The aim of this essay was to examine the way preschool teachers and children converse during school meals, and also the way preschool teachers start and develop conversations during meals. The conversations were analyzed from the topic of conversation and the teachers' ways of using language acts such as questions, remarks, exhortations. The study was based on observations, tape recording and contact schedule. The result shows that the topic of conversation is significant for how involved teachers are in conversations during meals. The result also shows how conversations develop or end depending on what language acts teachers use.

The purpose of this study was to find out what the educators view on the working method Matte på burk in preschool looked like. I also wanted to find out what the educators thought about the working method. My questions are:How does the educators in preschool experience the method Matte på burk?What do the educators in preschool believe that Matte på burk can give the children?The study was carried out through a qualitative interview study with six educators. During the interviews with the educators it became apparent that the method not only focused on mathematical exercises.

No previous studies have been conducted on elementary school in Sweden about children`s thoughts about the first animals on earth. The work takes up the children`s ideas of the first animals and the difference between girls and boys knowledge. The purpose of this work was to determine if student`s views are consistent with the science know today. In the interview, five girls and five boys participated. Mankind is asking where it all began, today we know that the first life arose for 4 billion years ago and it was from the water.

International studies show that literacy skills have deteriorated among Swedish students. Empirical evidence states that before being able to learn to read it is important to have phonological awareness. From this perspective, an intervention study was launched to examine whether pupils´ phonological awareness could be enhanced through the work of a special model during a limited time. The aim of the study is to investigate whether six pupils in preschool develop phonological awareness based on Bornholmsmodellen during a limited period of time. The control group was made up of the remaining pupils in the preschool class.

Abstract The Act of Education outlines that good quality in schools and preschools, focusing on continuous improvement, promote children?s learning and this in turn is on of the most important factors for child and youth welfare.This thesis was based on the authors´ pre-understanding that there are opportunities to improvement in the quality of preschools. The focus was on studying how analyses can provide a base for quality work, and the purpose of this study was to identify and describe the analytical methods that can be used in the process of continual improvement for quality development in preschools.A qualitative study was conducted in two preschools that have received quality awards. It was conducted through interviews with the preschool principals and through studies of various documents.In the comparative analysis of theory and empirical data, it was made clear that there was a regular analysing process going on at the investigated preschools and an emphasize of reflection could also be identified. Keywords: Quality development, preschool, analytical methods, processes, reflection .

Our lives in urban areas are becoming more and more inactive with negative effects on our mental and physical health. Natural environments and physical activity have the power to both prevent and reduce mental fatigue. Meanwhile we engage ourselves with physical activity, the nature fascinates us with its complexity. In April 2006, some of the visitors to the recreational area of Skrylle were asked to fill in a questionnaire which included questions about their habits within physical activity and the experience of nature. The questionnaires were then divided into two groups: those filled out by persons who exercise on regular basis (i.e. three or several times/week) and those who rarely exercise.

Chlorinated solvents are common contaminants in soil and water. Under anaerobic conditions microbes are capable of transforming chlorinated solvents into ethylene which would result in a remediation of the contaminated area. In order to use natural attenuation as a remediation method evidence of continuous degradation is required. Furthermore, the degradation must occur at a sufficient rate and continuous monitoring of the site is needed until the demanded levels are achieved. A field study was performed on the basis of data from a dry-cleaning facility contaminated mainly by perchloroethylene.

The primary aim of this essay is to analyse, contextualise and problematise the scientific and technological goals of android science. The starting point of this investigation is the history of automata and man?s attempts to recreate himself by technological means. Drawing on the no-tion of boundary work this essay also analyses the efforts of the proponents of android science to establish and demarcate a new interdisciplinary field. A secondary aim of the essay is to evaluate the scientific support for the uncanny valley hypothesis and to investigate how this hypothesis contributes to android science.

April 28th 2010 the Swedish parliament decided that the combined teacher exam will be divided into four parts. This means that the education for preschool teachers and primary school teachers will have to be separated and future teachers will have to decide before their studies what ages they want to work with. To investigate if this could affect the quality of the choice I have interviewed 5 new teachers from the combined teachers program about what ages they wanted to teach before they began to study and what ages they wanted to teach after completed studies. I did this to see whether the choice was influenced by the educations or not. It turned out that all 5 had an idea of what ages they wanted to teach in before they began the educations and only one of my interviewees changed her mind during the studies.

The aim of this study is to examine how preschools contribute to the forming of identity in children, with a specific focus on the quiet and socially withdrawn child. How do the teachers describe the quiet child and the socially withdrawn child? Are there any opportunities for children to be quiet/withdrawn in preschools? These questions have also been analysed from a gender perspective. The method chosen is qualitative method. Nine preschool teachers from two Swedish preschools have been interviewed.

The purpose with this study was to examine what kind of knowledge children in preschool have regarding what plants are, and what plants need in order to grow and survive. By means of qualitative interviews I have let 12 children in the ages of 3 to 5 years answer questions regarding the subject.From the results it is obvious that the children in the early age groups already have some knowledge of what a plant is and can also mention a few basic factors for a plants survival. In addition, the results show that their knowledge increases with the childs age and that the conversations become more distinct with more resulting questions the older the children are.Keywords. Enviroment, plants needs, Preeschool, science..

This essay is about the meeting of the pedagogic mission and the reality of the conditions in preschools. It is about the frustrations that I, as a pedagogue, experience when I cannot fulfill this mission. An example of this is working when understaffed.My purpose is the acknowledgment of two main areas of the curriculum: caring and learning. This essay demonstrates the diversity of the occupation and it ?s constant need of positioning.

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.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the impact on children playing at a preschool yard that is designed with traditional playground equipment, and a nature-like yard without traditional playground equipment. How these respective environments influence children?s play, which other factors in the external environment that affect the game and whether the theories in the literature correspond with the results were important questions for the essay. To answer these questions a case study was applied onto two specific preschool centers, both located in Malmö. Through literature studies, inventories, observations and interviews with staff and children, a picture become clear of how the children use the yard and how their play is affected by the design of it.

The purpose of this study was to use qualitative interviews with students at Södertörn University to find out what drives the men who begin to study for preschool teachers, how they are treated and how they are influenced by others. I also wanted to find out what the informants believe is the cause to why so few men apply to the program and what they think need to happen to change this.This is a qualitative study based on the selected students' experiences. In order to get different perspectives, I chose to interview three students and former students. One of them chose to terminate their studies after half the time, the second is at the end of the program and the third graduated a couple of years ago and has been working for a while.I originated in the theory of ethical concepts of gender, gender contract, "token" and hegemonic masculinity. Previous research addresses that the perception of men in pre-schools can look very different.