My aim with the experience-based essay is that I want to explore the implications of mathematics on children's development. I also want to examine my approach in relation to the various mathematical tasks. Why do we think that mathematics is important for pre-school children? What does the research say about how the teacher is thinking about mathematics? Can the teacher combine playing and learning and create meaningful moments and activities related to mathematics? I also want to explore our policies and the objectives that the teacher should relate to. What is required of me as a teacher in order to meet those goals? My essay is about mine and my boss’s view of the mathematical tasks that I usually perform in the preschool. She thinks that they might create a pressure on the children. My reflection on this will help me to understand my mathematical activities in a deeper way. During my research trip I will examine how the teacher can combine mathematics, playing and learning to form pleasurable moments of them. I want to show how the interaction and storytelling can create a link between the teacher and child. My role as an educator is an important part of children’s development, because it is me who opens or restricts the child's ability to grow and learn.

This scientific essay is about children’s difficulties in playing and interacting with other children. The purpose of my essay is to gain a deeper understanding of those who are in need of support in their social interaction with other children. In order to be able to investigate and seek answers to my questions, I have used essay writing as a method. In my story I describe Signe, a child who has difficulty interacting with other children. Signe is very impulsive in her actions and this causes her to encounter resistance from the other children as she tries to get into their playing activities. This often results in conflicts that cause Signe to be excluded by the other children, as well as being excluded by me if I remove her from ongoing play activities. This has become a dilemma for me because I feel conflicted in how I as a teacher should handle situations like this. My dilemma lies in how to meet the needs of the individual child and create an inclusive environment within the group, while at the same time taking into account the other    children´s needs and rights to play in harmony. In the essay, I try to look back and reflect on my actions in the situations with Signe. I look at possible causes that may have affected Signe being excluded from the play activities of the other children. Could my way of dealing with the situations possibly have any impact on Signe’s status in the group? I also try to see Signe`s behavior from two separate special educational perspectives, the individual as well as the relational perspective, as I wonder if it is the child herself who has difficulties or whether it is in the encounter with a certain environment that problems arises? One idea that arose during my writing is whether a teacher’s view of normality can contribute to how we look at children. I also wonder how I as a future teacher can work to create an environment that´s inclusive to all children. The study`s conclusion has given me knowledge about how I need to minimize demanding situations by creating good conditions in the environment where the child is located. I need to be a present teacher who is there to support the child in the play.

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Play plays a significant role in early childhood education. The purpose of this essay is to contribute to knowledge and understanding by exploring preschool teachers' perspectives on the importance of play in children's learning processes. The study investigates the significance of play and discusses similarities in the view of play among preschools in both Sweden and Zimbabwe. It also compares the different conditions that exist for preschools between these two countries. Six preschool teachers, three from Zimbabwe and three from Sweden, were interviewed. Despite challenges stemming from a flawed system, the teachers recognized the importance of play in preschools. The study's findings highlight the social and academic skills that play cultivates in children. Employing a qualitative interview method, the study draws upon the theoretical frameworks of William A., Friedrich Froebel, and Susan Isaacs to inform the analysis and interpretation of the data.

The study seeks to investigate four preschool teachers’ views of making literacy learning a pleasurable experience in preschool class and to identify any differences in their views. The study is based on interviews with four teachers with at least ten years’ experience of work in preschool class. The teachers work in three different municipalities. The result shows that making literacy learning pleasurable is a complex concept, which means that a varied way of working is necessary so that as many pupils as possible will find learning to read a pleasurable experience. Above all, the teachers make learning to read a pleasure through shared activities, in which play, reading aloud and linguistic awareness are important elements in the teaching. The Bornholm model is a common denominator in the work of learning to read for the four preschool teachers, as a consequence of which the teachers’ views of making literacy learning pleasurable are relatively similar.

This study focuses on children’s perception on free play in relation to their learning and how they perceive the presence of a pedagogue and its role in the play. To answer the study's research questions, we conducted a qualitative study in which interviews were used as a data collection method. A total of 17 children in grade 3 were interviewed. Results from the study show that play for children is mainly associated with something that they do in interaction with others. Play is something that they themselves get to decide and most importantly something that is fun. Furthermore, the study shows that children have a broad definition of what play can include in comparison with how adults define play. One example where children and adults have a difference in their definition is when it comes to drawing, where children can call that to play while adults might not. Another outcome of the study is that children don't play to learn, but rather because it’s fun and can see a learning situation as play. Most important learning situation in conjunction with play for the children is when rules and new games are introduced. Almost all associations that the children make about learning are thus linked to play. Furthermore, according to the interviewed children the play gives their life a meaning and is therefore something very important. Play is also, according to the children, of great value as a method to get new friends. Finally, the results from this study show that the children have double perceptions about the pedagogue’s involvement in the play. On the one hand, they see pedagogues as guardians of some kind whose presence is needed to protect the game. The guardian’s role is to make sure that no one cheats, does harm or is disturbing. On the other hand the pedagogues are described as disturbing, because of the rules they create that the children have to follow. The children see it as if the pedagogue is forcing their rules, games, or participants on the play, which removes the free part in free play. That gives the children dissatisfaction about the play as their play is being destroyed. / Med den här studien belyses barnens upplevelse av den fria leken, dess innebörd, med betoning på lärandet och barnens upplevelse av pedagogers roll i leken. Studien har gjorts för att undersöka barnens definition av lek och deras subjektiva uppfattningar om vad de lär sig i den fria leken och vilken roll de anser att en pedagog har. För att besvara studiens forskningsfrågor gjordes en kvalitativ studie där semistrukturerade intervjuer har använts som insamlingsmetod av data, totalt intervjuades 17 barn i årskurs 3. Resultat från studien visar att lek för barnen främst associeras med något som de gör i samspel med andra. Lek är något som de själva får bestämma, där det centrala är att göra något roligt. Studien visar att barnen har en bred definition av vad lek kan innefatta i jämförelse med hur vuxna definierar lek. Exempelvis anser barnen att rita är en lek. Vidare visar resultatet att barnen inte leker för att lära, utan för att det är kul. Barnen kan ändå se att lek kan vara en situation där lärande sker. Det barnen främst ser att de lär är; regler på lekar samt nya lekar. Nästan all association som barnen gör om lärandet kopplas alltså till lek. Vidare visar resultatet att lek upplevs av barnen som något väldigt viktigt och något som ger barnen en mening med livet. Exempelvis är det genom lek man skaffar sig vänner, enligt barnen. Avslutningsvis visar resultatet från denna studie att barnen har komplexa uppfattningar om pedagogens inblandning i leken. Dels ser de på pedagoger som någon form av väktare, vars närvaro behövs för att skydda leken. Där pedagogen förväntas att se till att ingen fuskar eller gör sig illa, eller är störande. Pedagogerna uppfattas som de styr lekarna med regler och ibland tvingar in barn i leken, vilket barnen upplever resultera i att leken förstörs.

Syftet med våran studie är att undersöka vilken inställning blivande förskollärare har till pedagogers delaktighet i barns fria lek i förskolan. Vi syftar till att undersöka vilka erfarenheter de bär med sig samt vilka uppfattningar de har gällande hur delaktighet i barns lek påverkar leken och lärandet i den. Studiens data inhämtades genom kvalitativa intervjuer med nio studenter från förskollärarutbildningen på Karlstad Universitet, intervjuerna genomfördes enskilt med varje informant över Zoom. Resultatet visade att samtliga informanter såg pedagogers delaktighet i barns fria lek som något positivt. Resultatet pekar också på att pedagoger tar sig an varierande roller som sin ingång i barns fria lek, Studiens slutsatser är att pedagoger går in i barns lek med goda intentioner men med varierande resultat, där rollen pedagoger intar påverkar barns lek och lärande på ett negativt eller positivt sätt. / The aim of this study was to investigate future preschool teachers’ viewpoint on adult participation in children’s free play. Another aim of the study was to research future preschool teachers’ conceptions considering adult participations influence on play and the learning through play. The collected data of this study originated from qualitative performed interviews with nine students from the preschool teacher’s education through Karlstad University in Sweden. The interviews were performed through the program Zoom with the informers individually. The result shows that all the interviewed persons for this study saw adult participation in children’s free play as something positive. The result also shows that teachers chose different “roles” when they approach and participate in children’s play. The conclusion of this study is that teachers participate in children’s play with good intentions with varied results, the role teachers chose may or may not impact children’s play and learning through play in a positive or negative manner.

Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på vilken syn som pedagoger i förskolan har på sitt deltagande i barnens fria lek och vad begreppet deltagande har för innebörd hos pedagogerna. Jag vill belysa vad pedagogerna har för avsikt med sitt deltagande i leken, samt vad de definierar som lek och fri lek. För att få fram uppfattningarna hos pedagogerna användes den fenomenografiska metodansatsen både som metod och teori. Det genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med fem pedagoger på två olika förskolor. Resultatet presenteras i tre utfallsrum, Lek på olika sätt, Deltagande av olika grad och Deltagandes funktion. Resultatet visade att fri lek och styrd lek är båda viktiga för barnens utveckling. Med sitt deltagande vill pedagogerna ge barnen nya erfarenheter och vidga deras omvärld. I resultatet framgår det att lärande och lek ska användas simultant. Slutsatsen för denna studie blir att pedagogerna har för avsikt att med sitt deltagande i leken, ge barnen bästa möjliga förutsättningar för utveckling och lärande genom lek. / The purpose of this study is to find out what view preschool teachers have of their participation in the children's free play and what the concept of participation means to the teachers. I want to highlight what the pedagogues intend with their participation in the game, as well as what they define as play and free play. In order to elicit the perceptions of the educators, the phenomenographic method approach was used both as method and theory. Qualitative interviews were conducted with five educators at two different preschools. The results are presented in three outcome rooms, Play in different ways, Participation of different degrees and Function of participation. The results showed that free play and controlled play are both important for children's development. With their participation, the educators want to give the children new experiences and expand their world around them. The results show that learning and play must be used simultaneously. The conclusion of this study is that the educators intend to, with their participation in the game, give the children the best possible conditions for development and learning through their participation in play.