Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur ett antal förskollärare beskriver sitt arbete med barns språkutveckling. Det insamlade datamaterialet består av semistrukturerade intervjuer med sju legitimerade förskollärare. Utifrån en tematisk analys har sex teman framkommit, dessa utgör studiens resultat. Resultatet visar att förskollärare använder sig av olika arbetssätt för att främja barns språkutveckling i förskolan. Detta sker genom både planerad och spontan undervisning samt med hjälp av olika språkfrämjande verktyg. Även förskollärares förhållningssätt lyfts i resultatet som en viktig aspekt för att kunna bedriva och planera en undervisning som gynnar barnens språkutveckling.

Syftet med vårt arbete är att belysa vilket synsätt som förskollärarna har på det inkluderande arbetet kring barn i förskolans verksamhet. Inkludering är ett teoretiskt begrepp som kan vara svårt att tolka för förskollärare. Både i ordet i sig, som kan betyda olika för alla förskollärare samt hur man ska jobba och tänka kring inkludering i förskolans verksamhet. Som teoretisk ansatts har vi använt oss av dilemmaperspektivet, eftersom vi inte kommer komma fram till någon lösning kring inkluderingsarbetet utan mer belyser förskollärares olika synsätt och vilka perspektiv dem använder sig av i sin syn på inkludering. För att få fram hur förskollärarna ser på inkludering i förskolans verksamhet har vi använt oss av semistrukturerad intervju, öppna frågor och följdfrågor för att få fram en beskrivande berättelse av förskollärarna. Som vi kunde se i vår tidigare forskning så är inkludering ett ord som många av förskollärarna tycker är svårt att arbeta kring och förstå. Det är ett begrepp som behöver planering, kunskap och en inkluderande grundsyn för att uppnå inkludering i förskolans verksamhet. Resultatet visar att förskollärarna ser inkludering som viktigt och ett måste, men svaren skiljer sig åt beroende av tolkningen av inkludering i förskolans verksamhet som helhet eller som inkludering i olika aktiviteter och undervisningssituationer. Resultatet i studien visar även vad inkludering i förskolans verksamhet är för varje respondent, varför inkludering behövs i förskolans verksamhet samt hur varje respondent ser att inkludering bör arbetas med.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether commercially available software, modified with enhanced dialogue from instructors, could improve discourse skills in Head Start students over improvements obtained without enhanced instructor dialogue, and over improvements of ordinary classroom instruction. Additional information about modifying software or designing new software to improve discourse skills was investigated. Ninety-three students in five Head Start classes of 4- year-olds were tested on the Preschool Language Assessment Instrument (PLAI) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test- Revised (PPVT-R). Students within each of the five classes were matched on scores from the PLAI and the PPVT-R and then randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) software with enhancement, (b) software alone, or (c) control condition. Five student speech-language clinicians worked with the students assigned to the computer-aided conditions. The third group of students received normal instruction from the Head Start staff. Following a treatment period of 3 months, a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze pretest/posttest PLAI and PPVT-R scores of the Head Start students (N=78). No significant group differences were found for treatment. Significant group differences were found for time. Qualitative analysis from anecdotal records and a user response survey provided additional information about the computer-assisted program and the speech and language of the students in the two computer conditions. The records and clinician survey also suggested how the software could be modified or new software designed to improve discourse skills in young children. The concept of scaffolding was applied to the two computer-aided conditions used in this study. Selected examples from the spontaneous speech of students during computer training sessions demonstrate the relationship between scaffolding instruction and the computer-assisted condition, software with enhancement (CAI+). A theoretical framework which follows from this relationship is suggested. Implications for the use of software with enhancement by non-communication specialists with the speech-language clinician in the role of consultant are provided. / Ed. D.

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is often present already at preschool age. Previous research has established the association between temperament and broad categories of behavioral disorders. However, no longitudinal research has studied the potential impact of temperament on changes in ODD symptoms in preschool and early school years. Two birth cohorts of 4-year olds living in the city of Trondheim, Norway, were screened for emotional and behavioral problems and a subsample oversampled for such problems was drawn to take part in the study; 82.1% consented. Parents of 1000 children were interviewed with the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment, and ratings of children's temperament were provided using the Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ). Children were reassessed after 2 years (N = 797). The temperamental dimensions Surgency (SU) and Negative Affectivity (NA) were positively correlated with initial level of ODD symptoms, and predicted an increase in symptoms from age 4 to 6. High Effortful Control (EC) was associated with little ODD symptoms at age 4, but did not predict change in such symptoms. However, in interaction with NA, EC was associated with lower initial levels of ODD symptoms and predicted a decrease in symptoms from age 4 to 6. More precisely, the protective effect of EC was very strong for children high on NA but lower for children low to moderate on NA. The findings suggest that NA and SU function as risk factors whereas EC protects against ODD in young children. NA serves as a moderator of EC, in that among children high in NA, EC had a large protective effect, whereas among children with lower levels of NA, EC did protect to a lesser degree against ODD symptoms. Results of this study have theoretical implications linking temperament to ODD in preschoolers, and clinical applications utilizing temperament assessment to identify children at risk, prevent development of ODD and match treatment modalities to the child’s specific temperamental strengths and weaknesses.

The intention of this study is to describe some pedagogue’s exceptions of how they work with children who has Swedish as a second language and how they work with the policy documents and rights that is available. The study is based on three structured interviews with very experienced pedagogues that work in preschool. The three interviews are recorded and adapted.  To analyze the data a socio-cultural approach was used. The conclusion of my study was that the pedagogues who work in preschool has a similar way to work with bilingual children and that they consider that communication through speak, pictures and the body language is the most important thing to get the children accessorial to the preschool activities and to maintain the rights. / Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva några pedagogers uppfattningar om hur de arbetar med barn som har svenska som andraspråk och hur de arbetar utifrån de styrdokument och rättigheter som finns. Studien bygger på tre ostrukturerade intervjuer med erfarna pedagoger som arbetar i förskoleklass. Intervjuerna är inspelade och transkriberade. För att analysera innehållet av datan så har en sociokulturell ansats används. De slutsatser jag dragit är att pedagogerna i förskoleklass som intervjuades har ett liknande arbetssätt vad det gäller de tvåspråkiga barnen. De anser att kommunikation via tal, bilder och kropp är det viktigaste för att barnen ska bli delaktiga i verksamheten och att upprätthålla de rättigheter som finns.

The aim of this study is to examine educator’s attitudes regarding the youngest children’s influence. The target group for this study is educator’s that currently is working with children that are 1-3 years of age. To be able to answer the aim of this study semi-structured interview were conducted. I have performed interviews with five educator’s that currently work in two different preschool that is situated in a small city, in Sweden. The results show that the educator’s attitudes should be open and flexible and thereby allow the children more influence. The educator’s also talk about support, that they shall function as a supporter for the children and be there for them when needed. Responsive and empathetic is also important for the teachers in this study.

The aim of this study is to explore how children experience their social community in the preschool and see how norms and views in the preschool environment could be related to a structural perspective on bullying. I have interviewed six children, five or six years old, about norms, relationships, inclusion, exclusion, friendship and violations in the preschool. There have been a total of six interviews with two to three children in each interview. During the first two interviews I read two children’s books and the discussed them with the children. The third interview included questions about relationships and violations based on the books and the children’s earlier answers. I have analyzed the interviews to see how the children’s answers correspond to research about norms, relationships, inclusion, exclusion, friendship and violations in the preschool and bullying from a structural perspective. The research states that gender and age are the two main reasons for exclusion in the preschool, and that age can be a social resource which can be used to exercise power over younger children. The results show that the children answers correspond quite well with what the research tells us. They emphasize on the importance of being nice, and they react strongly towards violence and psychological violations. They show awareness of gender norms and equality, but this is not always the case when it comes to age differences. My conclusion from this study is that there is a gap between what the research states about age in the preschool and how age and age norms are actually being addressed in the preschool, on an organizational, group and individual level. The children’s views on age norms in the preschool could be a sign that violations between children of different age groups could be accepted within preschools, which could in turn be a starting point for bullying.

The importance of aggressive behavior in preschool ages can be seen from the serious impact it has later in children's lives if a suitable change will not take place. the number of children with behavioral rpoblems in preschool are increasing with a great amount of teachers admitting that they are insufficiently prepared to manage it. The aim of this systematic literature review is to examine the evidence of teacher responsiveness affecting child engagement, with specific focus on children from two to six years old of age who display aggressive behavior in a preschool environenment. Ten articles were included and the results were that children with aggressive behavior are unable to exhibit appropriate behaviors and have poor peer interactions which lead to low engagement. The closeness to the teacher can help them increase their engagement in combination with providing social-emotional support, positive classroom management and focus on the interests of the child.

Early years provision, which combines childcare and preschool education, has been considered vital for child development by theorists and practitioners. Within early years provision pedagogy is assumed to be both an enabling and constraining factor which can shape a particular experience of childhood and, possibly, prepare children for a particular adulthood. This thesis explores pedagogical processes and practices vis-à-vis children’s experiences in three different pedagogical contexts: a corporation nursery, a private nursery and an ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) Anganwadi centre in Chennai in Tamil Nadu (India). It explores the findings of a one year ethnographic study that involved observation/informal conversation with children and semi-structured interviews with teachers, care worker(s) and parents. The ethnographic study used methodological approaches from childhood research, adopted ethical positions from childhood studies and valued children as competent individuals that should be treated with respect throughout the research processes. The analysis of the empirical data uses the intersections of three concepts in the works of Foucault (subject), Butler (identity), Bourdieu (cultural capital) to illuminate and analyse the pedagogical processes and practices. The thesis characterises the different pedagogical contexts encountered in the study as: ‘activity centred’, ‘task centred’, and ‘care centred’. It explains that this context emerged in an on-going active process of negotiation, deliberation, reflection through ‘subjection’ and ‘resistance’. It demonstrates that children construct their embodied self-identity through everyday pedagogical/curriculum performativity and the teacher-children identities work within as well as outside pedagogical contexts. The empirical analysis identifies shame and distinction as key factors for pedagogical/curriculum performativity and argues that the embodied identities of children are fluid and contextual and that they are formed through the interaction of learning materials, academic ability/mastery, and bodily differences in the pedagogical contexts. It is argued that children employ cultural capital when (re)establishing home-nursery connections in different pedagogical contexts and that parents similarly use their cultural capital with a sense of ‘practical logic’ for decision making on matters related to early years provision, e.g. when recognising the transformative potential of children. The thesis findings suggest that there is an element of fluidity in pedagogical contexts and that the local cultural practices of teachers/care worker are reflectively integrated with minority world ideas when normative pedagogies are constructed. The thesis contributes to the development of childhood theory, by demonstrating that childhood is a complex phenomenon. At the policy level, the thesis makes recommendations for practitioners and administrators on how they can value local cultural knowledge, acknowledge reflexive practices of teachers/care workers, and equity issues in early years provision.

This study examines how preschool teachers are working together with the children, and how much the children actually influence the work. In order to examine this, a qualitative study has been made, examining four preschool teachers thought and attitudes towards children's influence in some of the most important parts of their daily work. The study examines how preschool teachers are working with the children's influence in early childhood education. This is also the main purpose of the study. The questions made in the study to answer the main purpose are: What does the preschool teacher think of the term democracy in general? What do preschool teachers think about children's influence and how do they work practically with this in their daily work? How does the preschool curriculum define children's influence? To what extent does children's influence get limited in the daily work? The study has used previous research about children's influence in preschool andalso uses the preschool curriculum and the CRC. It shows that the participating preschool teachers working with children's influence within the various parts of preschool activities do so by taking advantage of the children's interests and opinions. At the same time, there may be situations where the children are not given as much influence. The study also shows that teachers assume the perspective of children and child perspective.