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Swedish preschool teacher profession has changed. In the preschool teacher education, students must develop professional identities and know how to independently take responsibility for pedagogical activities, teaching and providing for children’s right to care, play, development and learning. The aim of this study is twofold: to investigate how students articulate their conditions for learning and professional development in their teaching practice, and to study how their education may be affected by being carried out in preschools of varying quality. The study is based on quality evaluations with the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) at 153 Swedish preschools. The quality evaluations were related to a survey that 125 students answered in a preschool teacher education focusing on equivalence, the relationship between theory and practice and the quality in their teaching practice. The research questions we posed were: What characterizes the quality of preschools? Which aspects contribute to equality in teaching practice? How do the students describe the quality of the preschool? Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory frames the study. The analysis was informed by an interaction between empirical data and theory and thus was an abductive analytical process. The results show that the quality of preschools varies, creating unequal conditions for student learning. The students report inconsistent conditions for their learning in preschool. The political investment has enhanced the collaboration between preschool teacher education and preschool and visualized critical aspects, forming a point of intersection for the preschool teacher profession's quality.

Syftet är att analysera undervisning i förskolan. Analyserna utgår från kvalitetsbedömningar med Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-3 (ECERS-3) (Harms, Clifford och Cryer 2014). Hög kvalitet i förskolan främjar barns lärande inom läroplanens målområden. Artikelns teoretiska ram utgörs av interaktionistiska och ekologiska teorier som innebär att individer och miljö konstruerar varandra i ett dynamiskt och ömsesidigt samspel (Bronfenbrenner 1979, 1986; Bruner 1996; Vygotsky 1986). Undervisning i förskolan definieras i texten som kommunikativ, interaktiv och relationell och behöver förstås i en samhällelig kontext. Kvalitetsbedömningar har genomförts i 153 svenska förskolor med ECERS-3. Resultaten visar att förskolans kvalitet varierar. Låg kvalitet bedöms på aktiviteter som kräver vuxnas engagemang, interaktion och kommunikation med barnen i form av undervisning. Det indikerar att förskollärares kompetens bildar en skärningspunkt för undervisningens kvalitet. Ytterligare forskning behövs för att utveckla förskolans undervisning och didaktik, vilket gynnar såväl barngruppen som enskilda barn och bidrar till en kompetenshöjning hos förskollärarna.

Over the last decade the number of children in Swedish preschool has increased in all age groups. Meanwhile, the preschool curriculum has been revised with higher requirements for pedagogical activities. This article aims to problematize preschool teachers expressions on opportunities and obstacles to work with the intentions of the curriculum, in relation to size of the child group. The study takes an interactionistic perspective based on Urie Bronfenbrenner´s ecological system theory. The data production consists of survey responses and interviews with preschool teachers. The qualitative content analysis focuses on themes that preschool teachers express as relevant in order to meet curriculum intentions and support children’s learning and knowledge formation. The results show that the number of children in preschool groups is of crucial importance for preschool teachers selection and deselection of content areas and working approaches. With fewer children in the group, preschool teachers express that they to a greater extent, can work in relation to the intentions instantiated in the curriculum. De senaste åren har antalet barn i svensk förskola ökat i alla åldersgrupper. Samtidigt har förskolans läroplan reviderats med högre krav gällande den pedagogiska verksamheten. Denna artikel problematiserar förskollärares uttryck kring möjligheter och hinder att arbeta med läroplanens intentioner, i relation till barngruppens storlek. Studien är förankrad i Bronfenbrenners systemteori. Dataunderlaget består av enkätsvar och intervjuer med förskollärare. Den kvalitativa analysen fokuserar innehållsteman som förskollärare uttrycker har betydelse för val av målområden och arbetssätt i verksamheten i relation till gruppstorlek. Resultatet visar att antalet barn har betydelse för val och bortval av målområden och arbetssätt. Förskollärarna ser större möjligheter att arbeta utifrån läroplanens intentioner med mindre antal barn i gruppen.

This article aims to investigate young children’s experience of aesthetic activities in preschool. The result is based on preschool teachers’ mapping during a two-week period of what toddlers (1.5 to 3.4 years) are offered or take initiatives themselves to, within the area of aesthetics. The 24 preschools where the mapping was done have been participating in a larger research project called, Children’s early learning. A current study of preschool as an environment for children’s learning (Sheridan, Pramling Samuelsson & Johansson, 2009). This means that we also had data on the quality of the participating preschools, based on ECERS (Harms & Clifford, 1980; Sheridan, 2007), which we linked to children’s experience in aesthetics. The result shows that there is a large variation between the amount and kind of aesthetic activities in preschool that young children can participate in.

Presentasjon av konfererensen Kartlegging i barnehagen: Innhold og konsekvenser. Utdanningsforbundet, Oslo, 21 juni 2010.