Title: Stop moving stuff around all the time! - A scientific essay about the challenges in the preschool indoor environment  My scientific essay is based on a series of events in which I believe that both I and my colleague was unprofessional and did not have the children’s best interest at heart. The events took place in my professional career as an unskilled educator. The quandary was about the clashes that occurred between me and my colleague, when I was hired as a new but experienced educator to her department. A department with, in my opinion, a poor educational indoor environment. I came up with new ideas on how it could be further developed, but did not discuss it with my colleague or children before I changed it. This meant that we ended up in conflict with each other, both because of my hasty actions, but also because of her ambiguous leadership. The purpose of this scientific essay has been to reflect on the importance of how we as educator communicate with each other and what the consequences are when we do not. I examined how the distribution of power between us educators may appear and the importance of having a good educational indoor environment in the preschool facility. The issues I have analyzed are: What characterizes a good educational environment? How to work towards cooperation and collaboration in a new team of educator? How does the division of power between the teachers affect the educational operation in preschools? I have used the method of reflection to examine my dilemma. I chose to use the Reggio Emilia pedagogy to reflect on the children's part in creating the preschool environment, in which they spend their days. I’ve also reflected on the perspective of knowledge of Aristotle’s work The Nicomachean Ethics, where I focused primarily on the three forms of knowledge; episteme, techne and phronesis. Last but not least, I reflect on power relations, based on some of Foucault's thoughts about power. It has been discovered in my individual reflections as well as in discussions with my fellow students and work colleagues that this is a common dilemma and that conflicts often arise when strong wills meet and are to be welded into a collaborating team. / Min vetenskapliga essä utgår från en serie händelser där jag anser att både jag och min kollega handlade oprofessionellt och inte hade barnens bästa för ögonen. Händelserna utspelade sig inom min yrkesverksamma tid som outbildad barnskötare. Dilemmat handlade om de krockar som uppstod mellan mig och min kollega, när jag kom som ny men erfaren pedagog till hennes avdelning. En avdelning med, enligt mig, undermålig pedagogisk inomhusmiljö. Jag kom med nya idéer om hur den skulle ändras, men diskuterade inte det med min kollega eller barnen innan jag ändrade i den. Detta gjorde att vi hamnade i konflikt med varandra, både på grund av mitt förhastade handlande men även på grund av hennes otydliga ledarskap. Syftet med den vetenskapliga essän har varit att reflektera över vikten av att vi pedagoger kommunicerar med varandra och vilka konsekvenserna blir när vi inte gör det. Jag undersökte hur maktfördelningen mellan oss pedagoger kan te sig och vikten av att ha en god pedagogisk inomhusmiljö på förskolan. De frågeställningar jag utgått från är: Vad kännetecknar en bra pedagogisk miljö? Hur får man till bra samarbeten och samarbetsformer i ett nytt arbetslag? Hur påverkar maktfördelningen mellan pedagogerna det pedagogiska arbetet i förskolan? Jag har använt metoden reflektion för att kunna undersöka mitt dilemma. Jag valde att använda mig av Reggio Emilia pedagogiken, för att reflektera över barnens del i den miljön de vistas i varje dag. Jag har reflekterat kring kunskapsperspektivet med utgångspunkt i Aristoteles bok Den Nikomachiska etiken, där jag fokuserat på de tre kunskapsformerna; episteme, techne och fronesis. Sist men inte minst har jag reflekterat utifrån ett maktperspektiv med utgångspunkt i några av Foucaults tankar om makt. Det har framkommit i mina individuella reflektioner samt i diskussioner med mina kurskamrater och arbetskollegor att detta är ett vanligt dilemma och att det ofta förekommer konflikter när starka viljor möts och ska sammansvetsas till ett fungerande arbetslag.

All Sweden´s preschools are part of the schoolsystem and, according to the School Act, must follow the Curriculum for Preschool: Lpfö18 (2018), whether they are independent, municipal or have different orientations. However, the curriculum does not contain specific goals about what the children should have achieved at a certain age or what knowledge they should have developed during their time in preschool but should be seen as a basis for planning the activities. With this, the curriculum can be perceived as interpretable and different areas of pedagogy become possible. The purpose of this literature study is to find out how the pedagogical orientations of Montessori pedagogy, Waldorf pedagogy and Reggio Emilia philosophy create prerequisites and opportunities for preschool children to be involved and influence the environment and the educational material. What similarities and differences can be learned based on scientific texts by Swedish authors? The child is seen as the central point when it comes to the environment and material placement in the various configurations. Participation and influence are created by the child being able to reach and take care of himself. Therefore, the child does not need to ask for help, which increases the child´s power to take care of the material that is desired to be used. The fact that the play is important can be deduced that the different educational orientations agrees at. Likewise, the material should create and stimulate the imagination and creativity. Differences that emerged during the study are the type of materials and toys found within the various configurations. Common to the results of the studies is that it is about the teachers' attitude and approach to the children's perspectives. The adult holds the power to decide how much influence and participation the children have, and everything has to do with the teacher's interest in creating meaning and a shared reality.

Swedish Reggio Emilia-inspired pedagogy has been decribed as a democratic paradigm shift for Swedish preschools. A grassroots movement based on the same resistance to traditional authoritarian pedagogy and political alignment that the Italien example entailed in the post-fascist Reggio Emilia. However, unlike the local and citizen-initiated birth in Italy, the Swedish implementation was sanctioned at a central political level and took place in close relation to leading academic institutions. Swedish Reggio Emilia thus belongs to a completely different historical context than the original educational and democratic movement. This essay tells the story of the pedagogical and organizational development of Swedish childcare from the preschool expansion in the 1970s up to the founding of the Swedish Reggio Emilia Institute in 1993. Based on a theory of path-dependent continuity and change, it analyzes how the conditions successively made it possible to implement the Reggio Emilia philosophy, with its socialist and cooperative origins, in Sweden at the time of a neoliberal and individual-centered change in political discourse during the early 1990s. The analysis describes the earliest influences in Sweden during the 1980s based on its function as exotic cargo: a rich aesthetic framework but with little theoretical content. The conveyed ideas and values mirrored already established counterparts in Sweden, but despite this, it managed to capture both fascination and interest among educators as well as politicians. Its pluralistic and decentralized ideals also came to relate to the neoliberal turn when the Swedish welfare state left its long tradition of collective democrazy.

Målet med detta examensarbete var att ta fram ett koncept på möbelset som passar in i framtidens förskolor, samt att leverera CAD-modeller och tillverkningsunderlag. Detta möbelset skall enligt en kvantitativ definition kunna främja för lärandeförmågan hos användaren, med tanke på funktion, säkerhet, och tillgänglighet. Uppgiften startades med Furneas initiativ att ta sig in på möbelmarknaden i Mellansverige och Stockholmsområdet med en ny produkt som kan möta de behov som kännetecknas av framtidens hållbara förskolor. Arbetet gjordes i fyra olika faser; planering, faktainsamling, genomförande, och analys. I planeringsfasen fastställdes strukturering och metodik av hela arbetet. I faktainsamlingsfasen gjordes litteraturstudier med avseende på pedagogiska inriktningar, miljö, säkerhet, ergonomi, och material. Det gjordes även intervjuer av förskolepedagoger angående nuvarande användning av bord i förskolan, och på företag rörande möbeltillverkning och förskolor. Genomförandefasen använder den insamlade datan för att skapa en funktionsanalys och kravspecifikation på möbelns design, och sedan komma fram med koncept på möbelsetet. I fasen ingår även att konstruera koncepten med CAD och 3D-printing. Analyser användes för att få fram konceptet som bäst möter användarens behov och modifiera konceptet till det slutgiltiga resultatet. För detta används sållningsmatriser, simuleringsprogram för att göra hållfasthetsberäkningar, samt DFMEA, en felorsaksanalys för produktutveckling. Resultatet av detta arbete presenteras med figurer och beskrivningar av möbelsetet. / The aim of this thesis was to develop a concept for a furniture-set that fits in with the preschools of the future, as well as to deliver CAD models and manufacturing documentation. According to a quantitative definition, this furniture should be able to promote the learning ability of the user, regarding function, safety, and accessibility. The task was started at Furnea's initiative to enter the furniture market in central Sweden and the Stockholm area with a new product that can meet the needs that are characterized by future sustainable preschools. The work was done in four different phases; planning, fact collection, implementation, and analysis. During the planning phase, structuring and methodology of the entire work was established. In the fact-finding phase, literature studies were conducted regarding educational orientations, environment, safety, ergonomics, and materials. Interviews of pre-school educators regarding the current use of tables in the preschool, and on companies concerning furniture manufacturing and preschools, were also conducted. The implementation phase uses the collected data to create a functional analysis and requirement specification for the furniture design, and then come up with a concept on the furniture. The phase also includes constructing the concepts with CAD and 3D printing. Analyses were used to bring out the concept that best meets the user's needs and modify the concept to the result. For this purpose, screening matrices, simulation programs for making strength calculations, and DFMEA, an error cause analysis for product development, were used. The result of this work is presented with figures and descriptions of the furniture.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur förskollärare och rektorer samarbetar och resonerar kring utformningen av den fysiska miljön i förskolors ateljéer. De forskningsfrågor som berörs i studien är: Hur resonerar förskollärare och rektorer kring materialets tillgänglighet i utformningen av den fysiska miljön i ateljén? Och Hur ser förskollärarna och rektorerna på samarbetet kring utformningen av den fysiska miljön i ateljén? I studien användes kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer som metod och studiens teoretiska ramverk är ett sociokulturellt perspektiv och rummet som den tredje pedagogen inom Reggio Emilia. Det mest framträdande resultatet är att tillgängligt material har en betydelsefull roll i att möjliggöra för barn att självständigt kunna använda rummet utan en vuxen närvarande. Resultatet visar även att i samarbetet mellan rektorer och förskollärare sätts fokus på barnens lärande och utveckling, vilket bidrar till att de tar hjälp av varandra för att utforma en miljö som främjar barnens lärande. Studiens slutsats visar att genom att skapa en tillgänglig miljö och tillhandahålla tillgängligt material kan man skapa förutsättningar för barns självständighet. Dessa möjligheter spelar en viktig roll för barnens lärande då de ges möjlighet att undersöka och uttrycka sig genom olika uttrycksformer. / The purpose of the study is to investigate how preschool teachers andprincipals collaborate and reason about the design of the physicalenvironment in preschool studios. The research questions addressed in thestudy are: How do preschool teachers and principals reason about materialaccessibility in the design of the physical environment in the studio? Andhow do preschool teachers and principals view the collaboration on thedesign of the physical environment in the studio? The study used qualitativesemi-structured interviews as a method and the study's theoreticalframework is a sociocultural perspective and the third educator withinReggio Emilia. The most prominent result is that available material has asignificant role in enabling children to independently use the room withoutan adult present. The result also shows that in the collaboration betweenprincipals and preschool teachers, the focus is on children's learning anddevelopment, which helps them to help each other to design an environmentthat promotes children's learning. The conclusion of the study shows thatcreating an accessible environment and providing accessible materials cancreate conditions for children's independence. These opportunities play animportant role in children's learning as they are given the opportunity toexplore and express themselves through different forms of expression.

Avsikten med denna studie har varit att undersöka pedagogers samtal och utsagor kringestetiska arbetsformer och ämnesöverskridande arbetsområden i relation till utformandet av en”öppen ateljé” på skolan. Frågorna jag ställde mig var; Hur legitimerar pedagoger behovet aven ”öppen ateljé” på skolan? Vilka samband ser pedagoger mellan lärmiljöers utformning ochvilka läraktiviteter som kommer till uttryck? Vilka tolkningsrepertoarer om lärande ochlärmiljöer kommer till uttryck i dessa sammanhang och hur kan de förstås ur ett makt- ochkontrollperspektiv? Jag valde en kvalitativ metod med en diskursanalytisk ansats, som byggdepå fokusgruppssamtal genomförda på en mindre fristående F-9 skola i norra Sverige. En skolasom med utgångspunkt för sin verksamhet tagit ställning för att låta sig genomsyras av ReggioEmilias pedagogiska filosofi. Jag har i min studie tyckt mig finna ett antal diskurser på dennaskola, där en stor diskurs representerande skola, undervisning och lärarroll är överordnad ochdär några mindre tycks bjuda den större motstånd. Dessa diskurser kommer till uttryck i detolkningsrepertoarer pedagogerna använder för att legitimera utformandet av en öppen ateljépå skolan. Samtidigt som erkännandet av en mer progressiv filosofi tycks innebära ettdiskursivt dilemma på denna skola, tycks det också innebära att utrymmet för möjligahandlingar breddas något i det diskursiva glapp som här uppstår. Avslutningsvis för jag ettresonemang kring en additiv syn på lärande och estetik och om en motståndets diskurs.

Denna studie behandlar vilka förutsättningar lärmiljön på förskolor inspirerade av Reggio Emilias filosofi erbjuder för barns meningsskapande. Reggio Emiliafilosofin kan sammanfattas som ett förhållningssätt där man ser barnet som kompetent och utforskande. Studiens syfte är att studera betydelsen av design för lärande och design i lärande i förskolor inspirerade av Reggio Emiliafilosofin. Detta gör vi genom att ta del av utvalda förskollärares uppfattningar. I studien intervjuades fem förskollärare som alla gav sin uppfattning om den pedagogiska lärmiljön inom Reggio Emilias filosofi. Vi har utgått från det socialsemiotiska perspektivet. Det empiriska underlaget består av en kvalitativ forskning med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Metoden valdes för att kunna belysa respondenternas uppfattningar av den inre lärmiljön i Reggio Emilia inspirerade förskolor. Studiens resultat visar att lärmiljön har en stor betydelse för barns utveckling och lärande. Med genomtänkta, flexibla och föränderliga miljöer som är iscensatta tillsammans med barnen och där utformningen utgår från barnens åsikter och intresse genererar miljön till ny kunskap och utveckling.

This study investigated the conflict resolution abilities employed by 3-4 year old children within an Israeli kindergarten that was inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach in Italy. Conflict resolution is a significant phenomenon worldwide and the subject of considerable research, due to potential negative outcomes from involvement in conflict, and escalation of the conflict to a stage of violence. Nevertheless, a gap in knowledge was identified, regarding the Reggio Emilia educational approach, as an intervention to support the development of children‘s social-emotional competence to enable them to resolve interpersonal conflicts using pro-social strategies. An in-depth case study was conducted using grounded theory principles to develop a model to answer the question: To what extent might a Reggio Emilia inspired approach support resolution of interpersonal conflicts between 3-4 year old children in an Israeli kindergarten class? The rich qualitative data were gathered through video filmed observations, teacher's semi-structured interviews, children's interviews, documents, and field notes. A four-phase content analysis of the data enabled conceptualisation of the characteristics of the educational setting and the children's conflict resolution strategies. The findings allowed the emergence of a model evidencing that both direct and indirect intervention strategies were used to support the conflict resolution among the children. Teachers responded in a range of ways to children's request for direct intervention, and most especially used a clarification-mediation conversation. Indirectly, they promoted democratic pedagogy with children through participation, listening and dialogue. The findings reveal the children's development in their conflict resolution, which indicate a significant advancement in their pro-social negotiation abilities. Additionally, the findings show a significant increase in the children's spontaneous intervention as peer observers of the conflict and a decrease in their request of teacher intervention. The research suggests that over time, no extra-curricular intervention is needed within a supportive and democratic educational approach, such as the Reggio Emilia inspired approach provides. It illuminates strategies to support teachers, teacher trainers and policy makers for enabling children resolving conflicts independently using pro-social strategies. The research contributes to knowledge regarding selecting an intervention for improving kindergarten children's conflict resolution strategies.

This thesis examines the strategies young children use to develop a common set of goals when collaborating on a group art work. Teachers at Sabot School spend a great deal of time in discussion of children's group work. By concentrating on one project in my preschool classroom, I reached a greater understanding of the way children work together on a group project. This understanding enriched my practice of teaching so that I could become a better facilitator of similar projects in the future. The information is valuable to me and the other Sabot School teachers when planning future group projects, especially when discussing strategies for supporting children's group processes. It is also be of value to teachers and education students who are interested in learning about the Reggio Emilia approach in American classrooms, social constructivism in the classroom, and the possibilities of art in early childhood. In this project, my four and five year old students worked together to create a clay sculpture of a wild area outside the playground fence at our school. I was interested in the way I could support this group project using Vygotsky's idea of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). In the ZPD a child can accomplish tasks they are not developmentally ready to master if they have the support of a teacher or more skilled peer. This study revealed that children and teachers can use words and actions to support cognitive as well as social-emotional learning while working together.

Sweden and Poland see preschool documentation as a very important practice in Early Childhood Education and Care. Each country, however, conceives of this documentation differently. Reggio Emilia-inspired pedagogical documentation is one of the documentation practices used in Swedish preschools. There is very little research on the approach of Polish educators to this form of pedagogical documentation. Furthermore, the Swedish preschool curriculum is based on Social Pedagogy in contrast to the Polish preschool curriculum, which is based on Readiness for School. These curricular perspectives are underpinned by different views on children’s abilities and on the goal of preschool as an institution. This, in turn, reflects the relative differences in how democracy is viewed, and documentation maintained in these two countries. In this study, semi-structured interviews with four Polish preschool educators were conducted in order to document their understandings of the mentioned terms, as well as their perspectives on the forms and practices of documentation that they use. The participants were also asked about the possibility of adapting pedagogical documentation, as seen in Sweden, to the Polish preschool model. The findings showed, that the participants did not recognize Polish preschool system as democratic. What is more, the interviewees are not satisfied with the form of their preschool documentation. However, the interviews showed, that even though the teachers see value in pedagogical documentation, they do not see this approach as the appropriate one to adapt to Poland, due to the system malfunctions and reluctant co-workers. Lastly, the study shows that more research is needed to examine the relationship between documentation practices and the promotion and maintenance of democratic practices in preschool internationally, as well as suggests some changes in order to improve Polish documentation practices.