Förskollärares yrkeskunnande: Förskollärares erfarenheter av praktiskt handlande i pedagogisk verksamhet

The purpose of this study is to explore how preschool teachers describe their professional skills (yrkeskunnande). Two research questions were used to achieve this purpose: (1) What do preschool teachers and preschool class teachers (förskoleklass) in Sweden talk about regarding their experiences with pedagogical practice (praktiskt handlande)? (2) How can preschool teachers' individual and collective reflection contribute to new insights regarding their professional skills?

Two themes are prominent in the first research question:
(1) expectations and (2) the preschool teacher's approach to the child (bemötande).

1. Expectations
   With regard to expectations, the preschool teachers experience an expectation of them as professionals from their surroundings, for example colleagues and the children's parents.
   These different expectations affect the individual teacher's practical conduct. An example of such an expectation is that the teacher must prepare the child for future challenges. The teachers relate to this expectation to changes in society which play a role for educational professional skills. However, despite these expectations, the teachers also experience that they are able to work relatively freely on the basis of the intentions applied for preschools and preschool classes, for example in curricula.
   
   
2. The preschool teacher's approach to the child
   Regarding the other theme, the teachers agree that the way in which they approach a child is an important part of their educational professional skills, and this can be perceived as a work tool for the individual teacher. Through different examples, teachers seek to describe how they approach children on the basis of their professional skills and judgement, and this can be difficult to describe in words. Emphasis is on focusing on the child when meeting the child, meeting children verbally and showing an interest in what they like. By involving children, the teachers experience that they see and meet the child as competent, despite the child's young age.

The second research question of the study relating to preschool teachers' reflection results in awareness of reflection as a central aspect in being able to formulate and make visible insights into their professional skills. The teachers' express that time and space for individual and especially collective reflection are important for their practical skills.

The author used the so-called dialogue seminar method, in which preschool teachers were invited to a number of dialogue conversations to discuss and reflect on various texts selected to set focus on preschool teachers' professional skills. This study included a total of 11 preschool teachers from preschools or preschool classes (förskoleklass) in Sweden. The participating teachers were divided into two groups, each of which participated in five dialogue seminars. After the first introductory group seminar, each teacher had to read a professional text and a fictional text before each seminar. When reading the text, the teachers had to write a short text about their thoughts as they read. The texts formed the basis for the dialogue seminar conversations.

Bodin, U. L. (2017). Förskollärares yrkeskunnande: Förskollärares erfarenheter av praktiskt handlande i pedagogisk verksamhet. Mälardalen University Press. Licentiate Theses, No. 261. School of Education, Culture and Communication, Mälardalen University, Sweden.