| 1. |
- Alkhede, Maria, 1961, et al.
(författare)
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Preschool Children’s Learning Opportunities Using Natural Numbers in Number Row Activities
- 2021
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 49, s. 1199-1213
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study analysed how preschool teachers differently enacted the same mathematical activity for preschool children to discern numbers, and how thisaffected the children’s learning opportunities during the activity. The analysis was based on variation theory and Chi’s taxonomy of learning activities. Two Swedish preschool teachers’ enactment of the same mathematical activity for 27 children aged 4–6years was studied. Video recordings of what the children were offered to discern were used in the analysis. The results indicate that variations in how the teachers chose to enact the activity produced two different learning opportunities for the children. Differences in what aspects were made discernible were closely linked to the characteristics of the activity implemented. The enactments differed even if the same game was chosen and the sameamount of time was used in the play-based activity. In one preschool group, there were few opportunities to discern more than the nominal form of numbers; the other preschool group had an activity focused on all number forms simultaneously. In addition, in the latter group, the children had the opportunity to develop equinumerosity. The results suggest that the activity with limited variation was more appropriate for learning with undeveloped knowledge; the children with more developed understanding required a more varied design. This study contributes to the knowledge of how the design of an activity affects children’s learning differently, which is important when planning learning-based preschool activities. © 2020, The Author(s).
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| 2. |
- Backman, Anna, 1974
(författare)
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When the Sun is Out of the Picture: Exploring a Variation Theory Key to Children's Imagination in a Picturebook Reading Activity
- 2023
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Ingår i: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION JOURNAL. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this study is to explore a theoretical idea in relation to a body of empirical material from a reading activity involving a picturebook on shadow. The theoretical idea, sprung from variation theory, entails children's discernment through synchronic simultaneity as a key to their ability to imagine. To explore this idea, an analysis has been conducted on how 5-year-olds, in words and actions, express themselves in a reading activity involving The Black Rabbit (Leathers, 2014) in regard to discerning and imagining about shadow as a light phenomenon. Vygotsky describes children's previous experiences as a key to their ability to imagine. The results of this study imply that children's discernment in the moment, with synchronic simultaneity, appears to be another key that unlocks their ability to imagine explicit depictions in a picturebook. The results also show that when children's discernment with both synchronic and diachronic simultaneity (i.e., discernment in the moment and before the moment) is missing, their ability to imagine remains untapped, as none of the keys to their imagination, which might unlock their ability to imagine implicit depictions in a picturebook, are used.
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| 3. |
- Björklund, Camilla, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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Enhancing Swedish Toddlers’ Learning Opportunities Through Interactions with Pictures and Narrative Designed for Numerical Learning Purposes
- 2023
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Nature. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study is to deepen the understanding of how preschool teachers can use representations of diferent kinds to bring fore the mathematical content that may be aforded in pictures and narrative designed for numerical learning purposes. Seventy-three video documentations of reading sessions with 27 toddlers (1–3 years of age) over the course of three semesters were analyzed with a focus on number-oriented actions that, theoretically, would facilitate toddlers’ learning of numbers. In the reading sessions the teachers extended the content of the pictures and the narrative in diferent ways, and how one and the same picture was handled was shown to impact on what was made possible for the children to discern. Three diferent objects of learning—identifying numbers, comparing numbers, and operating on numbers—were made visible. Further, the use of gestures strengthened the possibility for the children to make connections within and between representations. This contributes to our understanding of the importance of using representations and gestures with a pedagogical purpose.
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| 4. |
- Bourbour Hosseinbeigi, Maryam, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Putting Scaffolding Into Action : Preschool Teachers' Actions Using Interactive Whiteboard
- 2020
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 48:1, s. 79-92
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study aimed to explore preschool teachers' actions in order to support children's learning processes in a context where an interactive whiteboard (IWB) is used. Five preschool teachers and 22 children aged 4-6 were video observed in 2017 and early spring 2018 over a period of 5 months. The findings of the study revealed 21 scaffolding actions which preschool teachers used including: Concretizing, Questioning, Instructing, Providing space, Affirming, Providing feedback, Inviting, Watching, Laughing together, Approaching, Standing/sitting beside, Simplifying, Filling in the blanks, Confirming, Participating, Challenging perception, Challenging thought, Explaining facts, Displaying, Explaining solutions, and Referring back. By characterizing teachers' actions in relation to different scaffolding functions, the relationship between action and scaffolding function was particularly clarified. Six of the functions, including recruitment, direction maintenance, marking critical features, reduction in degrees of freedom, frustration control and demonstration were aligned with Wood et al.'s (Child Psychol Psychiatry 17:88-100, 1976) theoretical framework. By identifying two additional functions, i.e., mutual enjoyment and participation in the activity, more importantly the study contributed to the development of Wood et al.'s (Child Psychol Psychiatry 17:88-100, 1976) theoretical framework. It can be said that the findings of the study expanded and deepened our understanding regarding scaffolding processes and the ways they can be implemented in teaching practices.
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| 5. |
- Eliasson, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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You don’t have to re-invent the wheel to implement technology activities in early childhood education
- 2024
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 52
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study on technology education in preschool aims to explore how technology activities in preschool are enacted and what knowledge, related to the five dimensions of the nature of technology, is made possible for the children to learn when inter-subjectivity is established in the interaction between the participants. The empirical data encompass three video-documented technology activities, involving five children and one preschool teacher. Drawing on the five dimensions of the nature of technology by DiGironimo, the participants’ interactions were analysed using interaction analysis. The results showed that the teacher, through well-defined and sensitive orchestration, enacted goal-oriented activities by allowing a play-oriented approach, and that intersubjectivity on technology was established related to four of the five dimensions of technology. The lack of knowledge related to the historical dimension of technology suggests further scrutiny and is discussed as essential in ECE technology education for contemporary children, growing up in high-tech societies.
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| 6. |
- Enochsson, Ann-Britt, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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“Everybody has to get a Chance to Learn” : Democratic Aspects of Digitalisation in Preschool
- 2021
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 49:6, s. 1087-1098
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this article is to examine the ways in which curriculum goals on digitalisation are viewed in relation to the over- arching democratic mission of Swedish preschools. Groups of preschool staff from three preschools located in different areas were interviewed with the focus on how they discuss democracy and the democratic aspects of digital tools and children’s digital competence, which are concepts used in the curriculum. Collective mind maps – constructed by the participants – were used as focal points in the interviews. The analysis centres on the content of these discussions, but also touches on the ways in which the groups communicated. The findings show that the groups from the three preschools expressed very different views on using digital tools and developing preschoolers’ digital competence, and that these views corresponded with their general views on democracy. The ways in which the groups expressed their views of democracy are also reflected in their discussions with each other. Preschool teachers’ and childcare workers’ own lack of digital competence is mentioned briefly as a reason for not using digital devices by the group using them the least, but this does not seem to be the main reason for their infrequent use of digital media with the children.
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| 7. |
- Forsling, Karin
(författare)
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Collegial Learning and Digital Literacy Education in a Swedish Preschool
- 2023
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article focuses on preschool teachers’ collegial learning in relation to children's use of digital learning tools in preschool. The aim of the study was to investigate how preschool teachers understand, change, and improve learning situations when digital tools are used, under the supervision of a film educator, a preschool colleague, and a researcher. The results show how five dedicated teachers, without a special interest in digital tools, started using tablets in preschool as a learning tool to achieve the goals in the curriculum regarding communication. The experiment model used in the study is based on design-oriented theories. The design-based experiment provided an opportunity for in-depth reflection among the teachers and a meeting place for collegial learning processes, which can in turn lead to preschool development.
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| 8. |
- Fridberg, Marie, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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The role of intermediary objects of learning in early years chemistry and physics
- 2020
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 48:5, s. 585-595
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The overall aim of the present study is to study model-based teaching and collaborative inquiry learning of chemical processes and physical phenomena in preschool, with a specific focus on the verbal communication established between teachers and children (4-5 years old). According to variation theory, learning is always directed at a specific content, called the object of learning. This study aims at highlighting what ‘threatens’ the teacher’s and preschool children’s intersubjectivity during the teaching of chemistry and physics content, and at discussing possible ways to continue the teaching of an object of learning, once sufficient intersubjectivity in a teaching/learning situation has been lost. The result shows the need for the teacher to divide and split a larger object of learning, such as e.g. water purification, into smaller learning steps ‘on the way’ in order to hinder breaks in intersubjectivity that otherwise may arise. We introduce the notion of ‘overarching object of learning’ and ‘intermediary object of learning’, and the intermediary objects of learning identified in this study are categorized as belonging to three different themes: the role of words, the role of theoretical models and science concepts and the role of analogies and abstractions. The teacher’s awareness of intermediary objects of learning as critical aspects for children’s individual learning is crucial for the teaching of everyday science in a preschool setting.
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| 9. |
- Fridberg, Marie, et al.
(författare)
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The role of intermediary objects of learning in early years chemistry and physics
- 2020
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Netherlands. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 48:5, s. 585-595
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The overall aim of the present study is to study model-based teaching and collaborative inquiry learning of chemical processes and physical phenomena in preschool, with a specific focus on the verbal communication established between teachers and children (4-5 years old). According to variation theory, learning is always directed at a specific content, called the object of learning. This study aims at highlighting what ‘threatens’ the teacher’s and preschool children’s intersubjectivity during the teaching of chemistry and physics content, and at discussing possible ways to continue the teaching of an object of learning, once sufficient intersubjectivity in a teaching/learning situation has been lost. The result shows the need for the teacher to divide and split a larger object of learning, such as e.g. water purification, into smaller learning steps ‘on the way’ in order to hinder breaks in intersubjectivity that otherwise may arise. We introduce the notion of ‘overarching object of learning’ and ‘intermediary object of learning’, and the intermediary objects of learning identified in this study are categorized as belonging to three different themes: the role of words, the role of theoretical models and science concepts and the role of analogies and abstractions. The teacher’s awareness of intermediary objects of learning as critical aspects for children’s individual learning is crucial for the teaching of everyday science in a preschool setting.
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| 10. |
- Henriksson, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Play-Activities with Scientific Content in Early Childhood Education
- 2023
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Netherlands. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article attempts to address the challenge that preschool teachers face, when integrating a specific content area, science, with play. The study builds on the theoretical framework of Play-Responsive Early Childhood Education and Care (PRECEC), in which teaching, and play are understood as a mutual activity. In this mutual activity, teachers and children signal their participation by shifting between as if (fantasy and fictional worlds) and as is (acquiring knowledge of the world as it is) (Pramling et al., 2019). The empirical data consists of video-observations of a preschool teacher and 1-4-year-old children who participate in activities that incorporate play and scientific content. The video-observations were analysed through studying how and why shifts between as is and as if were made by the preschool teacher. The results show that the preschool teacher made the play shift between as if and as is through different types of actions (voice change and bodily expression). Further, shifts seemed to be made with two aims in sight: science learning and socialisation. In conclusion, the preschool teacher (as a more knowledgeable adult) has an important role in creating a responsive environment and in introducing science content, which does not arise by itself. Implications for preschool teachers and preschool practice are discussed.
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| 11. |
- Magnusson, Lena O, lektor, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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The Entangled Intersection of Children’s and Educators’ Engagement in the Educational Environment of a Preschool
- 2023
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study presented in this article shows some aspects of how children between the ages of three and five and their educators perceive and describe the educational environment in early childhood education in Sweden. The data is generated using pedagogical walk-throughs with the educators and camera tours together with the children. The study is conducted as a case study with three municipalities as cases and shows how materiality, places and relationships appear in the intersection of the educators’ and children’s verbal and visual descriptions of the indoor educational environment. We put diffractive readings to work to follow the entangled inter-connections and the intra-acting agency of the sociomaterial assemblages (Barad, 2007; Fenwick et al., 2011). These assemblages consist of different types of materiality, spatial conditions, the educators’ verbal descriptions, the children’s photographs and their verbal and bodily actions when using the cameras. The findings suggest that children and educators use, engage in and relate to the educational environment and materiality in both different and similar ways. Moreover, the children transform the educational setting organised by the educators as place changers, while materiality constructs places as placemaking materiality.
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| 12. |
- Masoumi, Davoud, et al.
(författare)
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Mapping Children’s Actions in the Scaffolding Process Using Interactive Whiteboard
- 2023
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media B.V.. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study aims to examine children’s actions in relation to the preschool teacher’s scaffolding action in a context where an interactive whiteboard (IWB) is used. Over five months, 22 children aged between 4 and 6 years old, along with their five preschool teachers, were video observed. The study of these teaching moments has provided a rich seam of evidence that details the ways children act in relation to their teacher’s scaffolding. The results show that children manifest 12 distinct actions including: Giving short responses, Approaching the IWB to engage in the teaching activities; Explaining, Experimenting; Smiling and laughing; Pointing and showing; Working together; Challenging each other; Solving a problem; Using language in meaningful contexts; Expressing emotions; and Comparing the similarities and differences. By mapping children’s actions in the scaffolding process, which are often undermined or ignored in the existing research, the findings of this study have expanded and deepened our understanding of the scaffolding process and the notion of scaffolding itself. The findings, further, exemplify how just providing support can contribute to early childhood education, since early interventions, such as the ways preschool teachers scaffold children’s actions, are particularly crucial for children’s learning and development. © 2023, The Author(s).
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| 13. |
- Nasiopoulou, Panagiota, et al.
(författare)
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Conditions for Children’s Language and Literacy Learning in Swedish Preschools: Exploring Quality Variations with ECERS-3
- 2023
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 51:7, s. 1305-1316
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article aims to explore the conditions for children?s language and literacy learning in 153 Swedish preschools with children one to five years. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-3) is used to evaluate preschool quality, focusing on the subscale of Language and literacy activities. The study draws on Bronfenbrenner?s ecological systems theory to highlight the conditions for children?slanguage and literacy learning in preschool. Significant differences were found in the quality of the 153 preschools as a whole and the five subscales in ECERS-3, giving children unequal conditions for learning and development in the studied areas. Within the Language and literacy subscale, items related to children?s oral language development scored a higher average quality compared with written language-relateditems. Individualized teaching, Staff?child interaction ,and Whole-group activities were moderately correlated with activities supporting language development. The results are discussed in terms of an ecological perspective on preschool quality in which intentional teaching needs to be directed at language and literacy learning in both individual, small, and whole-group interactions.
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| 14. |
- Nasiopoulou, Panagiota
(författare)
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Investigating Swedish Preschool Teachers’ Intentions Involved in Grouping Practices
- 2020
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 48, s. 325-335
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study aims to explore profiles of preschool teachers’ intentions when they divide the children into subgroups. Interactionist perspectives, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, and a pedagogical perspective on preschool quality provide the foundation for the study’s theoretical framework. By applying a person-centered analytical procedure, the study analyzes preschool teachers’ considerations of a set of intentional indicators involved in grouping practices related to conditions for supportive classroom environment, opportunities for children’s play and interactions, and preschool teachers’ direct involvement in children’s learning. The sample consists of 698 preschool teachers from preschools in 46 municipalities in Sweden. Two intentional profiles were identified: a relational profile and an organizational profile. The patterns of play and learning opportunities, increasing communication and interaction, and opportunities for children to share their experiences and interests were the most distinctive patterns across the two profiles. Preschool teachers’ consideration of grouping practices as appropriate for working with a specific learning goal was equally emphasized in both profiles. These findings provide insight into preschool teachers’ pedagogical approaches and yield implications for the design of continuing professional development models for preschool teachers.
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| 15. |
- Ojala, Maria, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Parental reasoning on choosing the mobile preschool : Enabling sustainable development or adjusting to a neoliberal society?
- 2021
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 49:3, s. 539-551
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Due to the emergence of new forms of preschools and parents’ increased freedom of choice regarding early childhood education, more research on parental preschool preferences is needed. Although preschool offers a seedbed for the development of knowledge and competencies, this development matures through interaction with parents. Therefore, parental expectations and wishes are very likely to affect children’s learning. The mobile preschool is a new form of educational practice in Sweden where children travel by bus to different places for play and learning. This form of preschool can potentially lay a foundation for social and ecological sustainability because children learn to meet diverse people, explore different places, and spend time in nature. We interviewed 15 parents of children in a mobile preschool, most from a middle-class background. The main aim was to explore how these parents explain their choice of this type of preschool. Another aim was to identify desirable competencies that the parents think their children will achieve through the mobile preschool. Six themes related to preschool choice were identified; of these, “being out in nature” and “enlarging the children’s reality” were the most prominent. Two clusters of competencies were distinguished: care- and cooperation-oriented competencies, and freedom- and independence-oriented competencies. After analyzing these results in relation to two current educational discourses—education for sustainable development and entrepreneurship in a neoliberal society—we show how parents participate in reproducing these discourses. These findings add novel and important knowledge to the field of early childhood educational practices concerning parental choice and preferences.
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| 16. |
- Otterborn, Anna, 1961-, et al.
(författare)
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Investigating Preschool Educators’ Implementation of Computer Programming in Their Teaching Practice
- 2020
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Netherlands. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 48:3, s. 253-262
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Modern preschool education is seen as an essential foundation for nurturing children’s digital literacy. Early childhood education environments have witnessed increased emphasis on integrating programming activities in combination with digital tablets. However, little is known about how preschool teachers implement programming as part of pedagogical strategies during practice. In Sweden, although there is a mandate to develop children’s understanding of the digital world, programming is not formally mentioned in the revised preschool curriculum. This study systematically investigates how Swedish preschool teachers implement programming activities in their teaching practice. Data was collected through a national online survey (n = 199). Findings revealed a range of apps and resources used in combination with tablets, where activity integration takes place as unplugged programming, digital programming, or as a combination of the former. Teachers markedly attributed intended learning goals around programming to tenets of computational thinking and “twenty-first century skills”. Moreover, programming was often actively linked to learning in other domains such as science, technology, mathematics, and language, approaches that show traditional Swedish preschool teaching practices being recontextualized in terms of programming. Based on the reported findings that provide insight into the implementation of programming in preschools, a logical future research avenue lies in exploring the documented programming activities from the perspective of the children.
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| 17. |
- Palmér, Hanna, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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The teaching of numbers in common preschool activities: a delicate balancing act
- 2023
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 51:5, s. 971-980
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper reports on a combined research-development project conducted in collaboration between researchers and preschool teachers in three Swedish preschools. The aim is to investigate how ongoing preschool activities may become the starting point for mathematics teaching in which toddlers are given the opportunity to distinguish necessary aspects of numbers. One challenge in preschool education is the balance between children’s previous experiences and interests versus offering them new experiences and challenges towards a learning goal. In the article, empirical examples are used to illustrate how small changes in an activity may open up opportunities for toddlers to discern different critical aspects of numbers without losing the activity’s initial intention. Principles for how early numeracy education can be designed to achieve this balancing act are presented and elaborated on.
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