”Ny i profesjonen. En observasjons- og intervjustudie av førskolelæreres videre kvalifisering det første året i yrket”.

The purpose of this PhD dissertation is to examine how six newly qualified preschool teachers from six different preschools in Norway view their own skills and upgrading of professional qualifications in the their first year of employment. The purpose of the dissertation is to gain insight into the teachers’ skills and further upgrading of professional qualifications. This is elucidated on the basis of their pedagogical work with children as well as parent-teacher collaboration and collaboration with other staff members.

The following questions are addressed in the dissertation:

How do newly qualified preschool teachers view their skills and further upgrading of professional qualifications in their first year of employment? To what extent do newly qualified teachers feel that they are included in the shared learning process in their workplace?

The newly qualified preschool teachers experienced that after a few months they had mastered the pedagogical tasks and that they were able to improvise and make professional judgements. However, they also expressed that they found it challenging to describe, analyse and evaluate their own pedagogical work. A central finding in the study is that the newly qualified teachers gradually adapted their language over the course of the first year from using many academic terms to using more plain language.

In addition, the teachers found it challenging to use the planning tools they had acquired during their training in their work. As a consequence, they began to use more simple time-planners that allowed for less didactic reflection.

The greatest challenges for the new preschool teachers had to do with managing sub-divisions in the preschool and managing teacher assistants. They also found it challenging to describe and analyse these challenges. Moreover, the teachers found that they were not fully included in the shared learning processes at work. Factors that served as obstacles to shared learning processes included lack of introduction to the culture and routines of the preschool for new teachers and lack of interest among existing staff in the new knowledge and skills new staff possesses. Finally, the use of plain language and limited academic discussions among the teachers limited the shared learning process.

The participants in the study are six newly qualified preschool teachers, who are employed in different preschools in Norway. The teachers were followed during their first year of employment. The data material consists of observations of the teachers’ daily activities, observations of the teachers’ supervision interviews and of individual interviews and focus group interviews.

Each of the six teachers was observed for three whole days within the course of a year. At the end of each observation day, the teachers were interviewed individually. Each interview lasted an hour. All the teachers in the study were interviewed three times in the course of a year. In addition to this, all the teachers in the study participated in at least two group interviews that lasted 90 minutes in the course of the year. The researcher also observed two supervision interviews with each of the new teachers. The interviews and the supervision interviews have been saved as audio files and transcribed. In addition, notes were made based on each interview and each supervision interview. The empirical data was analysed based on theoretical perspectives about profession, professional qualifications, culture, skills and language.

The dissertation has an explorative design, and the scientific approach is inspired by both ethnography and grounded theory. This means that the researcher took an open and explorative approach to the research field. As a consequence, the theme for the research was approached from different perspectives and was delimited in scope regularly throughout the study period.

Eik, L.T. (2014). ”Ny i profesjonen. En observasjons- og intervjustudie av førskolelæreres videre kvalifisering det første året i yrket”. Doktoravhandlinger. Oslo: Det utdanningsvitenskapelige fakultet, Universitetet i Oslo.