Purpose
In this study, the researchers investigate how group size affects children’s well-being, learning and development in kindergarten in relation to the objectives set out in the 2010 revised framework plan for Swedish kindergartens.
Research question:
- What type of views are expressed by Swedish kindergarten teachers regarding group sizes?
- What type of conditions are the children given that are dependant on group size?
Result
The results indicate that kindergarten teachers’ experience of group size depends on three dimensions: (1) the kindergarten teacher’s qualifications and competence, (2) both the indoor and outdoor physical environment (3) the composition of the children’s groups. These dimensions depend on several aspects that affect the critical limit of how many children can be part of the group, while also functioning in a qualitatively good way. If these dimensions and aspects do not work together, both the kindergarten teacher and the children perceive the group as being too large.
Design
The article is part of a larger research project on group size in Swedish kindergartens. The project’s research design was based on combined methods where the researchers sent out a questionnaire to a cross-section of the population, and also conducted interviews with individual kindergarten teachers. This article is based on data generated from interviews with 24 kindergarten teachers and analyses of 11 open-ended questions in the questionnaire.
References
Williams, P., Sheridan, S. & Pramling Samuelsson, I. (2019). “A Perspective of Group Size on Children’s Conditions for Wellbeing, Learning and Development in Preschool”. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 63(5):696–711.