In what way might writing of different kinds contribute to the development of a professional identity? By analytically distinguishing three discourses of communication, everyday, professional and academic, applied to three preschool student teachers' conceptions of writing during their education and in their initial phase at work as preschool…

The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of teachers' perspectives on promoting reading and writing for pupils with various linguistic backgrounds in grade 1. Focus group interviews were conducted with 17 teachers who work in preschool classes and in grade 1. The teachers' perspectives on reading and writing can be characterised as…

The present study compares career choice motives of future early childhood educators studying for a tertiary qualification. Suitable analyses of this kind are still missing. Diverging training systems, traditions and professional images in the different countries are related to certain motives. These motives are categorised according to a theory…

This article presents a teaching intervention where programming was used to facilitate preschoolers' learning of mathematics, especially in their development of spatial thinking. In the intervention, the programming was made with a small programmable robot especially designed for young students. The results indicate that the children developed…

In this article we explore the places pre- and primary school (K-6) student teachers associate with their science learning experiences and how they view the relationship between these places and science. In doing so, we use "place" as an analytical entry point to deepen the understanding of pre- and primary school student teachers'…

The aim of this study is to explore practitioners' gender beliefs and how gendered values are embedded in Swedish preschool practice. The research question is: What beliefs about gender and the associated values, can be identified in practitioners' talk when they discuss gender issues? The study is informed by Bronwyn Davies' theoretical ideas…

The aim of this study is to use an ethnographic method in order to map where understandings of teaching and learning practices (TaLP) are being discussed in three schools. The questions posed are: what are the relations between thick places, meaning, affect, and TaLP? This study uses an ethnographic method outside the classroom and in between…

This article investigates preschool teachers' professionalism and professional strategies in relation to narratives about learning in preschool. These are expressed through the teachers' talk about documentation. A policy on increased systematic documentation in preschools has been introduced in Sweden. Preschool teachers were interviewed about…

The Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) is now a common technological artefact in Swedish preschools and schools. This study examines preschool teachers' thinking behind the embedding of IWB in the early years' mathematics classroom and how preschool teachers structure their mathematical activities when using IWB. Two complementary empirical studies,…

The aim of this article is to highlight the concept "quality" with a special focus on preschool teachers' understanding and compare what preschool teachers in Austria, Bulgaria and Sweden regard as quality. Although quality is at high degree a subjective concept, some aspects are regarded decisive for good quality. A questionnaire was…

The Swedish school system offers curriculum-based early childhood education (ECE) organised as preschool (for 0-5-year-olds) and preschool class (for 6-year-olds). The intention to create a playful and educational environment based on children's perspectives, interests, and questions is strongly based on historical and cultural traditions. This…

This paper, based on interviews conducted for the "Early Childhood Oral History Project," draws on oral life-history interviews with 14 prominent early childhood researchers who have been active since the 1970s within diverse European countries. A common theme across the interviews is the key role that collaborative research between…

This study focuses on teachers' ways of mediating meaning through communicative tools and modes in preschool thematic work. A socio-cultural perspective is used for analysis on how tools and modes are provided for children to make use of for communicative purposes. The research questions are: (1) what communicative tools do teachers use in their…

By focusing on a collective aesthetics based on sensation and affect, researchers, especially in Stockholm, Sweden, are exploring a pedagogy that opens up space for assemblages of desire, acknowledging the expressions of children who transform themselves and their milieus into a weave of bodies, spaces, signs and media. By analysing this pedagogy,…

The purpose is to discuss two competing theories of learning in preschool based on preschool teachers' views of knowledge and learning. The focus is mathematical learning but the discussion is applicable to all early childhood learning contexts. Preschool teachers' views on children's learning and development is important for the pedagogy they use…