The aim of the study is to investigate preschool teachers’ experiences and perceptions of the phenomenon popular culture in preschool. The study includes eight preschool teachers. We have used three concepts from a phenomenological perspective as our research approach, which are life-world, meaning and essence. To gather the material for the study, we have used a qualitative semi-structured life-world interview technique that gives clarity of what should be investigated and also gives more profound answerers from the preschool teachers. In the analysis, we have had our point of departure in Giorgi’s phenomenological analysis to find the essence of the preschool teachers' perception and experience of popular culture in preschool. Our research questions are: How do preschool teachers perceive the concept of popular culture? How do preschool teachers experience the use of popular culture in preschool? What obstacles or opportunities do preschool teachers see in use of popular culture in their work? Our result shows ambivalence amongst the preschool teachers towards popular culture in preschool. This is manifested through preschool teachers’ resistance to popular culture in preschool as they feel that popular culture toys, violence and stereotypical characters are troubled. At the same time they experience there are potentials such as children’s interests and learning possibilities.

Vår studie behandlar hur barn kan reagera om pedagoger i förskolans verksamhet går in eller ur barns fria lek. Vårt övergripande syfte med arbetet är att undersöka hur förskolebarn kan reagera om pedagoger engagerar sig i den fria leken. Undersökningen syftar specifikt att bidra med kunskap om hur förskolebarn kan reagera, om pedagoger är närvarande eller frånvarande i barns fria lek. Metoden i vår undersökning är videoobservation där vi riktar fokus mot barns reaktioner i videosekvenserna. I studien deltog 28 stycken tre -femåriga barn och fem pedagoger på två förskolor i Sverige. Den teoretiska utgångspunkt vi använder oss av är ett sociokulturellt perspektiv, vi inriktar oss även på ett relationellt maktförhållande som Foucault behandlar. Vi kommer också att använda oss av lekteorier i förhållandet till barns reaktioner när pedagoger förflyttar sig ut och in i den fria leken. Resultatet visar att barn blir avbrutna i sin lek och reagerar på olika sätt om pedagoger går in eller ur den fria leken. Studien visar att ingen situation är den andra lik, vilket gör att barn reagerar och beter sig på olika sätt. På ett övergripande plan kan vi se att barn lyfter blicken från leken upp mot pedagoger, följer efter pedagogerna, slutar leka när pedagoger pratar, bjuder in till lek när pedagoger inte är närvarande. Resultatet visar även att de videoinspelade sekvenserna är kopplat till här och nu, vilket gör att varje sekvens är unik och resultatet blir aldrig detsamma igen.

Inledning Den teoretiska utgångspunkten i studien är Bowlbys anknytningsteori som visar tillsammans med aktuell forskning att barn som har en trygg anknytning utvecklas bättre kognitivt och känslomässigt. För att kunna skapa en trygg anknytning krävs det förskollärare med kunskap kring ämnet för att veta vilka förutsättningar som krävs för att kunna skapa en trygg anknytning. Syfte Syftet med studien är att beskriva förskollärares uppfattningar om barns anknytning till personalen i förskolan. Frågeställningar • Hur beskriver förskollärarna att de arbetar med barns anknytning i förskolan? • Vilka förutsättningar enligt förskollärarna krävs för att barn ska skapa en trygg anknytning inom förskolan? • Kan barnens anknytning till förskollärarna påverka dem under deras förskoletid? I så fall på vilket sätt anser förskollärarna att anknytningen kan påverkar barnen? Metod I studien har kvalitativ metod använts med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Fem förskollärare som har både längre och kortare erfarenheter av arbete i förskolan. Resultat Flera av förskollärarna nämner att de arbetar aktivt med anknytning vid inskolning. Dock är det endast några som nämner hur de arbetar med anknytning efter inskolningsperioden. Förskollärarna beskriver några viktiga förutsättningar för att kunna hjälpa barn skapa en trygg anknytning i förskolans verksamhet. Förutsättningarna är utbildning, förskolemiljö och verksamhetens innehåll. Andra uppfattningar som förskollärarna benämner vid arbetet med anknytning är hur förhållningssättet till föräldrarna och bekräftelser av känslor kan påverka barnens anknytning och flera av förskollärarna nämner hur deras tillvägagångsätt vid inskolning kan påverka barnens anknytning.

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Research shows that interaction and conversation (gestures, words, expressions, and etc.) with children on a daily basis are crucial for their development. Teachers spend a lot of time with children daily, it is important that teachers plan their interactions intentionally to help children make connections and extend their learning. Observing children and interpreting their thinking processes is a significant factor in intentionally planning curriculum that emerges from children’s thinking. There is a lack of high quality training for preschool teachers in the area of observing and interpreting children’s thinking. The present study investigates the effects of a training (Cycle of Inquiry System) on observation and interpretation of children’s thinking, on teachers’ productive conversation in the Head Start Classroom. The research question guiding this study is: “Does the Cycle of Inquiry Intervention (training teachers to observe, document and interpret their observations of children at play time) increase teachers’ conversations with children?” We hypothesized that the teachers’ productive conversations with children will increase after the training. Using a multiple baseline experimental design two simultaneous studies were conducted. The participants were 6 preschool teachers which included 3 new teachers, and 3 experienced teachers. The permissions were obtained from teachers and the parents of children in their classroom, the children whose parents did not consent were not videotaped during the data collection process. The teachers were videotaped twice a week in their classrooms working with children during the free play time. Each video was 30 minutes. The videos were coded for productive and non-productive conversation, based on the checklist that was used previously in a similar study. All the videos were coded by a research assistant and 30% of videos for each teacher were coded by another research assistant. The interrater reliability was obtained before and during the study. When the first participant reached a baseline (the amount of his/her productive and non-productive conversation approximately remained the same), she went through the Cycle of Inquiry System Training (COI) by the Principle Investigator (PI). The intervention is a one-day training on observing children during the play and interpreting their thinking. The first participant was videotaped twice a week after training and her videos were coded for productive and non-productive conversation, in addition, as a part of the training the teacher received mentoring form the PI bi-weekly during the intervention phase. Meanwhile all the other teachers were being videotaped until they reach a stable baseline and the process of training was the same for every one of them. The research is still ongoing but it is expected that the data will show an increase in teachers’ productive conversation with children after the training. We are in the early phases of the intervention for two participants. Positive results from this intervention, impacting the amount of productive conversation between teachers and children, will indicate that this might be a helpful training for preschool teachers.

The aim of this study is to examine how preschool teachers conduct teaching in the preschool yard and how they implement the preschool curriculum. The idea behind this study is based on the idea that outdoor activity should be a place where children have the right to teaching and education as well as free play. Our research questions are: How do preschool teachers interpret and incorporate outdoor activity in the curriculum? Which of the elements of the curriculum are implemented in outdoor activities? How is the outdoor environment and its materials used educating preschool children in the preschool yard?  To collect the empirical data, we have chosen to use qualitative interviews that we analyzed from thematic analysis, curriculum theory and framework factor theory. The results of this study show that since the preschool curriculum is an interpretable control document the preschool teachers highlights different parts from it to implement in the yard. All of the teachers taught natural science outdoors. The results of the study suggest that learning in this environment provides the ideal setting for spontaneous curiosity and discovery as well as planned learning outcomes. Physical activity was another topic implemented at most preschools. The results also show that varying framework factors affect the preschool teachers' work. The number of children spending time together in the same setting is a critical factor affecting education and learning in the preschool yard. Another is time for reflection and planning and collaboration between different groups at the preschool. Even the design of the yard was a factor that affects the outcome and possibilities of education and teaching. Furthermore, the results implied that although free play was widely acknowledged as valuable time in the preschool yard most preschool teachers felt limited and dissatisfied with the teaching and education carried out in there.

The purpose of this study is to map preschool teachers' views and knowledge about children's movement activities in preschool and to apply it to the paper's aim from the perspective of preschool teachers. The questions that form the basis of the study is based on pre-school movement activities and how the pre-school teacher's activities are applied. The study has used relevant literature from previous research. A qualitative survey method in the form of interviews was used to unify the empiricism. The qualitative method was implemented at three different preschools in Skåne with six (6) preschool teachers. The results of the study showed that the educators work with different movement activities that differ in their views, working methods and purpose. At the same time, educators work with planned and spontaneous movement activities in the indoor/outdoor environment. The preschool's location and layout affect the educator’s possibilities to carry out different activities. Finally, the educators' education, interest, knowledge and their views on the curriculum influence the work with children’s movements.

Background: Inclusion is a term that stands for fully including untypically developed chil- dren in regular educational setting. It should be implemented in all of the present educa- tional settings. However, the definition of inclusion and the way of implementing it differs from countries and cultures, which makes it a problem for having a united view on it. More- over, there are different factors that can occur and have an impact of understanding the term. Aim: The aim of this study is to review the existing literature on the perception of inclu- siveness and the term ˝inclusion˝ from preschool teacher’s perspective in preschool settings in Europe and the different factors that have effect on the perceiving. Method: A literature search on the databases of ERIC and PsycINFO and a hand search on the reference lists of the relevant articles was conducted. The articles that are included were recent peer reviewed studies published in English, reporting perception of inclusion and factors that affect it. Results: In the seven studies that have been included, preschool teachers have overall pos- itive attitude towards inclusion. They reported the inclusion is important to be implemented in preschool settings. However, most of them reported that the implementation of the in- clusion is needed, they do not feel secure enough and eligible to do it in a correct way. Furthermore, group of factors that affect the perception of inclusion and implementation of it occurred. The factors that occurred are lack of resources, no complete education and different understanding of what inclusion stand for and what should the implementation be alike. Conclusion: Considering the importance of inclusion as an ongoing process in preschools, education of professional staff for it is a first step in order to implement inclusion. Moreover, making the strong basis in preschool for inclusion will give the staff the confidence and eligible knowledge to provide the inclusive education for every participant of the environ-ment.

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Raising the qualification level for preschool staff is often seen by policymakers as a means of improving the quality of preschool. However, research examining the relation between qualifications of preschool staff and preschool quality has given inconsistent results. This suggests that one’s competence as a teacher is not necessarily reflected by one’s level of teacher qualification. The aim of this study was to contribute to knowledge about preschool teacher competence and its relation to education and practice. This was accomplished through documenting and examining perspectives on preschool teacher competence from currently enrolled Swedish preschool teacher students and recently graduated Swedish preschool teachers, who have prior work experience in early childhood education. In particular, this study focused on gaining a deeper understanding of which competences preschool teacher students and preschool teachers attribute to their education. Interviews were conducted with one preschool teacher education student and two recently graduated preschool teachers. The findings showed three competences reported as important by the participants: critical (self-)reflection, the competence to listen to the children, and the competence to care. Moreover, the participants believed that being confident in one’s profession, knowing why they are doing what they are doing, and the competence to reflect are competences gained in preschool teacher education. Lastly, the participants described a connection between theory and practice, which suggest that students with prior work experience do not experience a ‘reality gap’ between their education and the practical field. The research conducted in this study contributes to what is known about teacher competence and, more specifically, it gives more insight into the development of competence in preschool teacher education.