The starting point of our study was raised as a concern, when we realized the fact that we both consider ourselves lacking knowledge of how we as prospective pre-school teachers should manage children´s play that perceived as violent. We were also keen to learn how certain standards may influence pre-school teachers and be reproduced by them in relation to children’s play with elements of violence. The aim of our study is to examine how teachers of pre-school children reason around children´s violent play, and how their reasoning might visualize the prevailing norms of ethics and morals, gender and child perspective. The questions we ask ourselves are:  How do pre-school teachers reason concerning children's play with elements of violence? How are standards of ethics and morality, gender and child perspective in teachers' reasoning about children's games involving violence reproduced? 
When analysing our material we chose a norm-critical perspective, when looking at our data through the three norms; ethics and morals, gender and child perspective. In collecting our data we used a qualitative approach and our method is qualitative interviews. The conclusion from our study is that we can identify the three norms about ethics and morals, gender and child perspective when pre-school teachers reason about children´s play with elements of violence, and that these norms are reproduced by the pre-school teachers.

Η παρούσα έρευνα έχει στόχο τη διερεύνηση των απόψεων των παιδιών προσχολικής ηλικίας στην Ελλάδα για τη στοματική υγεία και των πρακτικών που εφαρμόζουν ως προς αυτή. Έλαβαν μέρος 72 παιδιά από Δημόσια Νηπιαγωγεία της Πάτρας και 60 γονείς που κλήθηκαν να απαντήσουν συμπληρωματικά για τις πρακτικές που εφαρμόζονται από τα παιδιά τους. Το εργαλείο που χρησιμοποιήθηκε για τη συλλογή των δεδομένων ήταν αυτό των ατομικών συνεντεύξεων για τα παιδιά και αυτό των ερωτηματολογίων για τους γονείς. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας έδειξαν ότι τα παιδιά διέθεταν γνώσεις για τη στοματική υγεία, την οποία αντιμετώπιζαν ισότιμα με τη γενική υγεία, τους τρόπους προάσπισής της και την τερηδόνα, και η άποψη τους για τον οδοντίατρο ήταν θετική. Εντούτοις, σε αρκετές περιπτώσεις οι απόψεις τους φάνηκαν να διαφέρουν σημαντικά από την επιστημονική άποψη. Η συμπεριφορά τους ως προς τη στοματική υγεία κρίθηκε μέτρια. Τα παιδιά βούρτσιζαν τα δόντια υπό την επίβλεψη των γονέων και επισκέπτονταν τον οδοντίατρο για προληπτικούς λόγους, όμως η συχνότητα με την οποία πραγματοποιούνταν αυτά ήταν χαμηλότερη από την ενδεδειγμένη. Ακόμη, κατανάλωναν αρκετά συχνά ζαχαρούχα προϊόντα. Συνολικά, τα παιδιά προσχολικής ηλικίας έδειξαν να διαθέτουν δυνατότητες κατανόησης, γεγονός που σημαίνει ότι με τις κατάλληλες εκπαιδευτικές παρεμβάσεις είναι δυνατό να σημειωθεί βελτίωση στο κομμάτι των γνώσεων και κατ’ επέκταση στο κομμάτι της συμπεριφοράς που υιοθετούν για τη στοματική υγεία. / The present study aims to investigate young children’s perspectives and practices towards oral health, in Greece. The participants of the study were 72 children from public kindergartens of Patras and 60 parents that were asked to respond complementary accordingly their children’s practices. The data was collected through individual interviews for the children and questionnaires for their parents. The results showed that children possessed knowledge about oral health issues, practices sustaining oral health, and decay. In addition, oral health was treated equally with general health and children’s opinion about dentists was positive. However, in several cases, their views were found to differ significantly from the scientific perspective. Their behavior regarding oral health was considered moderate. The children brushed their teeth under the supervision of their parents and visited the dentist for preventive reasons, but the frequency of these was lower than necessary. Yet, children consumed sugary products quite often. Overall, the preschoolers were shown to have capabilities of understanding, meaning that with the appropriate educational interventions the knowledge about oral health may be improved and thus, the behavior they adopt may be improved as well.

Lärares genusmedvetenhet i relation till naturvetenskaplig verksamhet är fokus för denna avhandling, som belyses genom två studier: en longitudinell aktionsforskningsstudie som genomfördes tillsammans med en grupp förskollärare/lärare och en studie där verksamma förskollärare/lärare under en fortbildningskurs fick tillämpa en genusteori på en verklig klassrumshändelse. Studierna visar att genusarbete är komplicerat eftersom det inbegriper många aspekter av livet och en viktig del av genusmedvetenheten är att förhålla sig till dessa olika aspekter. Det är av avgörande betydelse att utmana föreställningar om genus, där utmaningarna resulterar i att föreställningarna blir verbaliserade och därmed synliggjorda. Vidare visar studierna att genom att ta avstamp i feministisk vetenskapskritik och pedagogik kan ett alternativt sätt att förhålla sig till lärande och undervisning i naturvetenskap bli möjligt. För lärare som inte har en naturvetenskaplig bakgrund, men som ska genomföra aktiviteter eller undervisa i ämnena, blir de didaktiska och pedagogiska kompetenser de redan besitter en startpunkt för att utveckla sina ämnesdidaktiska förmågor. Kompetensutveckling med ett feministiskt anslag kan ge lärarna ”empowerment” som medför att de känner större delaktighet i den naturvetenskapliga praktiken och därmed kan bidra till att utveckla såväl dess kultur som kunskapsstoffet. Avhandlingen ger också nya metodologiska kunskapsbidrag om aktionsforskning. Ett resultat är att tid är en viktig faktor som man måste ta hänsyn till beroende på vilken förändring man vill åstadkomma. Forskaren som deltar i aktionsforskningen som en ”outsider” har en viktig funktion genom att kunna överblicka processen samt uppmärksamma och använda sig av kritiska händelser för att driva förändringsarbetet framåt. / The main focus in this thesis is teachers’ gender awareness related to scientific practice. The thesis is based on two different empirical studies: a longitudinal action research study together with a group of teachers (K-6) and a study during an in-service development course where experienced teachers applied gender theory on a real classroom situation, a case. The studies show that working with gender is complicated and comprises of many aspects of human life. An important part of gender awareness is to be able to relate to these aspects. A question of vital importance is to challenge conceptions of gender in such a way that the conceptions will be verbalized and thereby visualized. Moreover, the studies show that feminist pedagogy and theory of science can lead to a new approach to teaching and learning in science. For teachers without any background in science, there are other competences than just subject matter knowledge that are vital for teaching. Feminist perspectives in professional development reinforce teachers’ pedagogical competences and their pedagogical content knowledge and thereby make these teachers feel they participate in the scientific practice and contribute in developing both the stuff of knowledge and its culture. The thesis also contributes to new methodological knowledge about action research. One of the results is that time is an important factor to take into consideration depending on what kind of change you want to receive. The researcher engaged in action research as an "outsider" has an important function in order to monitor the process and pay attention and use critical events to drive the change process forward.

After Lithuania had gained its independence, there arose the necessity for non-native speakers living in Lithuania to learn the state language. More and more other nationality families become interested in their children learning the state language. In connection with this, in the pre-school institutions as well as schools, the number of schoolchildren grows. Naturally, their education becomes problematic. Aim of the research: to reveal the difficulties bilingual children meet while learning the state language in the pre-school groups and try to forecast learning problems they may encounter in the first class. Moreover, to analyze their prognostic validity and to evidence the possible help. In the research took part 80 children who have bilingual or multilingual problems in the pre-school group and after three months in the first class. There were presented the analyses of the pre-school and the first class teachers. The tasks of the research: • to realize the abilities of bilingual, multilingual children in the state language; • to understand how has changed communication abilities of the same researched children in the primary school in comparison with the pre-school group; • to state the most often learning problems that bilingual and multilingual first class pupils face while learning the state language; • to understand the kind of methodological-practical help that is needed by the learners facing the difficulties... [to full text]

Ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugos labai svarbios ugdant vaikus kaip asmenybes. Jos papildo vaikų ugdymą šeimose, skatina jų socialinį, pažintinį vystymąsi, praturtina vaikų bendravimo su kitais patirtį, padeda pasiruošti mokymuisi mokykloje. Vaikai ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigose praleidžia didesnę savo laiko dalį, ugdymo įstaigos tampa vis labiau reikšmingos tokio amžiaus vaikams, todėl ypatingą dėmesį reikia skirti ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų teikimui, jų plėtrai, prieinamumui ir kokybei. Tyrimo tikslas: Atskleisti ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų miesto ir kaimo vaikams ypatumus. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1) Išanalizuoti pedagoginę, psichologinę bei metodinę literatūrą, susijusią su ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugomis miesto ir kaimo vaikams; 2) Išsiaiškinti ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų pasiūlą miesto, rajono centro, rajoninės reikšmės miesto ir kaimo vaikams; 3) Nustatyti ar ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų prieinamumas skiriasi miesto, rajono centro, rajoninės reikšmės miesto ir kaimo vaikams; 4) Išsiaiškinti ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų poreikį miesto, rajono centro, rajoninės reikšmės miesto ir kaimo vaikams; 5) Apibendrinti tyrimo duomenis. Hipotezė: Ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų pasiūla,poreikis ir prieinamumas iš dalies priklauso nuo gyvenamosios vietos (miesto, rajono centro, rajoninės reikšmės miesto ir kaimo). Tyrimo metodai: 1) Literatūros šaltinių analizė; 2) Ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigų vadovų anketavimas; 3) Institucijų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Pre-school education services are very important in raising the children as individuals. They complement the education of children in families, promote their social, cognitive development, enriches children's experience of communicating with others, helps prepare for school. Children in pre-school education institutions spend most of their time, educational institutions are becoming increasingly important for children of that age group, so special attention should be given to pre-school education services, their development, availability and quality. Aim of the study: To reveal characteristics of the pre-school education services for children in urban and rural areas. Objectives of the study: 1. To examine the pedagogical, psychological and methodological literature relating to pre-school education services in urban and rural children; 2. To clarify pre-school education services availability at the city, the district suburbs in urban and rural children; 3. Set or pre-school education services for the city is different, the district suburbs in urban and rural children; 4. To clarify the pre-school service needs the city, the district, suburbs and rural children; 5. To Summarize the survey data. Hypothesis: pre-primary education services’ availability, need and accessibility depends in part on the place of residence (city, district, suburbs and rural). Research methods: 1. Literature review; 2. Survey of the Heads in Pre-school education... [to full text]

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

This thesis is an ethnographic exploration of institutions for small children, i.e. the pre-school institution.The overall aim of the study is to investigate what is characteristic for some Swedish preschoois,and how childhood is formulated and realized within those institutions. Of centralimportance are questions. which concern how pre-schools are constructed, negotiated andmaintained by the actors within the pre-school settings. Another aim is to explore contemporarymeanings of pre-school and pre-school children as they appear in interviews and everyday talk. Thedata were collected by participant observations for almost one year in two pre-schools. Data consistof audio- recordings of everyday life and parental talks, interviews with children, pre-schoolteachers and parents. Points of departure are ideas from interactionism and social constructionism.The analyses draw upon concepts from integrative theories; agency-structure, social practice, socialorder and normality in relation to the institution. The results show that pre-school is takcn for granted and is almost considercd as compulsory andpart of normal childhood. Pre-school is legitimated as an interest of and a question for society,families and parents, but also in the best interest of children here and now and for the future. Inaddition, pre-school is also understood as a social and a social pedagogical question for individualsand for society. Moreover, the study shows howeveryday life in pre-school is zoned andpedagogized in time and space. The institution is characterized by schedules, routines and predefinedrooms and artifacts, as weil as by planned activities and unplanned, occasional and situatedactivities, respectively. Children and adults have to deal with the social order of the institution, andthis study shows that the actors constantly break and negotiate the social order - they are doing preschool.The institutions and the interactions are characterized by complexitics and hybridities andthere are different activitics and discourses in action at the same time. This also concerns theintermediate domain between private and public and the relations between parents and pedagogues.None of them are in controi of children's everyday life, and they have to share information. viewsand sometimes also decisions. Parents have to contribute to the construction of a pre-school chiid,by delivering a child ready for prc-school, a chiId with certain competences. In everyday activitiesand in parental talks, the adults articulate and negotiate the picture of a "normal" pre-school chiId,i.c. demands related to a situated institutionaI normality . The study shows how children act indifferent ways in relation to social context and social order in different situations. They act as "normal pre-schoolchildren" but they also construct their own social order in relation to theinstitution, alone or together with other children and adults.

Följande undersökning behandlar förskolans uppdrag och samverkan kring barn som upplevt trauma. Syftet är att undersöka hur olika professionsföreträdare för yrken närliggande förskolepersonalens (BVC-sjuksköterskor, socionomer, förskolepsykologer & förskolechefer) upplever förskolans roll i arbetet med barn som drabbats av trauma. Studien fokuserar hur olika professionsföreträdare nära förskolan upplever förskolans uppdrag och vilken relevans deras förväntan har gentemot de styrdokument som förskolan lyder under. Därtill undersöks hur samverkan för att öppna möjligheter för barn som drabbats av trauma, att utvecklas, lära och bidra, ser ut i praktiken. Kvalitativa intervjuer har genomförts med åtta personer. Intervjuer och styrdokument har bearbetats fenomenologiskt så att essensen av det sagda och skrivna tagits fram. Resultatet visar på förväntan på att förskolan tar en aktiv roll i arbetet för barn som upplevt trauma. Förskolans omgivning önskar enligt intervjupersonerna ett mer tillitsfullt samarbete mellan förskolepersonal och vårdnadshavare. Likaså efterlyses ett förebyggande hälsoarbete mellan deltagarnas egna professioner och  förskolepersonal. Ett inslag av misstro mot förskolepersonal blandas med tilltro till förskolan som potentiell arena för positiv samhällsutveckling. Resultatet analyseras först i jämförelse mellan intervjuer och styrdokument. Därvid framkommer att intervjupersonernas förväntan på förskolan är i samklang med styrdokumentens uppdragsbeskrivning. Samverkansupplevelserna analyseras utifrån Danermarks teori för samverkanskvalitet vilket visar på samverkansbrister i styrning, struktur och samsyn enligt intervjupersonernas upplevelser. Ett tänkt barn sätts som fallstudie in i Bronfenbrenners utvecklingsekologiska modell, som belyses med Ungars, Ghazinours och Richters resiliensteori. Då synliggörs hur intervjupersonernas upplevelse av samverkan kring barn som erfarit trauma berör hela barnets utvecklingsekologiska sammanhang. Analysen visar att kvalitativ samverkan är en förutsättning för att barnet ska ta sig ur ett posttraumatiskt stress-syndrom. Det samhälleliga uppdraget för förskola och nätverk blir att ge barnet många användbara verktyg och tillfällen för att ta sig genom kaos till fortsatt utveckling och lärande.

Darbo tikslas – įvertinti Tauragės miesto darželio vaikų mitybą ir jos sąsajas su tėvų socialine-ekonomine padėtimi. Tyrimo metodika. Apytikslio registravimo metodu vaikų mitybos tyrimas atliktas 2012 m. liepos 9, 11 ir 14 dienomis lopšelyje-darželyje ,,Žvaigždutė“. Tyrime dalyvavo aštuonių grupių vaikai, iš viso 124 tiriamieji (44,4 proc. berniukų ir 55,6 proc. mergaičių), kurių amžius – 3 - 6 metai. Vaikų mityba darželyje stebėta dvi darbo dienas, o vieną dieną mityba tirta namuose neanoniminiu anketiniu būdu apklausiant vaikų tėvus apie suvartotus maisto produktus ir jų kiekius. Šiame darbe analizuojami tik tų vaikų duomenys, kurie dalyvavo tyrime visas tris dienas. Atsako dažnis – 67,4 proc. Statistinė duomenų analizė atlikta naudojantis SPSS 16.0 for Windows programa. Rezultatai. Išanalizavus trijų parų maisto davinio energinę vertę ir maisto medžiagų sudėtį, nustatyta, kad 1 - 3 metų amžiaus grupės vaikų vidutinė paros maisto davinio energinė vertė buvo 1587,4 kcal, o 4 - 6 metų – 1940,0 kcal. Abiejose amžiaus grupėse daugiausia energijos gauta iš angliavandenių (atitinkamai 50,1 ir 50,3 proc.). Tačiau tiriamųjų suvartota angliavandenių, skaidulinių maisto medžiagų dalis buvo nepakankama. Baltymų dalis ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikų maisto davinyje – pakankama. Maisto davinyje buvo per daug riebalų, ypač sočiųjų riebalų rūgščių. 1 - 3 ir 4 - 6 metų amžiaus grupių vaikų maisto davinyje riebalai viršijo maksimalią rekomenduojamą normą atitinkamai 7,5 proc. ir 7 proc... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Aim of the study – to assess dietary intake of children in Taurage kindergarden and its links between parental socioeconomic status. Research methodology. An approximate recording method was used in July 9, 11, 14, 2012, to carry out dietary intake of children in a nursery-kindergarten “Žvaigždute”. Children from three groups, i. e. 124 respondents (44.4 percent of boys and 55.6 percent of girls), aged 3 - 6 years participated in the research. Dietary intake of children was observed for two days and one day it was observed at children’s homes – parents were provided with non-anonymous questionnaires which had to be filled with the data about food products and their quantities their children had that day. In this study it is analyzed the data of those children who participated in the research for all three days. Response rate – 67.4 percent. Statistical analysis of the data has been carried out using SPSS 16.0 Windows Programme. Results. Analysis of the three-day food intake energy value and nutrient composition determined that the energy value of the food ration of the group of 1 - 3 years old children was 1587,4 kcal and 1940,0 kcal of the group of 4 - 6 years old children. Both age groups got the most energy from carbohydrates (respectively 50.1 and 50.3 percent). However, part of investigated carbohydrates and fiber nutrients was insufficient. The part of proteins in pre-school children’s food ration was sufficient. Also, there was too much fat, especially saturated fatty... [to full text]

<p>Studien är en kvalitativ, empirisk undersökning som baseras på intervjuer med sex pedagoger som arbetar på Reggio Emilia-inspirerade förskolor. Reggio Emilia-filosofin växte fram i norra Italien efter andra världskriget och introducerades i Sverige under början av 1980-talet. Inom Reggio Emilia anser man att barn är rika och kompetenta och man arbetar kontinuerligt med att utvärdera och utveckla verksamheten genom att bland annat använda pedagogisk dokumentation som arbetsredskap. Syftet med studien är att undersöka om och i sådana fall på vilka sätt pedagoger på två Reggio Emilia-inspirerade förskolor anser att deras förhållningssätt förändrats jämfört med deras tidigare yrkesutövning inom förskoleverksamhet. I litteraturgenomgången redogörs för ursprunget till Reggio Emilia-filosofin, hur framväxten av den svenska förskolan sett ut, när och hur Reggio Emilia introducerades i Sverige samt de grundtankar vi funnit centrala inom Reggio Emilias filosofi. Resultatet visar på att pedagogerna har förändrat sitt förhållningssätt inom fem områden. De menar att de har förändrat sin syn på barn och sitt sätt att arbeta med dokumentation. De strävar efter att göra både barn och föräldrar mer delaktiga i förskolans verksamhet samt att göra förskolan mer delaktig i samhället. De har även förändrat miljön på förskolan för att barnen ska kunna bli mer självständiga och de arbetar nu med åldersindelade barngrupper. I diskussionen reflekterar vi bland annat över vikten av att pedagogerna kan motivera inför föräldrar vad de grundar sitt sätt att arbeta på samt förmedla vad ett Reggio Emilia-inspirerat förhållningssätt innebär för dem som pedagoger.</p> / <p>This is a qualitative, empirical study based on interviews with six educationists working at Reggio Emilia inspired pre schools. The Reggio Emilia philosophy originates from northern Italy, where it developed after the Second World War. It was introduced in Sweden in the early 1980’s. The opinion within Reggio Emilia is that all children are rich and competent, and you constantly work on evaluation and development of the practice by help of pedagogical documentation, for example. The aim of the study is to examine if the educationists at two Reggio Emilia inspired pre schools are of the opinion that their approach has changed, compared to how they earlier exercised their profession in pre school. In the literary part of the study we describe the origin of the Reggio Emilia philosophy, the development of the Swedish pre school, and also when and how Reggio Emilia was introduced in Sweden. Furthermore we describe the fundamental ideas we have found to be the core of the Reggio Emilia philosophy. The result of the study shows that the educationists have changed their approach in five areas. They are of the opinion that they have changed their view of children and the way they work with documentation. They strive to involve children and parents more in the pre school activities, and also to make their pre school more involved in the community. The educationists have also changed the surroundings at the pre school to give the children the possibility to be more independent, and they are now working with age divided groups of children. In the discussion we reflect upon the importance for educationists being able to motivate to parents what their practice is based on, and also being able to explain the meaning of a Reggio Emilia inspired approach.</p>