Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson

The Playing Learning Child: Towards a pedagogy of early childhood

From childrens own perspective, play and learning are not always separate in practices during early years. The purpose of this article is, first, to scrutinise the background and character of early years education in terms of play and learning. Second, to elaborate the findings of several years of research about childrens learning in preschool related to the curriculum of early years education and, finally, to propose a sustainable pedagogy for the future, which does not separate play from learning but draws upon the similarities in character in order to promote creativity in future generations. Introducing the notions of act and object of learning and play (by act we mean how children play and learn and with the object we mean what children play and learn) we will chisel out an alternative early childhood education approach, here called developmental pedagogy, based on recent research in the field of play and learning, but also related to earlier approaches to early education.

Play and learning—inseparable dimensions in preschool practice

This article is a theoretical discussion on the dimensions of learning in play and the dimensions of play in learning, using the playful interaction between children and teachers as a starting point. From an empirical study observations of two situations were chosen, one from a mealtime and one of children’s play, both typical examples of playful interactions between teachers and children. The aim of the analysis was to detect and understand whether play and learning could be involved and how these dimensions might be expressed by children and teachers in the interactions. In research, as well as in the preschool practice, play and learning have been kept apart. Today the difference between these two concepts seems to be less well defined Joy, creativity, creation of meaning and children’s possibilities to control and form goals are especially pointed out as dimensions that all seem possible and important in both play and learning. Play is pointed out as an important part of the learning process, and the teacher’s responsibility for play and learning has been elucidated in new curricula. Our analysis of the observations shows that although both of the situations were different in character, dimensions of play and learning were found in each of them. In our first example the act of play and learning was to follow the child, while the second one deals more with an act of both words and actions, and focuses on children’s interest in order to make them involved. Encouragement, imitation and communication become prominent in both of the situations, as well as joy, creativity, creation of meaning and children’s possibilities to control and form goals. The study highlights the importance of the teachers when it comes to the development of a situation of interplay, and how this situation will appear to the children. Play and learning are dimensions that stimulate each other and could be seen as an indivisible entirety, which is a part of children’s experiencing, and which helps them create an understanding of their surrounding world in a lifelong process.

Children's Conceptions of Participation and Influence in Pre-school: a perspective on pedagogical quality

The United Nations Convention and the Swedish curriculum for pre-school clearly state the right of children to express their views in all matters of concern to them. It is imperative, therefore, that an evaluation of the quality of early childhood education includes the voices of children. Without these, an essential part of how children experience quality within various childcare settings as well as an overall understanding of quality in early childhood education is missing. In a study carried out in a small community in Sweden, the quality of various pre-school settings was evaluated both by an external evaluator and by self-evaluations. From the results of the external evaluations, three pre-school units evaluated to be of low quality and three of good quality were selected for in-depth studies. Thirty-nine 5 year-old children from these pre-school units were interviewed about their conceptions of decision-making and how they experienced the opportunities for them to exercise influence in their pre-school setting. The results show that it is vital for the children to participate in decision-making and the meanings given by the children to the concept ‘to decide’, have been grouped into five qualitatively different categories.

Early childhood education and learning for sustainable development and citizenship

SummarySince the end of the 1980:s when OECD published the Brundtland report, in which the concept of sustainable development as a critical global issue was introduced, the role of education for global survival has been frequently discussed and explored, by politicians as well as researchers. In school curricula and educational practice, efforts have been made to include material and issues related to, for example, climate changes and nature resources in teaching and learning. Surprisingly little attention has however been paid to the question of the way (and on what premises) early childhood education might (and should) be involved. In this article we discuss some aspects of early childhood education with a bearing on its role in education for sustainable development. The fact that early childhood education belongs to the larger educational system means that global political and economical issues are involved when planning and conducting education for sustainability in pre-school as much as in the rest of the educational system. Recent changes in Swedish educational policy, characteristic traits in pre-school pedagogy and the pre-school child as learner of sustainability are commented upon and discussed.RésuméDepuis la fin des années 1980, lorsque l’OCDE a publié le rapport Brundtland abordant le concept du développement durable comme problème majeur, le rôle de l’éducation pour la survie globale a été fréquemment discuté et exploré par les politiciens et les chercheurs. Dans les programmes scolaires et dans la pratique éducative, des efforts ont été faits pour inclure dans l’enseignement et dans l’apprentissage du matériel et des questions liées, par exemple, aux changements climatiques et aux ressources naturelles. Etonnamment peu d ’attention a été accordée à l’implication de l’éducation de la petite enfance. Dans cet article, nous discutons de quelques aspects de l’éducation de la petite enfance, dont son rôle dans le développement durable. L’éducation de la petite enfance faisant partie du système d’éducation dans sa globalité signifie que les questions de politique et d’éducation mondiales sont en cause lorsqu’il s’agit de planifier et d’offrir l’éducation relative au développement durable à l’école maternelle, aussi bien que dans le reste du système scolaire. Les récents changements dans la politique scolaire suédoise, traits caractéristiques de la pédagogie de l’école maternelle et de l’enfant de maternelle se formant au développement durable sont les éléments commentés et discutés.ResumenDesde fines de los años 80, cuando la OCDE publicó el informe Brundtland, en el que se introduce el concepto de desarrollo sustentable como un asunto crítico a nivel global, el rol de la educación para la sobrevivencia global ha sido objetivo de discusión y análisis permanente por parte de políticos e investigadores. En el curriculum escolar y en las prácticas educacionales, se han desplegado esfuerzos para incluir materiales y asuntos relacionados con, por ejemplo, el cambio climático y los recursos naturales en la pedagogía y el aprendizaje. Sin embargo, resulta sorprendente que se considera poco en qué forma y sobre qué premisas puede y debería participar la educación preescolar. En este artículo, analizamos algunos aspectos de la educación preescolar respecto de su rol en la educación para el desarrollo sustentable. El hecho de que la educación preescolar pertenezca al sistema educacional general significa que hay asuntos políticos y económicos globales involucrados al momento de planificar y orientar la educación para la sustentabilidad tanto en la educación preescolar como en el resto del sistema educacional. Aquí, se comentan y analizan cambios recientes en la política educacional sueca, rasgos característicos en la pedagogía preescolar y los preescolares en su condición de personas que aprenden sobre sustentabilidad.

Educational encounters : nordic studies in early childhood didactics

Foreword.- Preface.- Introduction and frame of the book Niklas Pramling and Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson.- Learning to narrate: Appropriating a cultural mould for sense-making and communication Niklas Pramling and Elin Eriksen Odegaard.- Early mathematics in the preschool context Elisabet Doverborg and Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson.- Opening doors for learning ecology in preschool Susanne Thulin and Gustav Hellden.- Pictures of spring: Aesthetic learning and pedagogical dilemmas in visual arts Marie Bendroth Karlsson.- Didactic challenges in the learning of music-listening skills Cecilia Wallerstedt.- Moral discoveries and learning in preschool Eva Johansson.- Gender Learning in Preschool Practices Anette Hellman.- Democracy learning in a preschool context Anette Emilson.- Early childhood literacy and childrens multimodal expressions in preschool Elisabeth Mellgren and Karin Gustafsson.- Mind your step: Representation and the trajectory of a circle-dance project with 6-8-year-old children Niklas Pramling and Cecilia Wallerstedt.- Pedagogical quality in preschool: A commentary Sonja Sheridan.- Didactics in early childhood education: Reflections on the volume Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson and Niklas Pramling.- Index.

Why We Should Begin Early with ESD: The Role of Early Childhood Education

Only recently has Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) become a question for Early Childhood Education (ECE, including care). Since it is a new area of content in ECE, there are also many questions to sort out. Some people claim that young children should be sheltered from all the problems in the world, which is an understandable standpoint, but in this article I present arguments for ESD both as content (the object of learning) and a way of working with children (the act of learning) in the early years. Support for these arguments is found both in recent research and in international political/policy agreements.RésuméCe n’est que récemment que l’éducation au développement durable (EDD) est devenue une question pour l’éducation préscolaire (y compris la garde). Puisque c’est un nouveau secteur de contenu pour l’éducation préscolaire, il y a donc aussi beaucoup de questions à clarifier. Certains prétendent que les jeunes enfants devraient être mis à l’abri de tous les problèmes du monde, ce qui est un point de vue compréhensible, mais je présenterai dans cet article des arguments en faveur de l’EDD tant comme contenu (objet d’apprentissage) que comme façon de travailler avec les enfants (acte d’apprentissage) dans les jeunes années. L’appui à ces arguments se trouve tant dans la recherche récente que dans les accords de politiques internationales.ResumenLa Educación para el Desarrollo Sustentable (ESD, en inglés) se ha constituido en un tema también para la Educación para la Primera Infancia (ECE, en inglés, que incluye los cuidados) sólo en el último tiempo. Por tratarse de un área relativamente nueva de los contenidos de la ECE, además hay que abordar muchos asuntos. Algunas personas plantean que a los niños/as se les debería proteger de todos los problemas del mundo, lo que puede ser un punto de vista comprensible, pero en este artículo, sostengo que la ESD es un contenido (objeto de aprendizaje) y una forma de trabajar con los niños (acto de aprender) en los primeros años. Argumentos en esta línea se pueden encontrar en las investigaciones y en los acuerdos políticos internacionales.

Why Do Children Involve Teachers in Their Play and Learning

ABSTRACT This article focuses on why children involve teachers in their play and learning in early childhood education. The main question is: For what reasons might children invite teachers to take part in their play? The data consists of video‐observations of children from eight preschools and one primary school. In the analysis we find five categories in which children’s reasons for involving teachers can be traced: to get help from the teacher, be acknowledged as competent persons, make the teachers aware of other children breaking rules, get information about and confirmation of how things work, and involving teachers in play. Both children and teachers seem to agree on these forms of interplay. These could be signs of a traditional teacher role, i.e. that teachers know how things should be, and has the power and knowledge to mediate. At the same time, another picture stands clearly out, of the child as well as the teacher. The fact that children themselves make room for their playfulness indicates that the teachers to some extent give children that room. However, this demands that teachers develop a goal‐oriented strategy, which involves play as well as learning. RÉSUMÉ: Cet article est centré sur les raisons pour lesquelles les enfants intègrent les enseignants à leur jeux et apprentissages dans l’éducation préscolaire. La question principale est de savoir pourquoi les enfants inviteraient les enseignants à prendre part à leurs jeux? Les données consistent en des observations – vidéo d’enfants de huit structures préscolaires et une école primaire. L’analyse montre 5 catégories de raisons pour lesquelles l’implication des enseignants peut être trouvée : pour obtenir l’aide des enseignants, pour être reconnu comme une personne compétente, pour avertir l’enseignant que d’autres enfants changent les règles, pour recevoir information et confirmation sur la façon dont les choses se passent et pour impliquer les enseignants dans leurs jeux. Les enfants et les enseignants semblent être d’accord sur ces formes d’interaction. Ceci peut être le signe d’un rôle traditionnel d’enseignement, par exemple que les enseignants savent comment les choses doivent être et ont le pouvoir et les connaissances pour les médiatiser. En même temps, une image se distingue clairement, de l’enfant comme de l’enseignant. Le fait que les enfants eux‐mêmes accordent de l’importance au ludique montre que les enseignants, dans une certaine mesure, le leur permettent. Cependant, ceci exige que les enseignants développent une stratégie orientée à la fois sur le jeu et l’apprentissage. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Der Beitrag fokussiert auf die Frage, warum Kinder in der frühkindlichen Bildung die Fach‐ bzw. Lehrkräfte in ihr Spiel einbeziehen. Die Daten bestehen aus videographierten Aufzeichnungen von Kindern aus acht Vorschulen und einer Grundschule. In der Analyse wurden fünf Kategorien von Gründen der Kinder für das Einbeziehen von Fach‐ bzw. Lehrkräften gefunden: (1) um Hilfe zu erhalten, (2) um Anerkennung als kompetente Personen zu erhalten, (3) aufmerksam zu machen, dass andere Kinder Regeln verletzen, (4) um Informationen und Bestätigungen darüber zu erhalten, wie Dinge funktionieren, und (5) um sie als Mitspieler zu gewinnen. Sowohl die Kinder als auch die Fach‐ und Lehrkräfte scheinen hinsichtlich dieser Formen des Zusammenspielens überein zu stimmen. Dies können Anzeichen für die traditionelle Rolle der Fach‐ bzw. Lehrkraft darstellen, dass sie bzw. er nämlich weiß, wie die Dinge sein sollten und das Wissen und die Macht hat, sie zu vermitteln. Gleichzeitig zeichnet sich deutlich ein anderes Bild sowohl des Kindes als auch der Fach‐ bzw. Lehrkraft ab: Die Tatsache, dass die Kinder sich selbst Raum schaffen für ihre Spielfreude, zeigt an, dass die Fach‐ bzw. Lehrkräfte ihnen diesen Raum in gewissem Ausmaß auch geben. Dies erfordert allerdings, dass Fach‐ bzw. Lehrkräfte eine zielorientierte Strategie entwickeln, die sowohl Spiel als auch Lernen einbezieht. RESUMEN: El tema central de este artículo es por qué los niños involucran a los profesores en sus juegos y aprendizaje en la educación preescolar. La pregunta principal es: ¿Por qué razones los niños querrían invitar a los profesores a participar en sus juegos? Los datos se obtuvieron de videos de observación a niños de 8 establecimientos preescolares y una escuela primaria. En el análisis, pudimos encontrar 5 razones por las cuales los niños involucran a sus maestros/as: recibir ayuda de parte del profesor/a, ser reconocidos como personas competentes, mostrar a los profesores que otros niños no respetan las reglas, obtener información y confirmación de cómo funcionan las cosas, e involucrar a los profesores en el juego. Tanto los pequeños como sus maestros están, al parecer, de acuerdo en estas formas de interacción a través del juego. Podrían ser una señal del rol del maestro/a tradicional, es decir, que los profesores saben cómo deberían ser las cosas, y que tienen autoridad y conocimientos para actuar como mediadores/as. En paralelo, se grafica claramente otra imagen del niño/a y también del profesor/a. El hecho de que los niños/as por sí solos generen este espacio propio inspirado en la travesura indica que los profesores, en cierta medida, abren ese espacio a los niños/as. Sin embargo, esto obliga a los profesores/as a elaborar una estrategia con metas específicas, que involucra jugar y aprender a la vez.

The art of teaching children the arts: music, dance and poetry with children aged 2–8 years old

In this article, the theoretical framework of developmental pedagogy is presented as a tool in studying and developing children’s knowing within the arts. The domains of art focused on are music, poetry and dance/aesthetic movement. Through empirical examples from a large‐scale research project, we illustrate the tools of developmental pedagogy and show how this perspective contributes to our understanding of children’s learning of music, dance and poetry. More specifically, we will analyse: (a) the important role of the teacher in children’s learning within the arts; (b) the importance of conversing when learning the arts; (c) what constitutes the knowledge, what we refer to as ‘learning objects’, to be appropriated within the three domains of art focused on; and (d) how to conceive of progression in children’s knowing within the arts.

Five preschool curricula —comparative perspective

SummaryIn recent years the OECD has undertaken the evaluation of early childhood education and care (ECEC) on behalf of ministers of education in a number of countries in order to support quality improvement in this field. This article is based on a workshop for the national coordinators of early childhood policy in Sweden, 2003, which dealt with Curriculum and Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education. The five curricula presented were Reggio Emilia, Te Whãriki, Experiential Education, High/Scope and the Swedish National Curriculum for Preschool. The aim of this article is to compare these curricula, establishing similarities and differences discussing quality aspects and problematising the general and the cultural specifics of each curriculum per se and in relation to the others. A further aim is to raise awareness of curriculum questions in connection with children’s learning and development. The article is based on a pedagogical perspective of quality, which takes the perspective of the child and focuses on what is best for a child’s learning and development in a specific culture. The results of the analysis show that the five curricula are of high quality in relation to each country’s culture. High quality in preschool means giving the children a good start in life. The unique and competent child has rights of its own and should be treated with respect. In focus are the individual child’s opportunities for building up knowledge and expressing their understanding of the surrounding world. High quality is also related to the competent and professional teacher with theoretical and pedagogical knowledge.RésuméPendant ces dernières années, l’OECD, au nom des ministres de l’Education de différents pays, s’est chargée d’évaluer l’Education préscolaire (ECEC) à fin d’améliorer sa qualité. Cet article a son origine dans un atelier qui a réunit les coordinateurs nationaux de l’Education préscolaire en Suède en 2003. L’atelier fut consacré aux Programmes et à la Pédagogie de l’école maternelle. Les cinq programmes présentés étaient les suivants: Reggio Emilia, Te Whãriki, Experiential Education, High/Scope et le Programme suédois du niveau préscolaire. L’objectif de cet article est de détecter les similitudes et les différences existant entre les programmes, de discuter leur niveau de qualité et d’analyser les aspects culturels, généraux et spécifiques de chacun des programmes. Un autre but de cet article est d’accroître la conscience autour des questions relatives à l’apprentissage et au développement des enfants dans le cadre des programmes d’éducation. L’article est centré sur le thème de la qualité du point de vue pédagogique, en prenant la perspective de l’enfant, et il donne priorité au sujet à ce qui est le mieux pour l’apprentissage et le développement de l’enfant dans une culture spécifique. Les résultats de l’analyse montrent que les cinq programmes sont de haute qualité, par rapport à la culture de chaque pays. Haute qualité signifie ici que l’éducation préscolaire est capable de donner à l’enfant un bon point de départ pour la vie. L’enfant, unique et compétent, a des droits par lui-même, et devrait être traité avec respect. On vise ici, en premier lieu, les possibilités de l’enfant de connaître et d’exprimer leur compréhension du monde qui l’entoure. La haute qualité est aussi en rapport avec le fait d’avoir des instituteurs compétents et professionels possédant des connaissances théoriques et pédagogiques.ResumenEn los últimos años, la OECD, por iniciativa de un grupo de ministros de Educación, ha asumido la tarea de evaluar la Política de Educación Pre-escolar. Este artículo se basa en un taller que en el año 2003 reunió a los coordinadores nacionales de la política de Educación Pre-escolar en Suecia. El tema del taller eran los Programas y la Pedagogía de este nivel de educación. Los cinco programas presentados fueron los siguientes: Reggio Emilia, Te Whâriki, Experiential Education, High Scope y el Programa sueco para el parvulario. Este artículo se propone detectar semejanzas y diferencias existentes entre ellos, discutir aspectos de calidad de los mismos y analizar aspectots culturales, tanto generales como específicos, de cada uno. Otro objetivo es el de incrementar la conciencia de los problemas ligados al aprendizaje y desarrollo del niño, dentro del marco de los programas de educación. El artículo enfoca el tema de la calidad pedagógica desde la perspectiva del niño y se plantea qué es lo mejor para el aprendizaje y desarrollo del éste en una cultura específica. Los resultados del análisis muestan que los cinco programas son de alta calidad, en relación con las culturas de sus respectivos países. Alta calidad significa que el parvulario provee a los niños de un buen punto de partida en la vida. El niño, único y competente, tiene derechos propios y debería ser tratado con respeto. Como foco de primordial interés aparecen las posibilidades para cada niño de conocer y expresar su comprensión del mundo que lo rodea. El concepto de alta calidad se relaciona también con la competencia y profesionalidad del maestro poseedor de conocimientos teóricos y pedagógicos.

Learning through ICT in Swedish Early Childhood Education from a Pedagogical Perspective of Quality

I nformation and communication technology (ICT) has swept into modern society and rapidly been brought to use in various areas. Sweden has enthusiastically adopted the technology and in the process has become a world leader, in terms of numbers of computers per capita and frequency of Internet use (Next Generation Forum, 1999,2000). Today, ICT is an integrated part of the Swedish society; most of the adult population is using it in one way or another and we dare to predict that use will increase in the next generation. ICT is everywhere around us, both in society at large and in our homes, and it influences many aspects of most children’s everyday lives. The aim of this article is to discuss how teacher education and teacher competency affect children’s capabilities to learn through ICT. Our focus here is limited to the uses of computers and the Internet, although ICT has a broader definition and includes a variety of technologies. Sweden’s political leaders have’set out to make the country a leading IT nation, and to ensure that all of its citizens have access to information (Ministry for Industry, Employment, and Communications, 2000). To fulfill this ambition, the government has focused on the education system. A largescale national government scheme, IT in School (ITiS), was implemented in 1999 to guarantee that every child and teacher in school would have his or her own E-mail address and access to the Internet (Ministry of Education and Science, 2000). Since then, more than half of the teachers in Sweden (75,000), from the preschool level to adult education, are occupied with ICT competency development, with the support of specially trained ICT consultants. The ITiS government program excluded preschool children between the ages of 1 to 5, as well as their teachers, because many preschool teachers and decision-makers question the benefits and suitability of ICT for these youngest children. It is important to clarify that preschool is the first step in the Swedish education system, which continues up to age 19 (early childhood education extends until approximately age 10). Both preschools and grade schools adhere to nationally mandated curricula that are linked by shared goals (Ministry of Education and Science, 1994/98, 1998). The dual aims of the curriculum are to promote a child’s learning and development in accordance with the overall goals and to enhance quality throughout the education system. It is also important, however, to point out that no specific methods or tools to improve education and/or enhance quality, such as ICT, are mentioned in any of the Swedish curriculum (Pramling Samuelsson, in press). From one perspective, ICT is regarded as Sweden’s political