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1.
A need for research on young children’s mental health has been identified. Moreover, there is a need to enhance teachers’ skills regarding health promotion work in preschool. The aim of the study is to examine the impact of a specific course on mental health promotion among Swedish preschool teachers. Data were gathered through interviews and documentation. A qualitative content analysis was used. Three categories: ‘attention’, ‘belonging’ and ‘personal growth’ – and six subcategories emerged from the analysis. The latent content of these categories is described in the theme: ‘Increased awareness, in thoughts and actions, of promoting mental health may create a sense of trust at preschools’. The results show that a specific course to promote mental health enhanced the teachers’ awareness of mental health which improved their work with children. This contributed to the development of a sense of trust at preschools, which is important to children’s mental health.  相似文献   

2.
Background:?There is a limited amount of research about group size in preschool, and how it impacts on teachers’ working conditions and their ability to support children’s learning and knowledge development in line with curriculum intentions.

Purpose:?From a perspective on quality, this article examines the organisational conditions for children’s learning in preschool in relation to group size. The questions at issue are: how do teachers explain how they organise the child group and the learning environment in preschool, and why?

Sample:?The sample consists of 12 preschools from different parts of Sweden. The preschools selected for the study are stratified in order to represent small and large group sizes in Swedish preschools as defined by the Swedish National Agency for Education. The sample contains both urban and rural regions and represents districts that differ geographically, demographically, ethnically, and which include varied socioeconomic structures. The 12 preschools had children in three age groupings: 1–3, 3–5 or 1–5. The number of children in the participating preschools ranged from 12 children to 45 children, with seven of the preschools having more than 30 children in their groups.

Design and method:?The article is based on interactionist perspectives, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, a critical ecology of the early childhood profession, theories of children’s learning, and four dimensions of pedagogical quality. Together, these theoretical perspectives contribute to an understanding of the relationships between policy issues, educational goals, group size and teachers’ competence in organising and creating conditions for children’s learning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two teachers from each of the 12 preschools. The interviews lasted between 40–60 minutes and were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The analytical process was conducted in three steps and can be described as an analytical process of abduction. The four dimensions of pedagogical quality were used as analytical lenses to discern and understand critical aspects related to the teachers’ understanding of group size.

Result: Irrespective of group size, most of the children participate in different group constellations throughout the day, some organised by the teachers and some by the children themselves. Teachers’ competence to organise the children in such ways that good conditions for learning were created, differed between preschools, and depended on the teachers’ approach, which can be described as either intentional or unintentional learning.

Conclusion: Teachers’ organisational approaches influence the quality of the preschool and conditions for children’s learning in distinct ways.  相似文献   

3.
This project highlights preschool teachers’ views of toddlers’ learning in mathematics. The Swedish national curriculum covers even the youngest children who are 1–3?years old. Interesting questions are thus: what should mathematics be for this age group and how should preschool teachers work with maths to achieve the curriculum objectives? Data were collected through interviews with six preschool teachers working in four different preschools. The data show that the teachers emphasize the body as very important for the learning process, which means that for these children, it is not a matter of simply talking about mathematical concepts, but experiencing them bodily. The teachers also report that they now pay more attention than previously to what material the children use and how they interact with it. They are more aware of how they organize and offer the various materials in the preschool and how this influences the way children use them and, consequently, their learning processes.  相似文献   

4.
This study provides basic information about how Norwegian nature preschools differ from other Norwegian preschools and how they organize their daily activities. Fifty-six nature preschools and 52 other preschools were included in the study. A total of 106 headmasters and 98 pedagogical leaders filled out questionnaires about the characteristics of their preschool and the characteristics of their preschool’s outdoor activities. Two women and four men from nature preschools were interviewed about organizing a nature preschool. Most nature preschools are private and have less children and staff than other preschools. Nature preschools have more reference areas in nature and visit these areas more frequently than other preschools. Nature preschools spend a large amount of time in nature and have routines and rules that allow the children a significant amount of trust.  相似文献   

5.
The social participation during free play activities of intellectually handicapped children in regular preschools was compared with that of their non‐handicapped age‐mates in the same preschools, and with that of intellectually handicapped children in a special preschool. While both groups of intellectually handicapped children showed, significantly lower levels of social participation than the non‐handicapped children, the intellectually handicapped children attending the special preschool were significantly lower in terms of social participation than those attending the regular preschools. The results were discussed in terms of the probable advantages of regular preschools as social learning environments for intellectually handicapped children.  相似文献   

6.
The article examines the aims of the workplace-based learning of prospective preschool teachers in Iceland and associated cooperative practices between the University of Iceland and preschools. A ‘third space’ of collaboration between these two sites is considered necessary if the education of preschool student teachers is to be effective. Collaboration between the university and preschools as presented in the university’s policy documents and as implemented in practice will be investigated and compared to the literature on collective third space. Implications for both policy and practice are discussed.  相似文献   

7.
This article reports on a small-scale investigation of how teachers organise goal-oriented learning in Swedish preschools. The revised Swedish curriculum (National Agency for Education 2011) highlights the need for children to develop their mathematics skills through activities that integrate play and learning. This study investigates how different types of activities contribute to children developing their understanding of the concepts ‘half’ and ‘double’. Three preschool teachers participated in a developmental project in which they conduct teaching in accordance with the Variation Theory of Learning. The pedagogical contexts they bring into being reveal important insights for early childhood education. The pedagogical context that can be realised in the planned activities limits or favours the learning process and the success of the theoretical aspirations for the session. This article discusses the idea of ‘teaching’ and how to facilitate conceptual development in a goal-oriented but child-centred practice. The main results show that play is central in early childhood education, and that problem-solving as a means for mathematics education needs to be problematised and used with sensitivity to the children's intentions and perspectives.  相似文献   

8.
Despite the growing body of evidence that the origins of bullying lie in early childhood, very little is known about the nature of the phenomenon in preschool groups. The current understanding among studies conducted in the school environment is that bullying prevention can only be effective if training with individual children takes place parallel to broader interventions in the classroom. The aim of this study was to examine how bullying prevention should be focused among under school-aged children. Since we know that children with special educational needs (SEN) have been found to be extremely vulnerable to bullying and victimization, we examined the role of three- to six-year olds with SEN in bullying situations. In addition, we examined whether the peripheral roles of other children in bullying situations can already be observed in preschool groups. The data were collected from a survey of day care staff in the city of Vantaa (n = 771). According to staff reports, 18% of bullying took place in situations in which children with SEN were present. Bullies with SEN used more physical forms of bullying and bullies without SEN used more psychological forms of bullying. The findings also showed that the multiple, peripheral roles of the bystanders in bullying situations are already occurring in preschool groups, especially among boys. It is important to target intervention programs in preschools both on individual children and at group level.  相似文献   

9.
Abstract

This paper presents different angles on the subject of digital play as a means to develop children’s literacy and power, using an online ethnographical study of Swedish preschool teachers’ discussions in informal online forums. Question posts (n = 239) were analysed using the Technological Pedagogical Knowledge framework and the Caring, Nurturing and Teaching framework, with the aim of understanding how teachers intended to support children’s literacy development with tablets. Literacy development can be understood as a social practice that needs to develop along with changes in society’s demands on citizens. The results presented indicate that school subject oriented skills are predominantly present in the mind-set of these preschool teachers. When digital play is increasingly used for pedagogical purposes in preschools, that also means that preschools have expanded their opportunities to work with children’s literacy development. For preschool teachers, it is important to discuss how literacy development can be supported in a contemporary media landscape.  相似文献   

10.
This article aims to contribute to our understanding of how moral aspects of parents’ choices of preschool play a part in the processes of marketisation and privatisation of childcare in Sweden. The paper explores parents’ narratives of preschool choice as moral claims of parental identities. The analysed data are based on a study of how parents make sense of their preschool choice during life-story interviews. Our results point out good parenting as having to do with making distinctions between what is ‘good and bad’ and ‘right and wrong’ regardless of whether the choices concern preschools or the behaviour of preschool teachers and parents. Culturally available discourses become visible through the making of these distinctions in ways that ultimately point to the subject position of parents as particular choosers as related to a prevailing discourse of parental responsibility.  相似文献   

11.
Preschool managers’ responsibility for and leadership of systematic quality work has come to the fore in connection with changes made to the Swedish preschool curriculum. The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of preschool managers’ leadership and management of the systematic quality work in Swedish preschools with reference to three specific domains: (i) governance, leadership/management and organisation, (ii) content and methods and (iii) development work and collegiate learning. Using qualitative methods, 18 preschool managers’ perspectives of leading systematic quality work have been analysed in relation to previous research. The results show a tension between linear and interactive forms of governance in the systematic quality work, but also that knowledge gaps among the staff can lead to uncertainties that the preschool manager has to address. At the same time, the results show the diversity of and variation in how children’s development and increased proficiency are documented, while the documentation of the quality of the work focuses on learning environments rather than on teaching and teacher competence. In the study, there are traces of what can be characterised as leadership for learning. This needs to be investigated more closely using other methods in future research.  相似文献   

12.
ABSTRACT

With studies on the physical environment of preschools concentrating mostly on settings in the Western world, before establishing minimum standards of quality, developing contextually appropriate physical environment factors become pertinent in Malaysia as a universal and possibly unaffordable high-quality standard may lead to ill-informed policy decision and allocation of funds (UNESCO 2006. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2007. Strong Foundations?: Early Childhood Care and Education). As a preliminary study, this conceptual paper sets out to uncover factors for consideration to achieve a contextually appropriate physical environment. In this article, ‘preschool’ denotes establishments for children aged four to six years in diverse educational settings. This article draws from two major fields: preschool education and physical environment of preschools. After secondary analysis of data, preliminary findings critically analysed from reviews of literature through a cross-disciplinary approach indicated that factors for consideration to achieve contextual appropriate physical environment include understanding the curriculum content; learning belief and culture of learning; physical environment factors (including allowable premise for establishing preschools, spatial planning, environmental condition and interior fit out) and statutory requirements (including health and safety factors and existing guidelines). Recommendations for future direction are discussed.  相似文献   

13.
Bullying behaviors among young children are taking place in preschool classrooms and child-development centers. The author makes a case, based on bullying themes in children’s literature and both qualitative and quantitative data collection with young children, for the use of children’s picture books to teach character as bullying prevention to 4–6 year old children. Through the reading of picture books and character education activities with a bullying theme preschool children develop a better understanding of bullying characteristics and strategies for dealing with bullying behaviors. Included are the results from questionnaires and interviews with preschool children and an annotated bibliography of children’s picture books and activities useful in the instruction and prevention of bullying behaviors.  相似文献   

14.
We report a survey of 100 preschool teachers from 15 preschools in Singapore using a modified instrument called the Pre-School Level Environment Questionnaire. The aims were to explore differences in actual and preferred perceptions of preschool teachers’ school-level environment and to investigate the relationship among preschool teachers’ profile, preschool learning environments and job satisfaction. Quantitative data using paired samples t tests indicated that there were significant differences in teachers’ actual and preferred perceptions of their preschool learning environments except for the scale of Work Pressure. Logistic regression revealed a positive influence of Resource Adequacy on preschool teachers’ job satisfaction.  相似文献   

15.
This empirical study aims to find if and how preschool teachers communicate values they consider important for children to learn in preschool. The study is a part of a Nordic research project on values education in Nordic preschools. Values are understood as desirable principles that guide human actions. Theoretically, the study draws on a sociocultural perspective and Habermas’ theory of communicative action. The data consists of approximately 17?h of video observations of communication between preschool teachers and children. Two episodes were chosen for further analysis and in-depth discussion. Care, respect, and discipline had been agreed on as important values to communicate to preschool children. The preschool teachers used different approaches to communicate these values, depending on their professional and personal backgrounds. The values were communicated implicitly rather than explicitly. The study contributes to research on values education in the ECE and gives reasons for reflection on the practices of preschool teachers.  相似文献   

16.
In this article, we explore the reality of Icelandic preschool teachers who are, as in most other countries, predominantly female. The gendered nature of the role and the current identity adopted by preschool teachers appear to impact on their perceived status and professionalism. In this process, stakeholders in early childhood education (ECE), as well as the preschool teachers themselves, play important parts. The question that underlies the paper is: ‘How do the views of preschool teachers and stakeholders in ECE affect the preschool teachers’ professional identity?’ The data used to answer the question are from focus group research carried out with preschool teachers and stakeholders in ECE in one community in Iceland. These stakeholders, besides preschool teachers and staff within the preschools, were parents, professionals at the municipal preschool office and politicians. The theoretical perspective informing the methodology of the research was ‘symbolic interactionism’ and the concept of ‘democratic professionalism’ was used as an aspirational framework to analyse the data. The findings reveal connections between the ideology relating to the preschool teachers’ educational role, their limited leadership and the gendered views of stakeholders. At the end of the paper, implications and recommendations for preschool teachers are suggested.  相似文献   

17.
The purpose of the study was to investigate the dynamics of physical activity (PA) in day care and preschool. The participants were 823 Finnish 1–7-year-old children from 50 day care centres and preschools. The research methods were systematic observation, evaluation of children’s skills and interviews with children. Altogether 18,366 observations were collected. Vygotsky’s concept of the ‘zone of proximal development’ is redefined in relation to PA. The results of the study show that environmental factors, and specifically peers, do indeed play a significant role in enhancing PA among children. There are cogent reasons for paying more attention to the dynamics of children’s PA. Furthermore, there is reason to ponder extensively how to provide opportunities for PA and, more precisely, the development of motor competence in the day care and preschool context.  相似文献   

18.
Outdoor preschools are critical for children’s play and development. Integrating observational and interview methods, this study examined four-to-five-year-old children’s cognitive play experiences in an outdoor preschool with natural, mixed and manufactured zones. The observational results indicated that the natural and mixed zones offered a diverse spectrum of cognitive play, were supportive of different learning styles and expanded their understanding about the world. Children preferred the diverse, challenging and constantly evolving natural settings in these zones. Integrating diverse natural and manufactured settings with loose elements, the mixed zone supported considerable opportunities for functional, exploratory and games with rules play behaviors. The accessible loose materials inspired children’s imagination, social engagement and games. In contrast, the manufactured zone offered the most functional and non-play behaviors, and was perceived as an unexciting, predictable and tedious environment. The findings suggest incorporating natural features and settings in outdoor preschools to support a diverse spectrum of cognitive play.  相似文献   

19.
In this paper we study the effects of power in a bathroom, which is a rarely analysed space in preschools, using empirical examples from a semi-ethnographic study conducted in New South Wales, Australia. We demonstrate that educators’ understanding and practices mostly consider their own positioning in discourses and come short in accounting for children’s practices in and expressed views on the bathroom. Educators also remain distant from children’s bodily experiences. The interplay of the open architectural design of the bathroom space and dominant discourses operating in the preschool constitute some children as ‘problem bodies’ apparently requiring (and justifying) direct intervention. Following this reasoning we argue that the surveillance, regularisation and normalisation in the bathroom is far from total, which leads us to question the adequacy of understanding the bathroom as forming a part of a modern (disciplinary) institution.  相似文献   

20.
Through socio-cultural analysis of the discourse of bullying, the present article aims to show that moral learning is less about teaching children the difference between right and wrong and more about making available to them what Tappan and Wertsch describe as the mediational means to engage in their own moral learning. Bullying is explained in Bakhtinian terms as a form of ‘authoritative discourse’. Both moral education and manipulative adolescent bullying are presented as, in a broad sense, forms of political practice. The same 13-year-old girl was recorded as she talked with peer ‘counsellors’ about her own bullying and then a fortnight later in the course of directing and featuring in a tutor-group video which aimed to introduce younger pupils to their new school. Through the inter-animation of social voices, new moral ideas are appropriated by the participants. In a succession of ‘zones of proximal development’, students support and ‘scaffold’ each other’s thinking in their progression towards changed levels of moral awareness.  相似文献   

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