Abstract This study was meant to cast a light on the use of music-instruments that exists in preschool environments today. Furthermore the purpose was to find out if instruments first and foremost, actually did exist, and what thoughts had been put behind that decision. The focus was directed towards the preschool teachers and their attitudes towards music instruments among preschool children, at the ages 3 to 5 years. The purpose of the study was to understand how preschool teachers thought of activities where music instruments where used. The study was made from interviews with six different preschool teachers from different preschools. The interviews showed that the preschool teachers thought highly of the use of music instruments among children. They expressed instruments to be important for a number of things that developed different skills within the children.  The study also showed that the six preschools that the teachers represented used some sort of instrument in activities with the children. The teachers talked about the curriculum when explaining how they planned these activities, which also was meant to have an important role in this study.

The purpose of this study is to find out which attitudes, norms and values exists about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) families in preschools. Based on five qualitative interviews with teachers that work at a LGBT-certified preschool and one that is active in their work with norm critical pedagogy. To be able to fulfil my purpose of this study I concentrated on why these teachers believed that it was of importance to counter society’s heteronormativity, to prevent discrimination and mistreatments towards children and their LGBT parents in preschool. I wanted to find out what the teachers thoughts were on the concept of what a family is and how the diversity of families is shown in the preschools material and pedagogy. When I analysed the results of my qualitative interviews I used queer theories that include heteronormativity and norm critical pedagogy. The interviews of the teachers showed that they thought it was of great importance to work with a norm critical pedagogy because they did not believe that society’s heteronormativity could or should rule in preschools. The assumption that the majority, to not say all of the children, come from nuclear families does not agree with the reality of many children in our society. To assume such thing can lead to discrimination and obscureness. The results of my study show that by reviewing your own norms and perceptions of normality, will allow you to work with a norm critical approach. It also gives you an awareness that will help you as an educator to make sure that more children and families feel that they are acknowledged and respected. The active choice of methods and materials in the preschool helps the teachers to ensure that the children can be seen and reflected on a daily basis. By questioning heteronormativity in preschool, teachers offer children more opportunities and presents different realities. It also helps them to develop measures to analyse the norms and not just assume that there is only one right way to live.

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The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how preschool teachers are doing to train children with concentration difficulties to maintain their concentration. That children with concentration difficulties increases is something that emerged in this study. In order to facilitate and help these children in the best possible way, you have to know the underlying causes and the factors that contribute to lack of concentration.Iam usinga qualitativeinterview method withsemi-structuredquestions to getanswersto my questions.Threeteachers fromtwodifferent preschoolsparticipated in the survey.   What emerged in the study was that large groups of children, long days at preschool and today’s society with stress are major causes contributing to the increasing number of children with concentration difficulties according those interviewed. The teachersworkedprimarilyonan individualizedmannerin which theyassumed thatallchildrenare different andreact differently to theimpressions andstimulipresent in the environment. They have learnedthrough their experiencesto preventconcentration problemsby dividingthe children intosmall groups, adapt activitiesforindividualsworkingin short sessions, providingdensefeedbackandstructuredexistence.Theseare importantfactors that givethe child agreaterchance ofbeing able tomaintain theirconcentration a little longer. / Syftet med den här studien är att få djupare kunskaper om hur pedagoger i förskolan gör för att träna barn med koncentrationssvårigheter, att bibehålla sin koncentration. Att barn med koncentrationssvårigheter ökar är något som framkommit i den här studien. För att kunna underlätta och hjälpa dessa barn på bästa möjliga sätt, så måste man veta de bakomliggande orsakerna och vilka faktorer som bidrar till koncentrationssvårigheter. Jag har använt mig av en kvalitativ intervjumetod med halvstrukturerade frågor för att få svar på mina frågor. Tre pedagoger från två olika förskolor har deltagit i undersökningen.   Vad som framkom i resultatet så är stora barngrupper, långa dagar på förskolan och dagens samhälle med stress stora bidragande orsaker till det ökande antalet barn med koncentrationssvårigheter enligt intervjupersonerna. Pedagogerna arbetade främst på ett individuellt anpassat sätt där de utgick från att alla barn är olika och reagerar olika på intryck och stimuli som finns i omgivningen. De har lärt sig genom sina erfarenheter att förebygga koncentrationssvårigheter genom att dela in barnen i mindre grupper, anpassa aktiviteterna efter individerna, arbeta i korta pass, ge tät feedback och en strukturerad tillvaro. Dessa är viktiga faktorer som ökar chansen till att kunna bibehålla sin koncentrationsförmåga lite längre.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka och analysera pedagogers arbete med matematik på förskolans utegård. Studien genomfördes i form av intervjuer och observationer. Resultatet visar att pedagogers arbete med matematik på förkolans utegård främst sker genom att de benämner vad barnen gör med matematiska begrepp och utmanar dem genom att ställa frågor och på så sätt utveckla aktiviteterna. Vissa pedagoger nämner att de arbetar på ett undersökande sätt med problemlösning. Vissa pedagoger skapar även lärtillfällen inom matematik genom att förse barnen med material eller genom att arbeta med planerade aktiviteter på utegården som berör matematik. Pedagogerna ser bara fördelar med att arbeta med matematik på utegården och att det främst är deras eget förhållningssätt som påverkar hur detta arbete ser ut. Slutsatsen är att pedagoger har en viktig roll när det gäller hur arbetet med matematik på utegården ser ut. Detta gör att det är intressant att se att resultatet ändå visade att arbetet med matematik på utegården främst sker på barnens initiativ. / The aim of this study was to investigate and analyze how preschool teachers use preschool yard in their work with mathematics. The method that was selected to collect data was qualitative interviews and observations. The result shows that preschool teachers work with mathematics mainly occurs through use of mathematics concept to term what the children are doing and by challenging them by asking questions that can develop thechildren´s activities. Some preschool teachers mention that they work in an exploratory manner with problem solving.Some preschool teachers also create learning opportunities by providing the children with materials or by working with planned activities on the preschool yard involving mathematics. The result shows that the preschool teachers only see benefits with working with mathematics on the preschool yard and that their attitudes affect how this work is done. The conclusion is that preschool teachers have an important role in how work with mathematics on the preschool yard appears. This makes it interesting that the result still shows that the work with mathematics on the preschool yard occurs primarily on initiatives from the children.

The aim of this study was to find out how the work with environmental issues are implemented in preschools. The method used was an email survey sent to preschool pedagogues in Sweden. The result of the study showed that the environmental issue that was most used was recycling and the activities that was most used were recycling and composting. The result also showed that mixed groups of children between 1-5 years old were the ones who work the most with environmental issues. / Denna studies syfte var att undersöka hur arbetet med miljöfrågor på förskolor ser ut. Metoden som användes var epostenkäter och skickades till förskolepedagoger i Sverige. Resultatet som framkom var att miljöfrågor arbetas främst genom vardagssysslor och det som fokuseras på mest ute i verksamheterna är källsortering och kompostering. Det framkom även att blandade åldersgrupper mellan 1-5 år är de barngrupper som arbetar mest med miljöfrågor.

Den kvalitativa studiens syfte var att analysera, beskriva och förstå skollednings och lärares uppfattningar kring mångkulturellt arbete i förskolan, samt deras betydelse för förskolans verksamhet. Studien utgick från sociokulturell teori och byggde på intervjuer av skolledning och förskollärare på en mångkulturell förskola. I studiens resultat framkom att skolledning och lärare i förskolan menar att barn och föräldrar ska mötas med respekt oavsett kulturell bakgrund. Lärarna ansåg sig viktiga att förmedla läroplanens värdegrund samt det svenska språket och kulturen till förskolans barn och föräldrar. De uttryckte även att de upplevde olika kulturella bakgrunder som spännande och berikande, vilket gav dem en fördjupad kunskap om olika sätt att tycka och tänka. Barnens språkutveckling var det innehåll som studiens lärare prioriterade högst, både det svenska språket och barnens modersmål. I diskussionen jämfördes studiens resultat med teorier och tidigare forskning. Lärarens komplexa och mångfasetterade arbete problematiserades och det ställdes frågor hur verksamheten kunde utvecklas. Frågor om inkludering av barns olika kulturer och modersmål, värderingar samt barns dubbla kulturtillhörighet diskuterades. Dessa frågeställningar kan bidra till verksamhetsutveckling i en förskola där alla barn och familjers kulturella bakgrund är lika värda, och där alla barnens språk är inkluderade. / The aim of this qualitative study was to analyze, describe and understand the school leaders and teachers’ perceptions about multicultural work in preschool, and their importance to preschool activities. The study was based on sociocultural theory and built on interviews of school leaders and teachers in a multicultural preschool. The results of the study showed that the school leaders and teachers expressed that children and parents should be treated with respect regardless of cultural background. The teachers considered themselves important to convey basic values of the curriculum as well as the Swedish language and culture to preschool children and parents. They also expressed their experience of different cultural backgrounds as exciting and rewarding, giving them a deeper knowledge of alternative ways to think and believe. The teachers of the study considered children's language development as the most important content, both in Swedish and in children's first language. In the discussion of the study were results compared with theories and previous research. Teacher's complex and multi-faceted work were problematized with questions how the early childhood education could be developed. There were questions in discussion about the inclusion of children of different cultures and first language, questions about values as well as children’s dual cultural affiliation. These issues can contribute to develop early childhood education to a preschool where all children and families' cultural backgrounds are equal, and where all children's languages is included.

[Truncated abstract] The overall aim of this study was to examine Bruneian preschool teachers’ conceptions about creativity (including factors related to creativity), their beliefs on how to promote children’s creativity in the classroom, how their beliefs may influence their actual practice and whether their practices are consistent with the requirements of the Brunei National Curriculum. It will also try to identify any factors that constrain or influence teachers’ practice. The research employed a grounded theory approach involving semi-structured interviews and classroom observations of preschool teachers. The findings of this study indicate that the teachers primarily conceptualise creativity as something mainly but not exclusively to do with art work . . . Teachers’ actual practice mainly consists of teacher control, enforcement of obedience, rote learning, teacher directed and teacher chosen activities and heavy emphasis on whole-class teaching. Other mediating constraints on their promotion of creativity included: pressure from Primary 1 teachers, parents and the officials in Ministry of Educations to complete and adhere to the National Curriculum; teachers’ own pedagogical limitations; large class size; lack of adult help and the presence of special children in the classroom; lack of resources and pressure from other non-teaching commitments. The implication of the findings are that further research needs to be conducted into Brunei’s preschool teacher training programmes, to identify contradictory messages about the value of creativity and to find a more culturally appropriate way of promoting children’s creativity through the curriculum.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-123). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR19664

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Includes survey instruments. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 108-126)