The objective of this graduate work is to gain a better understanding in how pre-school educators are able to work with music in their pre-school activity to promote child development. We also want to enlighten possible factors for the development of children based on music and to form our own ideas of whether teachers choose to apply music in their didactic practice or not.The point of this essay has been to attempt answering on what importance music makes for children's development and learning in pre-school, and how teachers could work with music in pre-school in order to promote children?s development. Our data consists of six interviews and two observations realized at a pre-school in Södertälje.We took heed from the theories laid out by Lev Vygotsky's which describe four different levels of development that includes educational development in social interaction between teacher and child. Our choice of this theory is inspired by our seeking deeper understanding of Vygotsky's theory´s application to the aesthetic approach in the interaction in meaning making and learning.The result of our study confirms previous theory and research in that music as a form of expression has a major impact on children's development.

 Purpose: The purpose with this study is to investigate how preschool teachers understand the concept the competent child and in what ways this understanding affects their role in children?s learning. Question at issue: What perspective on children do the contributing educationalists have? How do they define a competent child? Do such children exist and if so, are they always competent in all situations? What is the educationalists perspective on learning and knowledge? What is the preschool teacher?s view of their role as educationalists? What do they consider as their most important tasks?Method: To execute this study I have made a qualitative research based on interviews with eight teachers from four different preschools.Main theories: I have built the theoretical part of this study based on four different perspectives on the concept the competent child according to the philosophies of Dion Summer, Jesper Juul and Reggio Emalia. I also describe different theories about learning, knowledge and educationalists as well as the preschools role in the development of child according to different well-known scientists and researchers.Summarized conclusion: The study shows that the interviewed preschool teachers chose to interpret the concept the competent child in three ways.

The study´s purpose is to investigate the underlying norms of how the concepts of language development and learning, used in the preschool curriculum. Knowledge of the concepts underlying norms can help to make visible what approach preschool teacher is expected to have to children's language, in relation to development and learning. The results of the study may in turn provide a picture of societal norms on children in preschool and a deeper understanding of the importance of preschool to review and analyze the content of the curriculum, then it is not a foregone conclusion.Theoretical basis is curriculum theory, which involves studying curricula in order to create a knowledge of a society and its cultural, social and economic demands. Norman Faircloughs critical discourse analysis is used as a method, in order to achieve the study´s intention and answer the questions at issues in the study. The critical discourse analysis considers that the discourse is creating the social world through language.The results of the study show that there is a language in the curriculum as normatively may influence preschool teacher.

My aim with the experience-based essay is that I want to explore the implications of mathematics on children's development. I also want to examine my approach in relation to the various mathematical tasks. Why do we think that mathematics is important for pre-school children? What does the research say about how the teacher is thinking about mathematics? Can the teacher combine playing and learning and create meaningful moments and activities related to mathematics? I also want to explore our policies and the objectives that the teacher should relate to. What is required of me as a teacher in order to meet those goals?My essay is about mine and my boss?s view of the mathematical tasks that I usually perform in the preschool.

 This essay is about how the educators can use the play as a tool to develop childrens social skills with eachother. The work is based on a qualitative study using a survey, where the educators can tell how they work within the play. I chose to use five different participants in my essay. All of them work in the same preschool, south of Stockholm.In this essay I have two questions. These two are:What do the educators tell about the importance of play for children's interaction?How do the educators tell how they work with the play to develop the children?s social interaction?Previous research shows that play gives the children opportunity to develop socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically.

The purpose of my essay is to highlight the various dilemmas that can occur in the preschool during the moments of guided reflection but also the opportunities it can provide. I am using my own practical experience from situations where care for the children can be questioned and needs to be considered in comparison to the further development of the preschool teachers and with them the entire organization. In my research, I have chosen to highlight the importance of guided reflection, the importance of reliable and secure relationships for children and how these can be eradicated, and finally the importance of ethics for the preschool-teacher?s actions in a given situation.Key questions in my text are; What role does the reflection have in the work at the preschool? How are children affected while this is happening? How important is close and secure relationships for young children and how can they be affected? How can one find a balance between care and learning?By writing my essay I reflect on myself and my own actions. This leads me to a greater selfawareness and greater understanding of my own feelings and my role in the dilemmas I face in my profession.The conclusion of my work is that the preschool organization is not given and it can be constructed in many different ways.

The purpose of this paper is to examine teachers' approach to popular culture in preschool. The questions we want answered are: What approach do educators have to popular culture in preschool and what underlies that approach? Is there a high - and low culture in preschool? If educators bring popular culture into the preschool, how then is it used? Do children?s culture influence everyday life in preschool? We have employed qualitative methods to seek answers to our questions. We conducted seven interviews with educators from four different preschools. The starting point for our study was the socio-cultural perspective because we examined people's cultures and how the meeting between them unfolds. We concluded that educators have a very ambivalent attitude towards popular culture in preschool.

Abstract People who have problems with the written language will face serious difficulties in todays society. Our social structur is based on the criterium that every individual has to be able to read and write, and for this reason it is important that pupils with learning difficulties receive help. The purpose of my investigation is to examine how children with reading- and writing difficulties can benefit throught creative methods. Children with reading- and writing difficulties are in need of these creative methods that exist today. Amongst all of our public healht issues, dyslexia is one of the biggest problem we have today and children are therefor in need of these creative methods. Through  qualitative interviews with two educationalists there has been established thad the creative way of working benefits children in many ways if it is preformed correctly.

This is qualitative study of, four teacher´s views on the use of iPad in teaching and learning. In addition, I will examine the disadvantages and advantages of iPad use as a teaching tool in preschools.My questions are:What is the practical use of tablets in preschools today?Are preschool teachers using the tablet as a teaching tool? If so, how?Is the use of tablets in preschools contributing to children´s social interaction, as well as between children and teachers` social interaction?The purpose of this study was to find out how the four teachers uses the iPad as a teaching tool in the interaction between children in preschool. I have chosen to use Vygotsky?s and John Dewey´s theories.

This graduate work is about didactic issues related to the preschool environment. The study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of how the preschool teachers can plan and design the indoor environment to promote children's development and learning. We will also examine how the work of the preschool indoor environment relates to the kindergarten curriculum. This will be examined through qualitative interviews with teachers at a preschool in Botkyrka municipality. The thesis is based on an inductive study method so the theoretical approach has been chosen by the informants' responses.

In each classroom there is a teacher with good intentions wanting what´s best for their pupils. But grades and tests in mathematics from 2009 in Sweden shows there is a crack between the subject being taught and the learning child. The purpose with this research is to find an understanding from a teaching and learning perspective of which teaching method is more suitable for teaching and learning mathematics by doing a comparison between two methods. The main question is:What are the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional and the laboratory method of teaching, supported by the two keywords teaching method and learning?This C-paper is based on a qualitative research aiming to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior.

 This essay is about how the educators can use the play as a tool to develop childrens social skills with eachother. The work is based on a qualitative study using a survey, where the educators can tell how they work within the play. I chose to use five different participants in my essay. All of them work in the same preschool, south of Stockholm.In this essay I have two questions. These two are:What do the educators tell about the importance of play for children's interaction?How do the educators tell how they work with the play to develop the children?s social interaction?Previous research shows that play gives the children opportunity to develop socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically.

The purpose of my study is to investigate teacher?s perceptions of their mission in the preschool class, and how they work to promote children?s written language development. What methods and working methods they use to awaken curiosity and motivate children to read and write. I am using the qualitative research method to get answers to my questions. I have made four qualitative interviews with four teachers in preschool classes from different schools.My questions are:What conceptions does teachers have about their mission in a preschool class?What different methods and approaches does teachers use to stimulate and wake children?s curiosity for reading and writing development?The theoretical basis for my study is the socio-cultural perspective, where learning occurs in interaction.

This study deals with play and the importance of meaning of play in the learning process. The aim is to look in to and analyze four preschool teacher´s beliefs and views about the importance of play for children´s learning and development. The study looks at two different preschools, one based on Reggio Emilia- and the other on Montessori- pedagogy, and the aim is to compare the different views and ways of working that the preschool educators have.The theoretical basis for this study is both rooted in a socio-cultural and constructivist perspective, and deals with the relationships between theoretical concepts mean as play, learning, way of working and pedagogy.The study is based on qualitative research methods that consist of interviews and participant observations. The person?s participants in the study consisted of four active preschool educators, who work in two different preschools.The results of the investigation show that the educators have similar views on the importance of play for the children´s learning process, and this also applies to their way of working.

The comprehensive aim of the essay is to discuss the abilities of developing individual, communicative and cooperative skills, related to The Swedish National Agency for Education, for pre-school children in Montessori and Reggio Emilia-inspired pre-schools. The importance of the choice of pre-school for lifelong learning is discussed and examined. The two educational profiles are presented and the theories of communication, collaboration and individual work are the basis for the analysis of the results. The collection of empirical data is done through observations and interviews with pre-school children. First, the informants construct a fantasy animal on their own and then together with a partner.