<p>The purpose of this study was to examine through interviews, how preschool teachers describe educational documentation and how they use this educational tool in their everyday activity. To get an overview of what educational documentation can be, the study takes its startingpoint in the educational movement in Reggio Emila in Italy after the second World War, where educational documentation was an important part of the educational philosophy. The background also gives an overwiev of the policy documents for preschools in Sweden. The study shows that educational documentation run the risk of being confused with or reduced to the children’s folders, where the aim is to describe with a few chosen pictures the child’s growth trough the years in preschool. But this is no educational documentation. The study pointed at the educational factor as an important aspect of how teachers describe their work with educational documentation. Further and recurring education is essential in the dynamic profession of preschool education. Leadership seems to be important, especially for the teachers that has not had any further education. The time for work with educational documentation is described as adequate, but when the question of joint refexion came up, the time was said to be too short. The dialogue that is important for the educational documentation does not take place. ICT, <em>Information and Communication Technology</em>, plays an essential part in today´s work with educational documentation. The access to technical equipment and knowledge how to use it is varying and in need of improvement.</p>

The purpose of this study was to examine through interviews, how preschool teachers describe educational documentation and how they use this educational tool in their everyday activity. To get an overview of what educational documentation can be, the study takes its startingpoint in the educational movement in Reggio Emila in Italy after the second World War, where educational documentation was an important part of the educational philosophy. The background also gives an overwiev of the policy documents for preschools in Sweden. The study shows that educational documentation run the risk of being confused with or reduced to the children’s folders, where the aim is to describe with a few chosen pictures the child’s growth trough the years in preschool. But this is no educational documentation. The study pointed at the educational factor as an important aspect of how teachers describe their work with educational documentation. Further and recurring education is essential in the dynamic profession of preschool education. Leadership seems to be important, especially for the teachers that has not had any further education. The time for work with educational documentation is described as adequate, but when the question of joint refexion came up, the time was said to be too short. The dialogue that is important for the educational documentation does not take place. ICT, Information and Communication Technology, plays an essential part in today´s work with educational documentation. The access to technical equipment and knowledge how to use it is varying and in need of improvement.

The aim of this study is to examine the way preschool teachers relate to, and apply the concept of teaching in various aspects. Furthermore, this study has the purpose of portraying the constructions of the concept of teaching, that give meaning and a course of action in their goal-directed work. The following questions are the starting point for the study: How do preschool teachers interpret the concept of teaching in the preschools practice? How do preschool teachers construct the concept of teaching in their team of co-workers? In what ways is the concept of teaching expressed in projects on the preschools educational documentation (processvägg)? To conduct our study a qualitative research method is applied. We interviewed eight preschool teachers from six different preschools in Stockholm county with sound recording. Further we accumulated photos and notes of each preschools educational documentation. The theoretical framework includes an social constructivistic perspective along with the concepts of the impact of language as well as discourses power. The aim and questions of the study is answered through the appliance of the theoretical framework which is presented in the study’s result and analysis part. The main results of the study are presented in three main categories that present the conclusion that preschool teachers do not perceive the concept of teaching as unclear. However there are different interpretations and discourses that, in collaboration, can cause a difference in how teaching is constructed, practiced and expressed. The preschool teacher's responsibility and leadership is shown to have an impact on how the concept of teaching is constructed. The impact of construction is shown through the use of language and discourses power in their team of co-workers, from planning to expression in practice and in educational documentation.

Syftet med studien är att bidra med ökad kunskap och medvetenhet om förskollärarens användande av den fria leken i relation till förskolans fysiska miljö och barns lärande och utvecklingsprocesser. Detta område anser jag är av stor vikt att studera för att se förskollärarprofessionens bidragande faktor i den fria leken och den fysiska miljön på förskolan. Metoden som valdes var kvalitativa intervjuer med sex förskollärare vid skilda avdelningar på fyra olika kommunala förskolor men i samma kommun. Resultatet visar att förskollärarna till stor del använder sig utav observationer av barnen i den fria leken för att se hur leken fungerar i interaktion med den fysiska miljön, och hur barnen samspelar med varandra. Samt att de sedan förändrar den fysiska miljön på förskolan när leken behöver utvecklas och få ett uppsving. Det har även visat sig i intervjuerna att förskollärarna diskuterar den fria leken tillsammans med kollegor om hur den fysiska miljön skall förändras för att utveckla den fria leken. De yngsta barnens fria lek och undersökningsprocesser kommer mer sällan till ytan då de äldre mer verbala får mer inflytande via konversationer och intervjuer. Det resulterar i att färre diskussioner bland förskollärarna sker kring de yngsta barnens fria lek och utforskningsprocesser och dess inverkan till att förändra miljön och tillföra inspirerande lekmaterial. Men att de som ser barnen som kompetenta i sina utforskningar av den fysiska miljön oftare ser till att utforma meningsfulla aktiviteter och stimulerande miljöer för de yngsta barnen. Alla förskollärare i studien är överens om att en central del i arbetet med barnen vid alla aktiviteter på förskolan, är att se och lyssna in barnens behov och intressen. Detta för att kunna utveckla meningsfulla aktiviteter och den fysiska miljön efter den aktuella barngruppens behov. / The aim of the study is to contribute with increased knowledge and awareness of the preschool teacher's use of the free play in relation to the physical environment of the preschool and children's learning and development processes. This area I believe is of great importance to study to see the preschool teacher profession's contributing factor in the free play and the physical environment at the preschool. The method chosen was qualitative interviews with six preschool teachers at different departments at four different municipal pre-schools but in the same municipality. The result shows that preschool teachers to a great extent use observations of the children in the free play to see how the game works in interaction with the physical environment, and how the children interact with each other. And that they then change the physical environment at the preschool when the children’s playing needs to be developed and get a boost. It can also be seen in the interviews that preschool teachers discuss the free play together with colleagues about how the physical environment should be changed to develop the free play. The youngest children 's free play and exploration processes rarely come to the surface as the older more verbal children get more influence through conversations and interviews. As a result, fewer discussions among preschool teachers take place around the youngest children 's free play and exploration processes and its impact on changing the environment and adding inspirational play material. But those who see the children as competent in their exploration of the physical environment more often make sure to design meaningful activities and stimulating environments for the youngest children. All preschool teachers in the study agree that a central part of the work with the children at all activities at the preschool is to see and listen to the children's needs and interests. This in order to be able to develop meaningful activities and the physical environment according to the needs of the group of children in question.

The purpose of this study is to find out what the educators idea of educational documentations in ratio to childrens inclusion and impact in pre-school are, together with the child's own perception of the concepts of documentation. We proceeded from the following issues: What are the significance of educational work according to the teachers? What is the teachers idea of a childs impact and inclusion in educational documentation? In what way do the children have influence over, and inclusion in educational documentation? What are the childrens feelings of the documentations? In order to find answers to our questions, we used qualitative examinations consisting of seven educators and seven children from various pre-schools in Stockholm, and thereby, we have analyzed our results. As our theoretical frame, we used ourselves of Vygotskijs and Säljö's sociocultural perspective that is about "progress and learning", which is achieved by interaction and cooperation in a social context. The result shows that the aim of educational documentation is to reveal the childs development and learning, and also to involve the parents by putting up documents on the wall. It is important for children to both participate and influence both the documentation and other sections of the school where it affects the children, but this is sometimes hard to fulfill in all situations. The educators realises that to make the children participate, they simply have to rely on the child group and their interest. They also have given activities that everyone should follow. The lack of time is an obstacle for all educators, but what they all have in common is that having the participation and weight of the child would benefit the childs growth.

Tidigare forskning om pedagogisk dokumentation visar att det mest är äldre barn som är delaktiga. Däremot skulle det gynna de yngre barnen eftersom pedagogisk dokumentation kan bidra med anknytning och kan skapa en trygg relation. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur förskollärare resonerar kring yngre barns delaktighet och inflytande i pedagogisk dokumentation. Forskningsfrågorna är: Vad berättar förskollärare om pedagogisk dokumentation med yngre barn? Vad resonerar förskollärare om gällande yngre barns delaktighet och inflytande i pedagogisk dokumentation? Hur ges barnen möjlighet att vara delaktiga och ha inflytande i pedagogisk dokumentation enligt förskollärarna? Studiens empiriska material samlades in genom fokusgrupper. Resultatet visade att det som påverkar yngre barns delaktighet mest är att alla inte har det verbala språket vilket medför att förskollärarna tolkar barnens olika kommunikations uttryck. För att tolka så korrekt som möjligt är reflektioner med arbetslaget en viktig tillgång. Slutsatsen är att dokumentation inte blir pedagogisk om inte barnen är delaktiga. / Previous research on educational documentation shows that it is mostlyolder children who participate. On the other hand, it would benefit theyounger children because educational documentation can contribute toconnection and can create a secure relationship. The purpose of the study isto investigate how preschool teachers reason about younger children´sparticipation and influence in educational documentation. The researchquestions are: What do preschool teachers say about educationaldocumentation with younger children? What do preschool teachers reasonabout the participation and influence of younger children in educationaldocumentation? How are the children given the opportunity to participateand have influence in educational documentation according to the preschoolteachers? The study’s empirical material was collected through focusgroups. The results showed that what affects young children’s participationthe most is that not everyone has the verbal language, which means that thepreschool teachers interpret the children’s different expressions ofcommunication. In order to interpret as correctly as possible, reflectionswith the work team are an important asset. The conclusion is thatdocumentation will not be educational if the children are not involved.

Currently, early childhood education has been increasing more and more in the educational and political scene, consolidating itself as a useful investigative field, and bringing to the agenda many questions that reveal its potential. Among these emerges the theme of evaluating, a complex concept that involves a multitude of ideas and purposes, especially under the very young babies and children education, given its specificity. Thus, this master's research investigated the evaluation in early childhood education and its dialogue with the pedagogical practices in collective contexts with children 0 to 3 years. The methodological basis of this study adopted the agenda in a qualitative approach, guided by the approach to educational action research (EAR), using as production techniques and data collection participant observation and journaling field. In the review process of the materials produced in the course of the EAR cycles and discussion of the results of the research, we follow the method of content analysis (BARDIN, 1977; TRIVIÑOS,2010). In the search for understanding the constitution of the search field in historical and theoretical perspective, we support the studies of BARBOSA (2008; 2009); Jr. KULMANN (2010); CAMPOS (2014), among others. On the evaluation of the subject in kindergarten and its dialogue with the quality of these contexts use the studies of Hoffmann (2001, 2008, 2012); BONDIOLI (2004); Zabalza (1998); among others, as well as and turning on the documents and legal publications that refer to the evaluation of the subject in this educational stage. In addition to further study on the topic, we seek to relate and highlight the importance of evaluation within the pedagogical practices in early childhood education, understanding it as a key element in the training of teachers and determining the qualification of educational contexts. / Atualmente, a Educação Infantil vem se destacando cada vez mais no cenário educacional e político, consolidando-se como um profícuo campo investigativo, e trazendo à pauta inúmeras questões que revelam a sua potencialidade. Dentre estas emerge a temática da avaliação, um conceito complexo que envolve uma multiplicidade de concepções e finalidades, especialmente no âmbito da educação de bebês e crianças bem pequenas, dada a sua especificidade. Assim, esta pesquisa de mestrado investigou a avaliação na Educação Infantil e sua interlocução com as práticas pedagógicas em contextos coletivos com crianças de 0 a 3 anos. A base metodológica adotada desse estudo pauta-se em uma abordagem qualitativa, guiada pela abordagem da investigação-ação educacional (IAE), utilizando como técnicas de produção e coleta dos dados a observação participante e o registro em diário de campo. No processo de análise dos materiais produzidos no decorrer dos ciclos da IAE e de discussão dos resultados da pesquisa, seguimos o método de análise de conteúdo (BARDIN, 1977; TRIVIÑOS,2010). Na busca por compreender a constituição do campo de pesquisa em perspectiva histórica e teórica, nos apoiamos nos estudos de Barbosa (2008; 2009); Kullmann Jr. (2010); Campos (2014), entre outros. Sobre a temática da avaliação na Educação Infantil e sua interlocução com a qualidade destes contextos utilizamos os estudos de Hoffmann (2001, 2008, 2012); Bondioli (2004); Zabalza (1998); entre outros, e ainda nos debruçarmos sobre os documentos e publicações legais que fazem referência à temática da avaliação nesta etapa educativa. Além de aprofundar os estudos sobre a temática, buscamos relacionar e evidenciar a importância da avaliação dentro das práticas pedagógicas na Educação Infantil, entendendo-a como um elemento fundamental na formação contínua dos professores e determinante para a qualificação dos contextos educativos.