In the Swedish preschool curriculum, technology education is emphasized as one of the most significant pedagogical areas. Particularly, the teacher's role is emphasized: It is the preschool teacher's responsibility to stimulate and challenge children's interest in science and technology. Unfortunately, prior research indicates that preschool teachers feel uncertain about what technology is and the extent of their knowledge on the topic. Based on the path-goal theory, this article will explore how preschool teachers' knowledge of technology influence how they act toward children in different learning activities. Using a qualitative research design, this study collected data comprising 15 interviews with preschool teachers. The result provide insights for how teachers limited knowledge in technology influence their leadership behavior toward children both in planned activities initiated by teachers and in unplanned activities initiated by children during free play. The core of how teachers' knowledge in technology influences their leadership behavior in these two types of activities is their ability to deal with children's why questions. The results also show that a compensatory approach becomes evident in teachers' leadership behavior toward children in planned activities and that an avoidance approach is evident in unplanned activities. Our findings suggest that the development of a problemsolving approach in unplanned activities could enable teachers to create learning environments for children in which technology becomes something natural. Moreover, enhanced knowledge and understanding of technology will in turn make teachers better able to explain and clarify concepts and various technical phenomena.
The aim of this study was to investigate how the heads of preschool govern teaching in practice through systematic quality work. In the new Swedish Education Act, which came into force on 1 July 2011, the mission of preschools changed because teaching was introduced as a new concept, and preschool teachers were now responsible for teaching. Swedish National Agency for Inspection report that there is a lack of how the concept of teaching is used in preschools. Heads of preschool are crucial for implementing teaching, and a valuable tool for their governing is the systematic quality work which they also are responsible for. This study collected data comprising 120 systematic quality reports from preschools in Sweden, and by text analysis, we explored how the heads of preschool used the concept of teaching. The results showed an absence of governance and management among the heads of preschool concerning teaching and when teaching is used, it was mainly according to the development of all staff competencies and to the concept of variation in teaching. This indicates that the heads of preschool govern the practice in a way that made preschool teachers responsible for teaching invisible.
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