Purpose: The purpose with this study is to investigate how preschool teachers understand the concept the competent child and in what ways this understanding affects their role in children’s learning. Question at issue: What perspective on children do the contributing educationalists have? How do they define a competent child? Do such children exist and if so, are they always competent in all situations? What is the educationalists perspective on learning and knowledge? What is the preschool teacher’s view of their role as educationalists? What do they consider as their most important tasks? Method: To execute this study I have made a qualitative research based on interviews with eight teachers from four different preschools. Main theories: I have built the theoretical part of this study based on four different perspectives on the concept the competent child according to the philosophies of Dion Summer, Jesper Juul and Reggio Emalia. I also describe different theories about learning, knowledge and educationalists as well as the preschools role in the development of child according to different well-known scientists and researchers. Summarized conclusion: The study shows that the interviewed preschool teachers chose to interpret the concept the competent child in three ways. The individual choice affects their expectations of the child and as such the way that they treat it. This shows that it´s important for all preschool teachers to constantly reflect on how they see and treat the children since this shapes them as they grow.

Syftet med vår studie är att undersöka hur förskollärare förhåller sig kravet på barns rätt till delaktighet och inflytande i förskolans verksamhet. Detta när de både måste se till gruppens samt det enskilda barnets behov. Åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med erfarna förskollärareligger till grund för vårt empiriska material. Studien tar utgångspunkt i Foucaults styrningstekniker samt det barndomspsykologiska perspektivet ”det kompetenta barnet”. För att analysera barns delaktighet och inflytande i förskolan delades empirin in i två kategorier, ”hindrande” och möjligheter”. Sammantaget visar studiens resultat hur både barn och pedagoger i förskolan samspelar och förhandlar om barns delaktighet och inflytande. Det blir även synligt hur diverse styrningstekniker appliceras när pedagoger försöker tillgodose barns möjligheter till inflytande. Pedagogers förhållningssätt är en central del som skapar förutsättningar för barn att uppleva delaktighet och känna inflytande. Förskollärares tillvägagångssätt och förskolan som institution skapar såväl hinder som möjligheter för barns delaktighet och inflytande i verksamheten.

The purpose of this essay is to find out if there is a general understanding of what the concept of ”a competent child” is in the writings of Maria Montessori, as well as in books written about Loris Malaguzzi. The essay then compares this with the answers from pre-school teachers in two Montessori and two Reggio Emilia pre-schools about their understanding of what a competent child is, how that shows in their behaviours and attitudes towards the children and in how they use this to arrange the pre-school physical environment. The essay also takes a look at how the teachers work with documentation, how they perceive their chosen pedagogy helps them in their work with the pre-school curriculum and with the requirement that the pre-school teachings should be grounded in the scientific method, and also explores what does the teachers think about their role as a teacher. The essay then tries to analyse why Reggio Emilia has grown to be the predominant pedagogy   in the Swedish pre-schools and why Montessori has not. The investigation is based on qualitative interviews as well as observations made by the author. The study is based on Vygotskijs socio-cultural theory, which could be summarised that we all learn in social relations.   The conclusion of the study is that there is a general understanding about the competent child in the books written by Maria Montessori and Loris Malaguzzi, as well as in the teacher’s answers to interview questions and in their acting in teaching situations. The study could see some differences in the design of the physical environments, theteachers’ views of their roles in their answers about the curriculum and that the pre-school should be based on the scientific method. These answers combined with the authors’ observations, the literature used for reference and the socio-cultural theory written by Vygotskij brings the author to the conclusion that Reggio Emilia could be seen as modern version of Montessori. Reggio Emilia is more up to date with a modern take on the role of teachers in advancing children’s learning and development, and the pedagogy also has the socio-cultural theory as a base for understanding how both adults and children learn. The Reggio Emilia pre-schools visited by the author also work with aesthetic expressions in a way that the pre- schools based in the Montessori pree-schools don´t. Reggio Emilia also ”gave” the Swedish pree-schools a tool for seeing the children, the teacher´s and the pree-school itself. It gave us pedagogic documentation.

The pre-school is seen by many as the place where children get equipped for the future and the challenges there of. One of the most important aims according of the curriculum for Swedish preschools is that children get the opportunity, in interaction with the pedagogues, to develop their identity and to feel secure and satisfied with themself. Although, in the curriculum of the Swedish preschool system there is a comprehensive focus on the children’s competencies and learning, the importance that the children feel secure is not that prominent. Consequently a paradox occurs between the focus on children’s competencies and their need for care. The focus of this study is to investigate how this effects the pedagogues work with the children’s self-esteem.   The study investigates the pedagogues views on self-esteem and how they work to strengthen and develop the childrens self-esteem. A qualitative method was used, based on interviews and observations, in order to get a verified picture of the pedagogues views on the above questions. The interviews took place in a pre-school in the south part of Stockholm. The study is based on the perspective sociology of childhood.  The result shows that the pedagogues child perspective is based on the ’competent child’ where the development of the children’s self-esteem developed with confirmation of the childrens competencies and performances. The childrens self-esteem is according to the pedagogues a concept they take for granted as a ’silent perspective’, instead of something outspoken and something they discuss between one another. In conclusion, to work with children's self-esteem and to make the work as meaningful as possible, it is important that the pedagogues are aware that there are several ways to it’s development both an inner subjective and outer, which they display. The result shows that much focus is placed on developing the outer performance-based self-esteem. As a consequence little focus is laid on the emotional acknowledgment necessary for the development of the subjective or the inner self-esteem.

In this study I wanted to find out what is said about the preschool in a media debate that took place on a discussion forum of a Swedish newspaper’s web site in 2016. Through critical discourse analysis I have tried to find out what is said and reflect upon what it says about the preschool. Critical discourse analysis focuses on the text, the interaction and the context to find out how different discourses are being drawn upon within the interaction to reproduce or modify the given context. My results show that the studied media debate takes place within a modernistic order of discourse where the preschool as a producer of results and as a business company is at stake. This is the preschool as an institution, where the child needs to develop certain abilities, and as a producer, offering a service to the consumer; the parent. Half of the participants of the debate are questioning the preschool and claim that the institutionalization of children has gone too far. The preschool isn’t able to deliver when it comes to care and security for the little child, according to the critics. The other half of the participants defend the preschool as an institution and see it as a necessary part of the childhood, both as a practical solution for the modern society and for what it can give the child when it comes to learning and preparing for the future. The critics and the defenders can be understood as acting within different historical discourses of the preschool. The critics use arguments from the discourse of the child-crib, a socially determined childcare from the 19th century. The defenders use arguments from the discourse of the kindergarten, a pedagogically determined nursery school with its roots at the turn of the last century. The debate takes place within a certain understanding of the preschool which therefore is being reproduced, even though there are tendencies towards a more postmodern understanding in some of the written arguments. The preschool in the debate show signs of colonization by the systems of money and power, through what Fairclough calls marketization of discourse, discourse of bureaucracy and discourse of counseling. The preschool under debate is a preschool within the global market of free trade, where changing power relations lead to feelings of insecurity and the need for control. Throughout the debate one power relation is taken for granted, that is the relation between the debater and the debated, between the adult and the child.

This paper analyzes how the Lego Group discourse portrays children, education, play, themselves and attempts to reveal corresponding ideologies surrounding the brick. The LEGO Group claim equality, honesty and transparency in their communications, and within their business ecosystem, at their core are their traditional family values, creating an intriguing and multi-layered discourse. This thesis explores the construction of representations, from a constructionist approach using discourse analysis and language coding, aiming to uncover what is revealed and ignored. The Lego Group positions themselves as one of the future solutions to the widening gap between current educational systems and the needs of future young adults in the workforce of our rapidly changing society. They continuously portray the ‘other’ actors as bad - whether in education, technology or activities. They define every subject they cover in their own terms, creating a LEGO language and microworld philosophy. There is an imbalance between their time promoting children’s agency and time spent discussing 21st century education; the latter concerns appear to far outweigh their portrayal of children, leading to conclusions that marketing logic and aspired educational market share has a stronger influence on LEGO discourse. Children are constructed as agentic, competent and commodified when selling them new products and services, as adults-in-training when discussing education and as vulnerable or innocent when highlighting child safety concerns online. Education is viewed in terms of failure, power and change, and their versions of play and creativity as the solution to all of society's ills. Their discourse reflects The LEGO Group’s position and hegemony as one of the most powerful and influential toy companies in the world. This study contributes towards the current gap in research surrounding The LEGO Group discourse, and attempts to reveal the competing ideologies of neoliberal business values versus social good and incorporates concerns of childhood studies exploring whether this company rather represents or uses children within the context of its educational - business ecosystem.

Syftet med produktarbetet var att skapa ett didaktiskt lärandematerial bestående av en bilderbok med tillhörande lärarhandledning med inriktning på vattnets kretslopp, för en hållbar utveckling. Det didaktiska lärandematerialet utformades för att stödja och inspirera förskolepersonalen i sin dagliga undervisning tillsammans med barnen i förskolan. Utformningen av det didaktiska lärandematerialet bygger på det som kom fram i besvarandet kring vår frågeställning: Hur kan ett didaktiskt lärandematerial utformas för att hjälpa förskolepersonalen att ge barn i förskolan tidiga erfarenheter om vattnets kretslopp? Frågeställningen besvarades i relation till den tidigare forskningen som gjorts inom samma ämnesområde. En bakgrund inom redan befintlig barnlitteratur och/eller lärandematerial samt våra didaktiska övervägande kring utformning av barnböcker har också bidraget till produktarbetets resultat. Allt material har samlats in via olika infallsvinklar såsom databassökningar och studiebesök. Materialets insamling har dokumenterats med hjälp av minnesanteckningar, fotografering och ljudupptagningar. I produktarbetets resultatavsnitt presenteras vårt didaktiska lärandematerial som kommer i form av en faktabilderbok med tillhörande lärarhandledning. Utifrån den befintliga barnlitteraturen och lärandematerialen saknas det sen tidigare motsvarande didaktiska lärandematerial, därför blir vår slutsats att vår produkt kan fylla en funktion som inget annat material gör just nu.

I denna vetenskapliga essä kommer jag att undersöka begreppet omsorg. Uppsatsen är skriven i essäform och har en hermeneutisk ansats. Min essä inleds med tre berättelser hämtade från mitt yrkesliv där jag varit delaktig som pedagog. I dessa situationer synliggörs dilemman kring hur omsorgsbegreppet kan tolkas och omsättas i förskolans praktik. Syftet med essän är att undersöka på vilka sätt omsorgsbegreppet kan förstås inom förskolan. Uppsatsens frågeställningar är: Hur kan begreppet omsorg förstås mot bakgrund av att relationen mellan barn och pedagog i förskolan är asymmetrisk Vilka faktorer kan påverka pedagogers meningsskapande av omsorgsbegreppet? samt Hur kan pedagogers meningsskapande av omsorgsbegreppet förstås i relation till rådande diskurser i förskola och samhälle? I min reflektion använder jag litteratur för att ställa frågeställningarna och berättelsen i relation till samtida diskurser gällande barnsyn, ålder, kön och genus. Jag undersöker begreppet omsorg utifrån Nel Noddings omsorgsetik. Min slutsats är att pedagogernas meningsskapande av omsorg har ett nära samband med diskurser i samtiden och förskolan. Utifrån ett omsorgsetiskt perspektiv anser jag att pedagogernas ansvar för relationen och omsorgen i omsorgssituationer är större än det talas om i förskolesammanhang idag. / This scientific thesis is written in the form of an essay in which I will inquire into the concept of care. The thesis is written in form of an essay and has a hermeneutic onset. My essay takes a starting point in three stories taken from my professional life where I had been involved as a pedagogue. In these situations the dilemma becomes visible about how the care concept can be interpreted and translated into pre-school practice. The essay’s questions are: How can the concept of care be understood in the light of the fact that the relationship between children and pedagogue is asymmetrical? What factors can affect the perception of the pedagogues of the concept of care? and How can educators' perception of the concept of care be understood in relation to current discourses in preschool and society?  In my reflection I use literature and my stories to set the questions in relation to contemporary discourses current to childcare, age, sex and gender. I will inquire into the concept of care from using Nel Noddings’ ethics of care. My conclusion is that pedagogue’s perceptions of care are closely linked to contemporary and pre-school discourses. From an ethics of care point of view, I consider that pedagogue’s responsibility for relationship and care in care situations is larger than it is spoken of in pre-school context today.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the view of educators on their participation in free play in preschool. Free play is a typical activity for preschool. Engdahl & Ärlemalm-Hagsér (2015) highlight Fröbel as creator of the concept of free play. According to Fröbel, free play is characterized by creativity, freedom, repetition, learning and development (p. 145). Lindgren, Pramling & Säljö (2017) also motivate free play as chosen and led by the children themselves (p.148). With the revised curriculum, play has generally changed and more space has been given. However, the concept of teaching has been added, which means that the free play is being overshadowed. The curriculum for preschool does not highlight the concept of free play, but play in general, where children must be given the conditions for play so that they themselves initiate and that someone in the work team introduces the play to them (p. 8). Play should have a central place in preschool education, where an approach for everyone who is a part of the work team is to encourage play and confirm the importance of play for children’s development, learning and wellbeing (p.8). Nilsson & Lecusay (2020) believe that play is human’s most distinctive feature (p. 78). and that adults should actively contribute to children’s plays (ibid p. 82). As teaching has taken over most of the activities, there is a fear that the play will be overshadowed and taken for granted. Free play may be seen as a normal behavior, which can lead to it being easily taken for granted (Pramling Samuelsson & Asplund Carlsson 2008, p. 629) and therefore must be encouraged and challenged by adults by participating in the play.

The aim of the study is to conduct a qualitative rhetorical analysis of websites where Reggio Emilia-inspired preschools present their pedagogy to gain increased knowledge of the content that is written, focusing on the environment and materials. The environment is important in the Reggio Emilia pedagogy and they are convinced that the environment is of great importance for children's play, interaction, and upbringing into a democratic society. Rhetorical text analysis examines how the schools present their activities on their websites and how the environment and material the preschools use in their activities emerges in their presentations. With the help of three research questions, we find out how the pedagogical materials used in their pedagogical activities appear and how they describe the different environments at preschool. What material do they present and how it is presented, do they describe specifically what material they use, or do they only give a general description. Do they consider the recipient's experience and background in the presentation? We use rhetorical text analysis according to Lennart Hellspong and the Reggio Emilia pedagogy to find out how well they have phrased their presentations, we have used rhetorical analysis also to analyze the images that are included in the presentations. We investigate how the transmitter's ethos, character and personality, appear in the text. How the text affects the recipient's emotions and thoughts, pathos. We look at how the transmitter uses language and thinking, logos, as a compelling, persuasive, tool. We examine the child perspective that emerges, if the children are also assigned ethos and pathos through the text and how the educator's role and relationships appear in the text. The result shows that there are very few preschools that present their pedagogical activities at all on their website. Among the few who do, it varies a bit how they do it. Some use many images to supplement the descriptive text of the presentation of their material while others do not show any images at all. Some preschools specifically describe the different materials used, while others use collective names such as natural materials. The result shows that all the presentations we analyzed describe parts of the Reggio Emilia pedagogy but only about half of the preschools use concepts that are typical of pedagogy such as "the environment as the third pedagogue", "the competent child" and "the hundred languages". / Studiens syfte är att göra en kvalitativ retorisk analys av förskolors hemsidor som är inspirerade av Reggio Emilia för att få ökad kunskap om det innehåll som skrivs fram, med fokus på verksamhetens miljö och material. Miljön är viktig i Reggio Emiliapedagogiken och man är övertygad om att miljön har stor betydelse för barns lek, samspel, och fostran in i ett demokratiskt samhälle. Genom retorisk textanalys undersöks hur förskolorna presenterar sin verksamhet, på sina hemsidor, och hur miljön och materialet de använder i sin verksamhet träder fram i deras presentationer. Med hjälp av tre forskningsfrågor tar vi reda på hur det pedagogiska materialet man använder i sin pedagogiska verksamhet framträder och hur väl man beskriver de olika miljöerna på förskolan. Vilket material som presenteras och hur det presenteras, beskrivs det specifikt vilket material man använder eller ger man bara en generell beskrivning. Tar man hänsyn till mottagarens erfarenhet och bakgrund i sin beskrivning. Vi använder retorisk textanalys enligt Lennart Hellspong och Reggio Emiliapedagogiken för att ta reda på hur väl man formulerat sina presentationer, vi har använt retorisk analys även för att analysera de bilder som finns med i presentationerna. Vi undersöker hur sändarens ethos, karaktär och personlighet, framträder i texten. Hur texten påverkar mottagarens känslor och tankar, pathos. Vi tittar på hur sändaren utnyttjar språket och tänkandet, logos, som ett övertygande, persuasivt, redskap. Vi undersöker vilken barnsyn som framträder, om även barnen tilldelas ethos och pathos genom texten och hur pedagogens roll och relationer framträder i texten. Resultatet visar att det är väldigt få förskolor som presenterar sin pedagogiska verksamhet över huvud taget på sin hemsida. Bland de få som gör det varierar det en del hur man gör det. En del använder sig av många bilder för att komplettera den beskrivande texten i presentationen av sitt material medan andra inte visar några bilder alls. Vissa beskriver specifikt vilka olika material man använde medan andra använder sig av samlingsnamn som exempelvis naturmaterial. Resultatet visar att alla de presentationer vi analyserat beskriver delar av Reggio Emiliapedagogiken men bara ca hälften använder begrepp som är typiska för pedagogiken såsom ”miljön som den tredje pedagogen”, ”det kompetenta barnet” och ”de hundra språken”.