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- Catucci, Ester, 1973-
(författare)
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Undervisningsuppdraget i förskolan ur ett didaktiskt perspektiv
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this thesis is to increase knowledge of how the teaching mission can be understood and realised in preschool as an educational practice. The main research questions are: 1. How can teaching be realised in preschool daily practice? 2. How is preschool teachers’ specific responsibility for teaching expressed during collegial meetings? 3. In what way does preschool teachers’ didactical leadership emerge during collegial meetings? The thesis is based on four articles. Each one of the articles answers specific research questions. The data for study 1 and 2 were gathered through observations, video filming and field notes. Three preschool teachers and 12 children participated in substudies 1 and 2. The observations focused on preschool teachers’ actions and how these influenced children’s meaning making. Substudy 1 focused on preschool teachers’ teaching in relation to three different activities. It shows different didactical consequences that teaching leads to in relation to children’s meaning making. Substudy 2 explored how preschool teachers’ habits influenced and limited teaching in relation to preschool curriculum goals. The analysed activities were outdoor activities, with a specific focus on sand play. The theoretical perspective used for the data analysis in substudies 1 and 2 was John Dewey’s pragmatism. The data in substudies 3 and 4 were gathered through non-participant observation and audio recording of seventeen collegial meetings. Five qualified preschool teachers, one unqualified preschool teacher and one preservice preschool teacher participated in substudies 3 and 4. Some of the collegial meetings were led by the principal and a pedagogical mentor. The focus for substudy 3 was on the challenges expressed by the preschool teachers in relation to their own teaching responsibility. Substudy 4 explored what didactical questions the preschool teachers discussed during the collegial meetings and how these could be related to preschool teachers’ didactical leadership. Basil Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic practice was used to analyse the results of substudies 3 and 4. The results of the four substudies show how preschool teachers’ actions create both possibilities and constraints for children’s meaning making. The opportunities for meaning making were limited when children’s actions were only confirmed or when the purpose of an activity was unclear for the participating children. On the other hand, when preschool teachers’ actions expanded ongoing activities by introducing new elements, children’s opportunities for meaning making increased. Furthermore, the results show how preschool teachers’ specific responsibility for teaching is toned down by the preschool teachers themselves. Instead, a shared pedagogical responsibility in the team is considered most important. Nevertheless, preschool teachers express challenges in relation to a shared pedagogical responsibility, especially when a common understanding for the pedagogical practice is missing in the team as a whole. Furthermore, they express a lack of full legitimacy to lead other colleagues. A conclusion that can be drawn from the study’s result is that preschool is embedded in what Bernstein describes as an invisible pedagogy. As a result of this, it may be challenging for preschool teachers to establish didactical leadership and subsequently take on their own specific responsibility for teaching.
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| 2. |
- Welén, Therese, 1972-
(författare)
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Lärares roll och utmaningar i arbetet med barns tidiga skolövergångar
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In educational settings transitions are significant events in a child’s learning and development. That children encounter new contexts and transitions within and between different types of schooling and pedagogical levels may be seen as a natural part of both life and the educational period. At the same time transitions bring change, adjustment, possibilities, and challenges. The problem area and starting point for this thesis is the change that occurs during times of transition, where the teacher is the central figure in the everyday work. The areas of interest are the two transitions where pre-school, pre-school class, and year 1 of primary school meet, and the question is what role teachers’ work have in children’s transition between these forms of schooling as well as the contributing factors in how the work is shaped.The aim of the thesis is to deepen the understanding of teachers’ didactical work in children’s transition between different forms of schooling. Attention is brought to the obstacles and possibilities presented in teachers’ didactical work in children’s transitions, what factors are of importance to the ability to work with children’s transitions, and in what way teacher’s work with children’s transitions has an impact on children in need of extra adaptions or special support. The theoretical basis for the study is Bronfenbrenners (1979) ecological model and Bronfenbrenner and Morris (1998; 2006) bioecological model. The focus of this thesis is the children’s transformation through the experiences and preconditions that the teachers and school managers have accounted for. The empirical data have been collected through focused group conversations with teachers and interviews with teachers and school managers.The results show that the teachers’ didactical work with children’s transitions is a complex process. The study shows that sharing of information, relationship-creating processes, guidance, and organizational preconditions contribute to the fact that different conditions are created for children in the teachers’ transition work. Teachers are affected by different factors and processes that they need to adhere to which the teachers more or less can affect, creating both obstacles and possibilities in the everyday work with children’s transitions. The factors and processes which have emerged affect the teachers’ work and highlights not only system levels but also the fact that there are connections between different components that affect each other. From an ecological perspective the role of the teachers involves a dynamic process in which the individual, the process and the context interact in various ways. Key words: ecological theory, pre-school, pre-school class, primary school, teacher’s work, transition, transitional activities
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