Håkan Löfgren

Learning in preschool: Teachers’ talk about their work with documentation in Swedish preschools

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 their work with documentation in different preschool settings. The analysis departs from theories considering education policy as interpreted and enacted in local contexts and from theories that stress the actor’s perspective on preschool teaching professionalism. Furthermore, the teachers’ references to an institutional narrative about learning are the focus. Institutional narratives that construct breaks and continuities within the institution’s past are referred to in texts and talk within institutions. They are used as a means to govern the institution and by the teachers to position themselves. Results show that the teachers frequently refer to a ‘preschool-kind of learning’ that departs from the children’s interests in their talk about documentation. This, I argue, stands out as a professional strategy that allows teachers to deal with contradictory policies about what should be documented. In their talk about how to conduct documentation, the teachers position themselves as learners. This is a way of ‘doing professionalism’ that allows teachers to deal with demands for accountability in a way that also allows for professional agency.

A noisy silence about care: Swedish preschool teachers’ talk about documentation

This article investigates what happens to institutional narratives of care in Swedish preschool when a policy on increased documentation is introduced. Questions deal with preschool teachers’ professionalism as expressed through the teachers’ talk about documentation. The analysis is based on theories in education policy, teacher professionalism and institutional narratives. The findings show that the few references made by the teachers to narratives of care are subordinated to narratives of learning. A major conclusion is that narratives of care are in a process of becoming a ‘noisy silence’, which influences teachers’ professionalism as well as shaping our common society.

Swedish students' experiences of national testing in science: A narrative approach

ABSTRACT In Sweden, the policy of national testing was expanded in 2013 by introducing national tests in science in the sixth grade. The aim of this study is to contribute knowledge about the enactment of this policy of national testing by investigating students’ experiences of taking the tests. Students were interviewed about their experiences of taking national tests, and a narrative analysis was conducted. More specifically, the students’ stories were analysed in terms of identity performances taking shape in relation to a testing discourse. The analysis shows a variety of aspects that the students themselves stress as important when taking the tests; such as the lack of time provided, difficulties regarding the actual tests, processes in the classroom context, and the importance of the test results for their grades. Several of the identity performances in the students’ stories refer to a testing discourse stressing that teachers focus on testing procedures rather than caring for the students when the policy of national testing is enacted. The results also emphasize the difficulties in understanding the test questions as well as discrepancies in science content between what is taught in school and what is being tested.

Knowledge outside the box : Sustainable development education in Swedish schools

Abstract Background: Sustainable development, as an area of knowledge, appears in several different places in the curriculum and does not fit neatly within the scope of traditional subject areas. In many countries, including Sweden, it has long been upheld as an important tool for increasing understanding of, and dealing with, environmental problems. It is not clear, however, what role education can actually have in the making of a more sustainable future. Even though there are several potential ways for sustainable development to be involved in education, the concept raises many questions when transferred to the school context. Purpose: This paper investigates how teachers deal with the difficulty of defining and approaching sustainable development as an area of knowledge in Swedish schools. Sample: This article is based on semi-structured interviews with 40 teachers, 13 of whom were lower secondary school teachers (pupil age 12–15) and 27 were upper secondary school teachers (pupil age 15–18). The study involves teachers in all subjects where sustainable development is a goal in the syllabus. The study is also based on participant observation in one upper secondary class. A total of 17 different schools were involved, from a wide range of locations in Sweden. Design and methods: The paper builds on qualitative data and the analysis of transcribed interviews and group interviews with teachers in Swedish lower and upper secondary schools. Group interviews, involving three or more people, were conducted on eight occasions. The pupils at an upper secondary school were also observed while they were working on a course called ‘policy and sustainable development’. Data were transcribed and analysed thematically. Findings: The analysis suggests that, according to the teachers’ experiences, the demands of equivalence and measurability in school have increased and that this affects how sustainable development is approached in teaching and learning. Three main categories of knowledge were identified. The study also presents two representations that model how teachers may approach knowledge about sustainable development – metaphorically termed ‘the Accountant’ and ‘the Adventurer’ – and their different effects on knowledge. Conclusions: There is a tendency for complex knowledge areas such as sustainable development, which do not fit seamlessly into traditional curriculum subjects, to become oversimplified when translated into teaching situations. According to the representations that we described metaphorically, the teacher, as an accountant, is characterised by ‘knowledge instrumentalism’, which means that teachers administer knowledge and the pupils consume it. In this transactional model, the accountant is also very dependent on external governance and control. Alternatively, the teacher, as an adventurer, is characterised by authority, knowledge and self-control. In this model, knowledge sometimes grows in an unpredictable way in the meeting between people who share common experiences. For adventurers, sustainable development is a matter of commitment and awareness, and it involves an explicit stance. The metaphors can be placed on a continuum which describes how teachers manage the demands of the school system in relation to the knowledge area of sustainable development.

Pupils’ enactments of a policy for equivalence: Stories about different conditions when preparing for national tests

This article revolves around the educational policy introduced in Swedish schools that has extended national testing to younger pupils. The policy is intended to support equal assessment and grading. With the exception of short-term preparations for the tests focused on here, the testing routines are regulated by the state. The paper aims to examine how the policy of national testing in grade six is enacted in different school contexts from a pupil’s point of view, and how this affects equivalence in school. A narrative analysis was conducted of pupils’ (n = 150) stories about preparing for national tests in 11 schools. Three forms of enactments were distinguished according to how responsibility for test preparations was allocated in each school. In some schools, teachers invited the pupils systematically to the translation process. In other schools, pupils were given most of the responsibility for preparation and were left alone as actors vis-a-vis the policy. Finally, in schools that applied ad hoc preparations, the pupils’ position as actors became less secure and more multifaceted. This variety regarding the pupils’ test preparations in school stress that the different enactments of this policy of national testing have implications for the interpretation of equivalence in school.

Grades in the eyes of our parents: a narrative approach to educational resilience in pupils’ stories of getting their first grades

ABSTRACT This paper investigates educational resilience from the pupil’s perspective through an analysis of how Swedish pupils in grade six position themselves in relation to their parents’ expectations and the school’s grading practice. The term ‘resilience’ refers to pupils’ own views of their potential to learn and succeed in school in a social context, where parents are important as normative actors. Data consists of group interviews with pupils at three schools. By using a narrative analysis, a perspective is adopted that considers the multiple meanings involved when pupils position themselves in their stories about grades and parents. The analysis illustrates how a situated understanding of pupils’ senses of resilience makes family expectations, and the importance of pleasing yourself and others and of adapting to grading systems, important aspects to pupils’ own views of their potential to learn and succeed at school. Home and school stand out as different arenas based on the norm of success, but with different ideas about how to deal with schoolwork and grades. A conclusion is that changes in the Swedish grading system might result in a gap regarding knowledge about grades at home and school and double pressure on pupils to achieve good grades.

Questioning the narrative of more male teachers as the easy solution to problems in Swedish schools

The aim of this chapter is to investigate how life history methods can contribute to the discussion of gender in school. More specifically, teachers’ stories form the basis of a critical discussion of the Swedish government’s use of the concepts, ‘traditional gender roles’ and ‘male role models’.