Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how preschool staff perceive teaching and natural science as content in preschool practice at the beginning and at the end of a competence development period. The research question is: What different perceptions of teaching with focus on the learning object (natural science) and the learning act (teaching) can be identified in the empirical material?
Result
The analysis of the participants' responses before the training period reveals three categories of possible teaching content in preschool practice: 1) nature, 2) social questions and values, and 3) doing. Thus, initially the participants highlight nature as conceivable content for preschool teaching, including aspects related to caring for nature and sustainable development. The participants also mention social and value-related questions, which indicates that teaching is not linked to a specific content, but more to activities concerning care and bringing up the child. Finally, before starting the training period, the participants focus on doing perspectives such as creating, singing and playing, where the actual experience is the key element.
When the above is compared with the participants' responses after the training period, there is a clear change. Only one category can be identified at the end of the training period, i.e. natural science phenomena. According to the authors, the participants now express themselves more precisely about what can constitute teaching content in the preschool practice. In their responses, the participants give specific examples of natural science phenomena to work with, such as wind.
As regards the participants' perceptions of the actual teaching, initially they express that teaching is something that they do all day long in different contexts (for example in connection with meals and visits to the toilet). Before the training period, the participants describe teaching as simplifying content, providing experiences, acting competently and maintaining certain structural conditions (for example regarding the environment and materials). After the training period, the participants' perceptions of teaching change in that competency areas are defined and specified. The participants now focus on taking the child's perspective into account, using expansive language, having knowledge about specific subjects, framing the activities and targeting the children's attention. According to the authors, the results indicate that, after the competence development period, the participants have expanded their perspective on what it means to carry out and direct teaching in preschool.
Design
The study comes from a competence development training initiative aimed at strengthening the participating preschool staff's (barnskötare, fritidspædagoger, förskollärare, grundskollärare and staff with no pedagogical background) knowledge about what natural science can be in preschool, and to develop their competences in teaching in Swedish preschools. The initiative consisted of two lectures on learning theory, and one lecture on natural sciences. The preschool staff participated as work teams (arbetslag). In addition to the lectures, they also received four guidance sessions. At the first guidance sessions, the staff discussed the literature, after which they went on to implement the natural science project to be carried out in their preschools. At one of the sessions, the teams were guided on the basis of a video-documented teaching situation. A total of ten work teams (about 30 preschool staff members) from nine different municipalities took part in the sessions. The participants worked with children aged 1-6 years.
The article's empirical material consists of the participants' responses to a questionnaire with five open-ended questions regarding their perceptions of teaching and natural science as content in preschool practice. The questionnaire was answered both at the startup and at the end of the training period. Furthermore, the written reports produced by each work team in connection with their natural science project were analysed. The authors' analysis draws on a variation theory perspective.
References
Gustavsson, L., & Thulin, S. (2017). Lärares uppfattningar av undervisning och naturvetenskap som innehåll i förskolans verksamhet. NorDiNa: Nordic Studies in Science Education, 13(1), 81-96.