Purpose
This study examines the ECEC teachers’ perceptions and teachers’ perceptions of teaching and learning in Swedish preschool class, the meeting between the two professional groups, as well as their thoughts on a mandatory Swedish preschool class with a clearer school-preparatory role.
Result
The interviews showed that all informants in the study considered the non-mandatory status of the Swedish preschool class as a problem for both children and adults. They emphasise that a mandatory preschool class would clarify position of the preschool class in the grey area between ECEC centres and school, and this would benefit children's development. It is considered important that all children have the same platform and the same possibilities to play and develop. The informants say that if preschool class were made mandatory, it would be a start to school, but a playful start and with ECEC pedagogical theory and practice. All informants thus emphasise play as a key element in preschool class pedagogical theory and practice. Children's free play on the basis of their imagination is considered the primary aspect, but play guided by adults is also an important part of the pedagogical practice. According to the informants, actual teaching in preschool class takes place at circle time and in the subsequent period. Both ECEC teachers and teachers consider it important that children have one year to prepare for school, in which they can satisfy their play needs and "play their way into school".
According to the author, the informants' answers show that the two groups are influenced by their respective communities of practice. For example, the two groups view learning and teaching differently. The ECEC teachers distinguish between teaching at school and teaching at preschool class, and assess that teaching at school is controlled by teachers, whereas preschool class practice emerges from the child. The learning that takes place in preschool class is described as preparatory by the ECEC teachers. On the other hand, the teachers in the other group do not talk about preschool class learning as preparatory learning, and they say that the ECEC teachers are already teaching the children as if they were at school, because they combine free play with goal-oriented play guided by adults. The teachers do not distinguish between preparatory learning and actual learning. Rather, they believe that the pedagogical theory and practices differ between preschool class and school.
Design
A total of eight employees from preschool classes in six different school units were interviewed in groups or individually. Two of the informants were qualified teachers in grades 1-3 (grundskollärarutbildning mot tidigare skolår), while the rest were qualified ECEC teachers (förskollärarutbildning). The interviews were based on questions about teaching and learning in preschool class and a future mandatory Swedish preschool class. In the analysis, the authors draw on socio-cultural theory.
References
Alatalo, T. (2017). Förskollärares och grundskollärares uppfattningar om undervisning och lärande i förskoleklass. Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 22(1-2), 79-100.