This study presents an analysis of preschool teachers' reasoning about pedagogical goals. Of specific interest is how teachers in a Swedish and a Finnish context describe goals for children's learning and how they describe them implementing these goals into their practice. The research question is thus: How are pedagogical goals perceived and…

This article examines the tactical (counter) politics of inclusive and 'norm-critical' approaches in Swedish sex education, focusing on the enactment of this critical agenda in sex education practices and how teachers interpret and negotiate the possibilities and pitfalls of this kind of work. The analysis draws on participant observation in sex…

Purpose: The aim of this article is to compare if and how experienced and novice teachers differ from each other regarding teaching and expressed aims regarding their financial literacy education. Method: Thematic analysis together with the PCK framework were used to analyse 21 teacher interviews. Findings: Both aims and teaching differ between…

The use of mentoring group conversations as a tool to support pre-service teachers' professional development has become more common. However, there is still a lack of research that shows how conversations are used to develop knowledge. The present paper is based on ethnographical observations of mentoring group conversations, and describes how…

During the past decade, early childhood teachers have been faced with new needs to develop their content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for different science subject areas. In order to meet these challenges there is a strong need for professional learning programmes for early childhood teachers that focus on the development of…

This study aimed to explore lower secondary teachers' negotiation of the meaning of laboratory work in a professional development program. A total of 15 in-service teachers participated in the program. In the program, tensions between key ideas concerning traditional way of addressing laboratory work -- with emphasis on subject content and skills…

The aim of this study is to explore, describe and analyse the assessment process in two different Swedish year-five classrooms. The study is mainly based on observations and interviews with pupils and teachers. The data were analysed in relation to Bernstein's (1977, 2000) theoretical concepts of classification, framing, codes, and pedagogic…

This study examines changes in teaching habits reported by teachers when they see themselves on video. It is a longitudinal study in which 43 student teachers participated in the first step during their teacher education. When the teachers saw themselves teaching, they were surprised by certain habits and wrote that they wanted to change them. Two…

Theory-driven and practice-driven research are often separated, but in this article we shall argue for a research approach that is theory-driven but practice-oriented and shares features with the specific kind of early childhood education pedagogy this research approach has generated, what we refer to as developmental pedagogy (Pramling Samuelsson…

This paper reports on a project aimed at identifying and exploring the development and implementation processes of teaching practices with interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in two Swedish K-6 schools. The purpose of the project was to generate results and insights of value when preparing student teachers for professional use of IWBs and to give…

Our paper traces the history and progressive development of environmental education and education for sustainable development (ESD) in Sweden and Denmark. Our main focus is on work in primary and lower secondary schools as part of a search for trends of international interest related to the conceptualisation and practice of environmental education…

The purpose of this article is to explore day care attendants' comprehension of the concept of sustainable development (SD) and to analyse the associated pedagogical practices at their place of work in pre-schools. The empirical data comprise written exam reports from 32 practising day care attendants attending an in-service education course. The…

Children of foreign origin are increasingly failing in mathematics in Swedish compulsory schools. This article analyses the didactics at a school proven very successful in teaching mathematics to all children including the 70% of children of foreign origin. The situation at the studied school is compared to research of the Swedish school system…

Papers from the proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society was submitted in two volumes. Volume 1 contains papers submitted at the conference held in Sofia, Bulgaria, June 14-17, 2016. Volume 2 contains papers submitted at the 4th International Partner Conference of the International Research Centre…

In Sweden educational technology (EdTech) prospered during the 1960s and 1970s inspired by US experiences from primarily programmed instruction. The Departments of Education at the universities started different activities of research and other bodies developed EdTech products for commercial use. In some business firms in-service training of staff…