were made in a minority of the cases. In conclusion, pre-school teachers' concern for children at risk of maltreatment can be understood from a broad perspective on children's health and development. This study highlights the importance of early assessment of the child's home situation, to ensure that proper support is given.
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| 10. |
- Thulin, Susanne, et al.
(författare)
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Student preschool teachers' experiences of science and its role in preschool
- 2017
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 45:4, s. 509-520
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article reports on student preschool teachers’ views of science and its role in preschool. Three cohorts of students have been given a written questionnaire with open-ended questions before and after a one-semester course including science (specifically Chemistry and Physics) in a 3.5-year preschool teacher programme in Sweden. The science content in the course is integrated with other subjects and lecturers with different subject backgrounds work together in forming an integrated and meaningful context. A phenomenographic qualitative analysis of responses to the questionnaires before and after the course is presented. The analysis gave that many students equate science with biology (nature studies), and several did not adjust this view even though chemistry and physics were explicitly taught. Surprisingly few students were negative towards science, none after the course. However, several remain hesitantly positive. Most students described ‘what’ and ‘how’ perspectives of science, but few developed a synthesised view of science activities. However, there was a shift towards a more integrated perspective after the course. Also the quality and eloquence of the students’ response were noticeably improved in responses given after the course. Prior expectations and implications of the results for preschool teacher education are discussed.
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| 11. |
- Thulin, Susanne, et al.
(författare)
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Student preschool teachers' experiences of science and its role in preschool
- 2017
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Netherlands. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 45:4, s. 509-520
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article reports on student preschool teachers’ views of science and its role in preschool. Three cohorts of students have been given a written questionnaire with open-ended questions before and after a one-semester course including science (specifically Chemistry and Physics) in a 3.5-year preschool teacher programme in Sweden. The science content in the course is integrated with other subjects and lecturers with different subject backgrounds work together in forming an integrated and meaningful context. A phenomenographic qualitative analysis of responses to the questionnaires before and after the course is presented. The analysis gave that many students equate science with biology (nature studies), and several did not adjust this view even though chemistry and physics were explicitly taught. Surprisingly few students were negative towards science, none after the course. However, several remain hesitantly positive. Most students described ‘what’ and ‘how’ perspectives of science, but few developed a synthesised view of science activities. However, there was a shift towards a more integrated perspective after the course. Also the quality and eloquence of the students’ response were noticeably improved in responses given after the course. Prior expectations and implications of the results for preschool teacher education are discussed.
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