Studiens syfte är att studera förskollärares uppfattningar kring sin yrkesroll i förhållande till att skapa trygghet hos barn. Fem förskollärare intervjuades om sina tankar och åsikter kring trygga barn i förskolan och hur de arbetar kring trygghet i allmänhet. Dessa ljudfiler transkriberades. Resultatet visar att förskollärarna har vissa skilda åsikter kring trygghet i förskolan men samtidigt mycket gemensamt trots att de alla arbetar på olika avdelningar och med olika barn. Resultatet har delats upp i fyra kategorier utifrån relevans för studien: förskollärarnas syn på trygghet, faktorer som påverkar barns trygghet i förskolan, förskollärarnas förhållningssätt till att skapa trygghet och trygghetens betydelse för barns utveckling och lärande.

The Swedish preschool-model interlaces care, nurturing and learning and is organised to solve twin functions; providing children a playbased learning-environment and enabling parents to combine parenthood with work. The model was developed within the social sector then incorporated into the educational system 1998. This shift and the model´s “unique characteristics” praised by OECD formed the point of departure for this study. The aim of the thesis is to describe and analyse the discussions and negotiations shaping the Swedish preschool-model during 1968-1998. The research questions address: discursive themes; actors involved; governmental intentions; claims about the preschool´s task, pedagogical content and the preschool´s institutional identity and relationship to the institutions: social service, school and family. The study utilized abductive textual analysis inspired by discourse analysis and narrative approaches. Main text sources are: official reports, bills, steering documents, the preschool teachers´ periodical 1968 -1998 and a media debate. The results illuminate preschool-teachers´ struggle for a pedagogical identity and the construction of the educareconcept as a flexible and pragmatic solution to several societal interests and values. Governmental intentions concerning equality, emancipation and democratization have had great influence on the process in combination with a recurring theme about a revised preschool pedagogy with a strengthened focus on children´s learning. Political efforts to foster a preschool for all in a future are identified and described as one of the main discursive themes. Different standpoints about earlier school start are analyzed.  The overall result is that the framework and core features of the model laid down by the National Commission on Child care still has a great impact on the launched syllabus (Lpfö) in the end of the period as on the curriculum in a broader sense.

High drop-out rates in the sub-standards in developing countries prompted the researcher to investigate preschool education in first and third world countries, and attend to the related problem of school readiness. The rapidly expanding Educare preschool project in the rural area ot Keiskammahoek in Ciskei was investigated as an example ot community-based low-cost preschool education. A final sample of 41 children who had attended Educare Centres were matched to a control group on age, sex, primary school (where possible), and breadwinner's occupation. The Abbreviated Aptitude Test for School Beginners (standardised on Xhosa-speaking school beginners) was used to test tor significant differences between the two groups six to seven weeks atter school entry. A t-test was used on raw scores and chi-squared tests on staves. No signiticant difference was found between the means of the experimental and control groups. On a subjective rating scale for general-linguistic development and socio-emotional adjustment, no significant difference between means of the experimental and control groups was found. The experimental group's tailure to perform better than the control group, could be ascribed to various reasons, amongst others, the possible shortcoming that the pairs were not matched on intelligence, severe lack ot equipment in Educare Centres, large numbers of children in the majority of groups, uniform programmes for a wide age range, irregular attendance ot children, the low level of training of supervisors and poor home conditions. Scholastic abilities of school beginners in the Keiskammahoek District, as tested, were poor. Results deviated grossly from standardised norms. The expected percentage for the combined categories Very Weak and Weak is, tor instance, 31%; in this investigation, however, 73% of the testees fell in these two classes. Chronologically older children generally performed better. A highly significant difference existed between testees under six years and those over six years. This investigation indicated the need for better organised preschool education in rural areas in Ciskei. proposals with substantial financial implications are: Better training of para-professional staff by qualified staff. Training of qualified staff to provide expertise in preschool education in Ciskei. Provision of sufficient educational materials by Government subsidies and private sponsors. Institution of bridge classes by the Ciskei Department of Education to promote school readiness. Suggestions without financial implications include: An investigation of regulations regarding entrance age for basic education. Only in exceptional cases should children under six be admitted. Daily programmes in Educare Centres geared towards learning readiness without becoming academic. An age limit of three years for admittance to Educare Centres. Very young children should be catered for separately. Liaison between Sub A teachers and Educare staff. / Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in

Informal negotiations "Children´s participation and influence in School-Age Educare centre” Within the activities at a School-Age Educare centre (SAE-centre), there are several formal occasions where the children participate and have influence. These occasions are most often initiated by educators. This study illustrates children’s reasoning about various ways they make use of when trying to extend their influence in their everyday lives at the informal arena at the SAE-centre. The intention was to investigate the strategies and abilities used by children to influence informal situations. The study shows childrens reasoning, how negotiations and decisions can shift levels of participation as formulated in Hart's (1992) participation model. Earlier research shows how democracy is expressed in schools, but above all, how democracy, participation and influence relate to curriculum and the intention to turn children into able citizens of a democracy. This study illustrates children’s reasoning about various ways they make use of when trying to extend their influence in their everyday lives at the informal arena at the SAE-centre. The result exposed four different abilities: the large mass, the benefits of compliance, the ability to see the mood and the skill of spotting the weak link. Impact capital as a concept is inspired by Bourdieu's theories of human capital. It gives a logical picture of children's different ways to get the upper hand in negotiations. / Informella förhandlingar ”Barns delaktighet och inflytande i fritidshem” I fritidshemmets verksamhet finns det flera formella tillfällen där barn är delaktiga och har inflytande. Dessa tillfällen är oftast initierade av pedagogerna. Undersökningen försöker belysa hur barn orienterar sig och påverkar sin vardag i de informella arenorna under fritidshemstiden. Avsikten var att studera vilka strategier och förmågor som används av barnen för att påverka i informella situationer. Undersökningen syftar till att visa hur förhandlingar och beslut kan förskjuta nivåer av delaktighet med Harts (1992) delaktighetsmodell som utgångspunkt. Tidigare forskning visar hur demokrati tar sig i uttryck i skolan, men framför allt hur demokrati, delaktighet och inflytande relaterar till skolans styrdokument och skolans intention att forma barn till goda demokratiska medborgare. Tillvägagångssättet i undersökningen är att låta barn, genom gruppintervjuer, ge oss en insyn i hur de påverkar pedagogers beslut och vilka strategier de använder sig av i förhandlingar med pedagoger. Resultatet exponerade fyra olika påverkanskapital: den stora massan, följsamhetens fördelar, att skåda humör och konsten att se den svaga länken. Påverkanskapital som begrepp är inspirerad av Bourdieus teorier om humankapital. Det ger en logisk bild av barns olika sätt att förhandla till sin egen fördel.

This essay explores the way pedagogues in school age educare centre reason when it comes toworking with counteracting traditional gender roles in their work. Studies show that there are shortcomings in the work of gender equality in schools and pre-schools and that there are stereotypical gender roles among students. Studies also show that pedagogues have difficulty using the knowledge they possess on the subject in practice. To investigate how the schoolage educare pedagogues respond to this, I have started from the questions ”What are the pedagogues views on working with gender equality and counter acting traditional gender roles?”, ”What working methods do the leisure time pedagogues assume work to counteract traditional gender roles?” and ”What difficulties do the pedagogues experience in working with just that and what conditions are needed?”. To get the answers to these research questions, I have used a qualitative method where I conducted interviews with pedagogues from two different school age educare centres. The results show that the pedagogues have managed to find a number of ways of working to get the students to participate in activities outside those that are stereotypical for their gender. The pedagogues consider themselves tohave a gender-mindset in their work, but it’s still based on a male norm. This theory of themale norm is based on Yvonne Hirdman´s (2003) theory of gender order in society. Furthermore, the study also shows that the pedagogues do not consider themselves to have theright conditions to continue developing the work but need more time for discussion, amongother things. / Denna uppsats undersöker hur pedagogerna i fritidshemmet resonerar kring att arbeta med att motverka traditionella könsroller i sitt arbete. Tidigare forskning från skola och förskola visar att det finns brister i jämställdhetsarbetet och det finns stereotypa könsroller bland eleverna. Forskningen visar också att pedagogerna har svårt att använda sig av den kunskap de besitter inom ämnet i praktiken. För att undersöka hur pedagogerna i fritidshemmet ställer sig tilldetta har jag utgått från frågeställningarna ”Vad har pedagogerna för syn på att arbeta med jämställdhet och att motverka traditionella könsroller?”, ”Vilka arbetssätt anser pedagogerna på fritidshemmet fungerar för att motverka traditionella könsroller?” samt ”Vad upplever pedagogerna för svårigheter i arbetet med just det och vilka förutsättningar behövs?”. För attfå svar på dessa forskningsfrågor har jag använt mig av en kvalitativ metod där jag genomfört intervjuer med pedagoger på två olika fritidshem. Resultatet visar att pedagogerna lyckats hitta ett antal arbetssätt för att få eleverna att delta i aktiviteter utanför de som är stereotypa för sitt kön. Personalen anser sig ha ett genustänk i sitt arbete, men tycks ändå utgå från enmanlig norm. Denna teori om mannen som norm utgår ifrån Yvonne Hirdmans (2003) teoriom en genusordning i samhället. Vidare visar undersökningen också att pedagogerna inte anser sig ha de rätta förutsättningarna för att fortsätta utveckla arbetet utan behöver bland annat mer tid för diskussion.

Den här studien undersöker hur fritidshemspersonalen upplever att de påverkas av resurserna som de har att tillgå och hur de kompenserar för eventuella brister. Studien är kvalitativ och vi har använt oss av intervjuer som metod. Tre lärare mot fritidshem intervjuades och berättade om hur de arbetar för att skapa kvalitativ undervisning på fritidshemmet. Resultatet visade att man inte alls ser de materiella resurserna som de viktiga utan ser en större vikt i personalen och kollegorna i verksamheten. Kollegorna på fritidshemmet är även en stor motivationsfaktor. Fritidshemmen lägger enligt personalen som intervjuats stor vikt vid det sociala lärandet och lägger ner mycket tid på det. Utifrån studien som har gjorts får vi uppfattningen att de socioekonomiska skillnaderna mellan de olika områdena också speglar sig i undervisningen på fritidshemmet. Fritidshemmet som har ett välutvecklat utvecklingsarbete har också bättre förutsättningar att genomföra kvalitativ undervisning med kollegialt lärande som stor styrka i det arbetet. Att lärare mot fritidshem samarbetar för att skapa goda förutsättningar på skolan är också en framgångsnyckel för kvalitativ undervisning. / This study investigates how after-school staff feel they are affected by the resources available to them and how they compensate for any deficiencies. The study is qualitative and we have used interviews as a method. Three school-age educare teachers were interviewed and talked about how they work to create quality teaching at the school-age educare. The result showed that the material resources are not seen as important at all but see a greater importance in the staff and colleagues in the business. The colleagues at the leisure center are also a great motivational factor. According to the teachers, school-age educare attach great importance to social learning and spend a lot of time on it. Based on the study that has been conducted, we can see that the socio-economic differences between the different areas are also reflected in the school and the teaching at the school-age educare. The school-age educare that has a well-developed development work also has better conditions to conduct qualitative teaching with collegial learning as a major strength in that work. That teachers at school-age educare cooperate to create good conditions at the school is also a key to success for quality teaching.

The schoolyard, an area that is used continuously during the day by teachers and students, becomes a natural area for students to form social relationships and activate themselves outside the classroom. The schoolyard's possibilities to create these relationships and activities is directly connected to how it is designed. This study deals with these possibilities and after-school educare teachers' perception of the schoolyard as a play area and the students' tendencies regarding the use of its various spaces. Previous research shows that varied spaces with directly intended purposes have an inspiring effect on students' play. The philosopher Henri Lefebvre writes about three dimensions of space, the materially perceived, the imagined, and the lived. The study uses these to form an idea of after-school teachers' and students' opportunities in the schoolyard. Semi-structured interviews with after-school educare teachers were carried out to find out their view of the schoolyard, taking into account the students' social relations, motor development and educational purpose. Also observations of the students' stay in the schoolyard were made to answer the study's research questions. The results show that after-school educare teachers want greater opportunities to use the schoolyard as a space for didactic work, with varying play spaces. It also shows that after-school educare teachers' approach has an important role in the students' social relations and motor development in the schoolyard. The discussion includes the spatial dimensions in relation to the students' social relationships and motor development in the schoolyard. In addition, it is discussed in relation to the schoolyard for educational purposes.

Pre-schools, as the entry point to formal education are increasingly expected to play an invaluable role in the promotion of peace. As such, this study sets out to investigate the nature and extent to which one pre-school, namely Khulqnathi Educare Gentre in Pietermaritzburg (KEG), adheres to the 'peaceful schools' model with respect to its organization, curriculum, learning methods and the handling of conflict. The research approach taken in this study was qualitative and exploratory, relying on self-administered questionnaires, reviewing literature and documentary analysis. The researcher also spent some time at the school to observe day-to-day activities. Parents and teachers constituted the study's respondents. The study reveals an innovative approach to teaching at KEG in which peace education is treated as an integral part of the entire learning and teaching processes. This innovation gets impetus from the school's constitution, which endorses peace education. Peace values are promoted through the curriculum in general, and in particular, the teaching and learning methods and in the school's approaches to handling conflict. Peace education does not stand out as an explicit goal. Rather, it is an integral compc;ment of the four cornerstones of the KEG's learning and teaching processes. Approaches to resolving conflict through dialogue at the school further demonstrate the school's adherence to the peaceful school model. A close working relationship between the school staff and parents ensures that children are exposed to peace values both at home and at school. In summary, the questionnaires, observations and the school documents lead to the conclusion that KEG is closely conforms to the peaceful school model. The study also offers some general insights on peace education in pre-schools and some recommendations specifically meant for Khulanthi Educare's situation. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

The purpose of this study has been to investigate the influence of children in school-age educare from a child`s perspective. By walks and talks as a method, the endeavor has been to approach the children`s experiences and thoughts about their everyday life environment. The result shows that children`s influence is largely conditioned by rules and reservations, of which some activities and materials are particularly limited. One conclusion is that children`s ability to influence is dependent on the pedagogy´s children`s perspective, as well as the ability and willingness to approach the child`s perspective. / Undersökningen i denna studie har avsett att undersöka barns inflytande i fritidshem ur barns perspektiv. Genom samtalspromenader som metod har strävan varit att närma sig barnens upplevelser, erfarenheter och tankar om sin vardagslivsmiljö. Resultatet visar att barnens inflytande i stor omfattning är villkorat med regler och förbehåll varav vissa aktiviteter och material är särskilt begränsat. En slutsats är att barns möjligheter till inflytande är beroende av pedagogers barnperspektiv samt förmågan och viljan att närma sig barns perspektiv.

The break is an important element in educational activities. Previous research shows that the free form of the break gives much more leeway for students to act independently but that it is sometimes at the expense of some students. The purpose of this study is to further investigate how one works within the recreational home to counter social exclusion and exclusion among students at the break. The study has an emphasis on data collected from interviews. These have been conducted with professionals working in the leisure home. Results are reported in four themes identified in the processing of collected empirical data. The study concludes that staff attach great importance to norms. Regarding the work towards creating exclusion, much of their work during the break refers to being an active part of the students' play. This is to be able to communicate inclusive norms and create a common sense among the students. / Rasten är ett viktigt element inom pedagogiska verksamheter. Tidigare forskning har betonat att rastens natur och den frihet som medföljer utgör en plattform för elever att ta till större handlingsutrymme som ibland kan resultera i att vissa elever blir socialt exkluderade. Det blir således ibland blir på bekostnad av de elever som hamnar utanför och socialt exkluderas från gemenskapen. Denna studie har som syfte att närmare undersöka hur man inom fritidshemmet jobbar för att motverka social exkludering och utanförskap bland elever på rasten. Studien bygger på insamlade data från genomförda intervjuer med verksamma inom fritidshemmet. Resultat redovisas i fyra teman som identifierats vid bearbetning av insamlade empiri. Studien konkluderar att personalen fäster stor vikt vid normer. Beträffande arbetet mot att utanförskap skapas avser stor del av deras arbete under rasten till att vara en aktiv del i elevernas lek. Detta för att kunna förmedla inkluderande normer och skapa en samsyn bland eleverna.