"Att lära är nästan som att leka": lek och lärande i förskola och skola.

The study is based on the fact that the kindergarten became part of the ordinary Swedish school system in 1996. This makes focus on learning relevant as a supplement to the traditional focus on playing as the main activity for children in kindergarten. The study examines whether playing and learning can be integrated into a goal-oriented practice in kindergarten. The study examines the relationship between playing and learning as expressed in pedagogical activities and the implications and consequences of these activities for children and adults.

The differences between playing and learning affects the way playing/learning is approached. The study does, however, provide many examples of activities at daycare centres and introductory school classes where fantasy/fiction and creativity/innovation are successfully integrated into learning activities; both as a means of learning; as qualities in themselves and most importantly; as ways to create (meta-) reflection and new knowledge among children and teachers. The study concludes that it is important to find a 'third way' in which neither playing nor more traditional school activities are dominant.

The study is an ethnographic study of efficacy in a case study design. The study is based on interviews and observations among 19 child carers/teachers from eight centres and 114 children in kindergarten and introductory school classes (65 children aged one to five years and 51 children aged six to nine years).

Johansson, E.; Samuelsson, I. P. (2007). "Att lära är nästan som att leka": lek och lärande i förskola och skola. Stockholm: Liber.

Izumi-Taylor, S.; Samuelsson, I. P.; Rogers, Cosby S. (2010). "Perspectives of Play in Three Nations: A Comparative Study in Japan, the United States, and Sweden". Early Childhood Research & Practice, 12 (1).