This study investigates through observations and interviews what importance further education has for preschool teachers' practice in two music-profiled preschool and their way of conceptualising it. A distinction between music as a method for teaching, on the one hand, and as a content of knowledge, on the other, is used in the analysis. The result shows that the teachers act confidently in dealing with music; both in spontaneous and planned activities, and that they show competence in teaching music to the children. In contradiction, when the teachers are interviewed about their work, they say that they have never been able to sing or play. They talk about music as a method for learning language, but they realise it in practice as the content of learning. This contradiction and its implications are discussed and it is argued that further education needs to take care of the fact that teachers need to develop a professional language.
The aim of this article is to highlight what opportunities a six year old in preschool class in Sweden might have for participating in and being inspired by music. We ask the following question: What factors determine how music teaching is conceived and carried out in preschool class? The present study is quantitative in character, and data were collected by means of a survey sent out to all teachers working with preschool classes in a Swedish city. We have brought a hermeneutic approach to bear on our comprehensive interpretations. Our conclusion, and the answer to the research question, is that the fundamental view of music education determines to what extent music teaching occurs, and how it is carried out, in preschool class.
The website of the Swedish National Agency for Education states that preschools are to promote entrepreneurial learning. Many Swedish preschools, therefore, have started to work consciously with entrepreneurial learning as a way of fostering pupils' creativity and ability to make their own decisions. This article investigates whether and how children in different preschool settings receive support and recognition in their efforts to make sense of the world around them. Nine preschool teachers and children from three preschools participated. Three video observations were conducted focusing on the work of each team of teachers. Our study challenges the assumption that an entrepreneurial learning design enhances pupils' learning, creativity, and decision-making. Even though the ambition is to encourage such abilities, our observations demonstrate that the learning design and setting do not always give children the opportunity to be creative.
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