This essay is about how basic democratic values are formed in preschool. I have focused on children´s abilities to take on responsibility and also, on the importance of relationships in the development of democratic values in preschool.This essay starts in self-perceived dilemmas, based on my own feeling that the children should have more rights and that the preschool often has too many unreflected rules and routines. The dilemma has been reflected on and has been discussed in relation to other theories. I have also reflected on my own behavior as a teacher and to what extent this behavior has influence on the outcome.The relationship between the governing documents and the work in preschool has been reviewed with the conclusion that they are not synchronized with each other.The investigation shows several examples of the meaning of a good working relationship between teacher and child and that children´s own sense of responsibility should be taken seriously and be recognized as a resource.In the discussion with the theories a connection between democracy, relationships and children´s responsibility was detected. The meaning of a good working communication and the teacher?s significance for the development is central and is made visible and problematized.The concluding words show how the approach to democratic and fundamental values must come to a change in preschools, a change that the teacher partly is responsible for.

The aim of this study was to investigate preschool children's perceptions of trees in and it was done through qualitative interviews. The children were drawing trees and told me what the tree needs to grow and what happens to the leaves in autumn. In a playful way, they learned more about trees and the purpose was also to examine whether they had acquired new experiences and thoughts on the trees, photosynthesis and decomposition. Then the children were interviewed again to see if their answers were different. The results showed that the children gave different answers at the second interview.

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.

In this report, a case study of conditions for Swedish language development in children of immigrant origin is presented, and its results explored. The boundaries of the case study are defined as preschool pedagogues? facilitation of Swedish language development through co-learning, in children of immigrant origin in an ethnically segregated urban area. Concepts central to the report include dialogue, second language learning and perspectives on language difficulties. For the theoretical background of the report, a basic sociocultural theorem is used, which links language as well as other areas of development to verbal interaction in a social context.

My essay deals with a problem in our society which, in my opinion, has been neglected. Even today in 2011, the quality of schools and preschools is extremely varied. This has been a problem for a long time and not nearly enough attention has been paid to it.In my essay I have tried to understand what it is that causes these differences in quality between preschools. With help from literature and research studies I have examined what quality in preschool really means.My starting point is an account of my own experience at the preschool where I currently work and a description of a study visit I made to another preschool which operates in a very different way to the one where I work. I wanted to investigate what the consequences are for children who grow up attending preschools of different quality.

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate how preschool teachers reflect on the phenomenon of conflict, and to find out what children think about this in relation to Nanny method. I referred to the following questions:? How to reflect pre-school teachers on conflict management at the preschool?? What methods / approaches tell teachers that they use in conflict management?? How the children reflect on their experiences on conflict management at the preschool?In the background, Im trying to define the word conflict, and I also point to the methods and models that are already in conflict management. It is clear that a key ingredient in the conflict is communication, the question is how well we communicate with each other?I've done interviews with three active educators and four children to study this subject.

Systematic quality work in preschool ? How preschool teachers thinking and working with systematic quality work The purpose of this study was to investigate how Swedish preschool teachers thinking and working with systematic quality work. All Swedish preschools are required to work systematically with quality. This involves several steps that follow each other in a specific order. It includes following up, documenting and evaluating preschool activities.

Some children develop externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at an early age. Previous research has often treated these children as a homogeneous group, the purpose of this study is to show that this group of children is in fact heterogeneous. Data from theSOFIAstudy was used and preschool pedagogues were informants. The sample contained 2121 boys and girls between 3-5 years. Groups of children with the behavior problems and the risk factors AD/HD symptoms, fearlessness and callous-unemotional traits were created.

According to international and national literacy studies (PISA, PIRLS) Swedish boys are inferior to Swedish girls when it comes to reading. There can be numerous reasons to that statement. One is that Swedish teachers require more knowledge about communication as an important component in literacy. In spite of this shortcoming, Swedish girls manage to gain sufficient literacy. Why is that? The aim of this survey was to examine if there were any differences between girls and boys regarding communication skills when they begin in school.The main questions taken in account were:Which differences and/or similarities in communication skills are discernible between boys and girls this particular preschool?How do boys and girls communicate with each other in different room contexts on this particular preschool?           To be able to answer the questions, I adopted observations and audio recordings from children aged five.

In this study I want to survey which plays preschool teachers thinks are accepted in preschool and wish aren?t. I also found it relevant to investigate when and why they choose to interrupt a play and what happens when they do? My interest for the possibility that we might judge by some values was the reason for my question formulations and for the follow-up questions in my interview. For my survey I used semi-structured interviews to get a deeper knowledge about this domain and for the opportunity to ask further supplementary questions.The results show how preschool teachers accept most of the plays and that those plays that aren?t accepted and in need of being disrupted or to be changed mostly are plays where someone could be hurt or violated. It also shows that the preschool teachers think that they should regulate or interrupt children´s plays as little as possible because most of the time interruption turns the plays in a negative direction.My conclusion is that preschool teachers are willing to see children?s intentions but there are also norms and values that regulate what´s accepted or not..

Syftet med min undersökning är att jämföra hur svenska pedagoger arbetar med sång och musik på en förskola med barn som har svenska som modersmål respektive en förskola med barn som har ett annat modersmål än svenska. Jag observerade och intervjuade tre kvinnliga förskollärare från två olika förskolor. Resultatet visade att pedagogerna på de båda förskolorna arbetade mycket med det språkliga, men på olika sätt. Pedagogerna som arbetade med barn med ett annat modersmål än svenska hade mer språkliga mål och syften med sitt sång- och musikarbete och framhävde mer den språkliga förståelsen medan pedagogen som arbetade med barn som hade svenska som modersmål mer såg på vikten av att göra det lättare för barnen att minnas, samt på utvecklingen av det sociala, exempelvis samspel och gemenskap. Pedagogen som arbetade med barn som hade svenska som modersmål, gav barnen mer utrymme för samtal och frågor än vad pedagogerna på den andra förskolan gjorde och gav mer utrymme för båda könen.

AbstractGroup processes within the free play- in a socialpsychology perspective In our socialpsychology study we have demonstrated how children?s free play is by observing 2-5 years old children in preschool. We have also interviewed two preschool teachers. The major subject in this study is how children?s group processes expresses in their free play.

By conducting qualitative interviews five pedagogues and eight children in the ages three to five have answered questions regarding environmental work in preschool.The purpose of this report was to examine how environmental work is pursued at two preschools and what children at these preschools think about environmental work. Recycling of garbage and small cultivation projects together with the children is what the pedagogues consider being the most common environmental work at their particular preschools. In the professional role of the pedagogue if can be clearly seen what special interests he or she has.Most of the children associate the forest with some kind of snack and animals. Half of the interviewed children also think about animals when they visit the forest. Half of the interviewed children also have an understanding of where peels from fruits should be tossed, but no one knows the meaning of the word environment.

The purpose of this study is to investigate witch knowledge and thoughts children will have about the term of floating and sinking, and witch possibilities there is to make various knowledge visible in preschool physics through playing with water. The study also concern the differences and similarities between two different groups of age who have participated in the study. The study was carried out by an activity with participant observation and feedback interviews afterwards. The result shows that the possibilities to physics are many in preschool. The children expressed new thoughts and ideas who concern other phenomena in physics during the investigation and discussed similar experiments and material to examine.

In my essay, I will start with a story that represents my dilemma from my own experience. In the story, dealing with children that challenges teachers and other children in preschool, I wonder how I as a teacher can be fair and inclusive when I feel insufficient on several occasions. I reflect on my own approach because it can be difficult when we encounter children with different needs and abilities in preschool.I write the essay in experience-based essay form. The essays form makes it possible for me to reflect on my own experience and by using selected theoretical perspectives processing my dilemma. In my essay, I explore my own approach, what is meant by fairness and how the concept can be interpreted and how I can in the best way include all children in activities.I conclude that fairness from a perspective can be seen from the five criteria similarity, need, performance, compensation and rights.