Everyday environments and activities of children and teachers in Swedish preschools

Åström, Frida; Björck‐Åkesson, Eva; Sjöman, Madeleine; Granlund, Mats

doi:10.1080/03004430.2020.1754209

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Data for this study were collected in Swedish preschools. In Swedish preschools, children spend a high proportion of time (more than 50%) in free play and child-initiated activities ( Astr€ om, Bj€ orck-Akesson, Sj€ oman, & Granlund, 2020). This implies that interventions aimed to improve positive peer relations, such as peer acceptance, number of mutual friendships, and proximity to others, to reduce children's behavioural problems in Swedish preschools (Witvliet et al, 2009).…”

Section: Social Interactions As Predictors Of Core Engagement and Hypmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social interaction and gender as factors affecting the trajectories of children's engagement and hyperactive behaviour in preschool

Sjöman

Granlund

Axelsson

et al. 2020

Brit J of Edu Psychol

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Background and aims. Social interactions in preschool and a child's gender are, in cross-sectional studies, related to the child's overall levels of hyperactive behaviour and engagement in preschool activities. However, whether social interaction and gender can predict children's engagement and hyperactivity is not thoroughly investigated. This study aims to investigate the longitudinal influence of gender, child-to-child interaction, and teacher responsiveness on the association between trajectories of children's levels of core engagement and hyperactive behaviour. It was hypothesized that peer-to-child interaction and teacher responsiveness in preschool settings are related to positive change in engagement among children with hyperactive behaviour, especially for boys. Sample and methods. Swedish preschool staff completed questionnaires assessing the variables of interest for children aged 1-5 (N = 203). Data were collected on three occasions over a two-year period. Latent growth curve (LGC) models were used to explore whether teacher responsiveness, peer-to-child interaction, and gender predict trajectories of engagement and hyperactivity. Results. The results revealed that high levels of hyperactivity were associated with lower levels of engagement on the first occasion. Positive peer-to-child interactions and responsive teachers were significant predictors of an increased level of engagement and decreased level of hyperactive behaviour, especially for boys. Conclusions. The findings underscore the need to improve social interactions, especially peer-to-child interactions, to improve engagement in children with hyperactive behaviour, especially boys. Implications for practices and research are discussed. Much attention has been paid to the importance of children's engagement in everyday activities in early childhood as essential for their development, learning, and well-being (Searle, Miller-Lewis, Sawyer, & Baghurst, 2013). Level of engagement, or focus of This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Section: Social Interactions As Predictors Of Core Engagement and Hypmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social interaction and gender as factors affecting the trajectories of children's engagement and hyperactive behaviour in preschool

Sjöman

Granlund

Axelsson

et al. 2020

Brit J of Edu Psychol

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“…Caretaking and educational activities are purposefully blended in the curriculum, which is rooted in social and playful learning activities (cf. Åström et al., 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How pedagogical relations in early years settings are reconfigured by interactive touchscreens

Samuelsson

Price

Jewitt

2021

Brit J Educational Tech

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While interactive touchscreens are currently entering into educational practice, little is known about what this means for learning in early childhood and, in particular, how touchscreens shape action and communication. In this paper, we examine the interactions of 2‐year‐olds and their teachers in a multilingual preschool in Sweden. We analyse the communicative environment between the children, teachers and shared touchscreens and books in the context of reading. A mixed‐methods analysis was used, taking a concept of action that includes both verbal, non‐verbal utterances and digital touch. The analysis shows a reconfiguration to the interactional dynamic where children perform comparable amounts of actions in sessions with the touchscreen and book reading but less talk during the touchscreen sessions. However, while talking less, children display other types of communicative actions. We analyse the changing interactional dynamic that follows, its implications to learning and early childhood pedagogical practice and how interaction can be reconceptualised as cycles of communication and action in which educational scaffolding unfolds. What is already known about this topic Touchscreens are a significant part of children's lives and educational curricula. There is considerable uncertainty on how touchscreens can be incorporated into early childhood education. Little is known about how educational social interaction changes with touchscreens such as iPads. What this paper adds A mixed methods multimodal analysis of the changing actions and dynamics of iPads as compared with bookreading. Children's patterns of communication change towards less talk and more bodily communication, while teachers’ actions remain somewhat similar. Touch actions change the dynamics of interaction, can alter the pedagogical situation and bring a reconceptualisation towards a cyclical and embodied view of interaction. Implications for practice and/or policy New patterns of action may require a recalibration of educational practices. Teachers need to attend to new sets of touch actions that children use to communicate and act with as displays of knowledge. The use of touch screens should be seen as complementary to established practices of language and literacy training (such as book reading) rather than replacing them.

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“…An adapted version (Coelho et al, 2021;Åström et al, 2022) of the COP (Farran and Anthony, 2014) was used to assess children's attendance in pretend play, attendance in associative/cooperative interactions, children's level of engagement, and their proximity to a small group including teachers in Swedish preschools. The COP is a systematic observation instrument developed for the U.S. preprimary preschool contexts, utilizing a time sampling procedure.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The COP with minor adaptations (Coelho et al, 2021;Åström et al, 2022) has shown relevance for use in Swedish preschool settings and evidenced high inter-rater reliability for most categories. In brief, the adaptations involved performing observations also in the outdoor preschool environment; extending the definition of proximity to up to 3 meters outdoors; adding more examples for outdoor observations; and allowing a higher engagement level than low to be coded when the child was involved in an essentially social interaction, i.e., no learning-related interaction.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Patterns of observed child participation and proximity to a small group including teachers in Swedish preschool free play

Åström

Almqvist

2022

Front. Educ.

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The participation of all children in preschool activities is the main outcome of inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). The current study used the Child Observation in Preschool (COP) to explore the observed participation patterns in the free play of a sample of 3–5-year-old Swedish preschool children (N = 453), and to examine the characteristics of the resulting clusters in terms of child and preschool unit characteristics. Based on a series of hierarchical and K-means cluster analyses, we identified eight distinct and meaningful clusters that could be ranked from very high to very low observed participation. Four of the clusters indicated average-to-very high observed participation. Two clusters indicated low-to-very low observed participation. The cluster displaying low observed participation had high proximity to a small group including teachers. On average, children in this cluster came from preschool units with significantly more second language learners. The cluster displaying a very low observed participation had low proximity to a small group including teachers. On average, children in this cluster were significantly more often second language learners, and the children came from units with a significantly higher number of resource staff. No significant differences appeared in the number of children with special educational needs across the clusters, although tendencies emerged. The results imply that the children in this sample had a varied degree of observed participation. Two clusters of children appeared to have difficulties in participating in free play activities where second language learners and children from preschool units with more second language learners were more common. Preschool teachers need to identify children who participate less in preschool activities and who might benefit from more teacher proximity. Teachers also need to reflect on how their proximity impacts the participation of children differently and on the type of support they provide when being close to the children.

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Everyday environments and activities of children and teachers in Swedish preschools

Cited by 13 publications

References 30 publications

Social interaction and gender as factors affecting the trajectories of children's engagement and hyperactive behaviour in preschool

Social interaction and gender as factors affecting the trajectories of children's engagement and hyperactive behaviour in preschool

How pedagogical relations in early years settings are reconfigured by interactive touchscreens

Patterns of observed child participation and proximity to a small group including teachers in Swedish preschool free play

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