The purpose of the project was to explore how a learning study (LS) based on variation theory could support the development of playful physics learning in early childhood education. The study explored what patterns of variation used during a three-cycle LS challenged and developed children’s ways of discerning why a shadow occurred. The empirical material comprised a screening (n = 7), three video-documented interventions, and 78 individual pre- and post-test interviews (n = 39) at 4 - 5 years old. Three somewhat different patterns of variation were implemented within a playful frame in the three groups. The results indicate low and non/significant improvements in cycle A, somewhat higher and significant improvements in cycle B, and substantially higher and significant improvements in cycle C. The study indicates a promising ability to combine a playful approach with the variation theory perspective to stimulate children’s understanding of a quite advanced scientific phenomenon. The careful process of identifying potential critical aspects, the awareness of the relationship between the whole and its parts, and the concretization of simultaneity are discussed as key aspects of these findings.

The Swedish school system offers curriculum-based early childhood education (ECE) organised as preschool (for 0–5-year-olds) and preschool class (for 6-year-olds). The intention to create a playful and educational environment based on children’s perspectives, interests, and questions is strongly based on historical and cultural traditions. This article develops knowledge of ECE teachers’ approaches to science-learning situations. The study applies a phenomenographic approach. The analysis is based on approximately 9.5 hours of video documentation of teacher-led and child-initiated Swedish ECE science activities. We identified two descriptive categories and four subcategories dealing with science-learning situations: (A) making anything visible, containing the three subcategories (Aa) addressing everyone, (Ab) addressing everything, and (Ac) addressing play and fantasy; and (B) creating a shared space for learning (Ba) addressing common content. These categories are related to how efforts to take advantage of children’s perspectives are interpreted and addressed in educational practice. The article discusses and exemplifies the use of various categories and their potential implications for ECE learning practice.

Purpose: The aim of this article is to describe pre-school teachers’ learning of a theoretical framework, introduced in an in-service training by describing the ways they implicitly and explicitly appropriate the theoretical framework. Methods: This paper is the second analysis from a course evaluation that aimed to develop a group of 24 pre-school teachers’ knowledge and use of learning study. The empirical material was collected after a course funded by the Swedish National Agency of Education. The participants (n = 24) were all highly experienced pre-school teachers selected by their municipal employers. The course consisted of literature studies, theoretical discussions and practical work in the form of a learning study project focusing on the teachers’ own practices. They were divided into seven groups. Each group conducted one learning study. After the course, the pre-school teachers answered an evaluation and one of the questions analyzed here was: “Has your understanding of children’s learning developed during the course and, if so, in what way?” The answers were analyzed to show whether and how the theoretical framework was appropriated and expressed in their practice. Results: The result shows that all teachers understood the meaning of the concept of“variation” in the theoretical framework to mean variation of aspects of the content instead of variation of methods. Half of the teachers (n = 12) also used the concepts of variation theory properly, even if the question did not require them to do so. In total, 12 out of 24 participants used the concepts from the theoretical framework, namely: object of learning, critical aspects, variation, simultaneity and discernment.

The main focus of this study is preschool teachers’ own learning from a specific course aimed to develop their knowledge of how to use learning study (LS) in preschool. The study included 24 qualified and experienced preschool teachers who took part in the course. The course was funded by the Swedish National Agency for Education and the teachers were chosen by their municipal employers. An analysis is made of their experiences of the in-service course on LS and variation theory. The 24 preschool teachers were divided into seven groups, each of which implemented one LS. A total of 162 preschool children participated. After the course, the participants were asked, “How do you think LS can contribute in preschool?” Their answers were analyzed, and six qualitatively different categories were found, capturing their different perspectives. In the studies reported in this chapter, the results of the children's learning outcomes are also briefly reported to offer readers a background understanding of the teachers’ experiences. The children's learning outcomes did all show an improvement. In describing their experiences of the in-service training using LS, all of the 24 participating preschool teachers reported that their understanding of children's learning had changed and improved. They specifically mentioned having a stronger focus on content than before, seeing the difference between learning and method by separating them, and focus on the learning of a defined content in the first place.

The Swedish school system offers curriculum-based early childhood education (ECE) organised as preschool (for 0–5-year-olds) and preschool class (for 6-year-olds).The intention to create a playful and educational environment based on children ’s perspectives, interests, and questions is strongly based on historical and cultural traditions. This article develops knowledge of ECE teachers ’approaches to science-learning situations. The study applies a phenomenographic approach.The analysis is based on approximately 9.5 hours of video documentation of teacher-led and child-initiated Swedish ECE science activities. We identified two descriptive categories and four subcategories dealing with science-learning situations: (A) making anything visible, containing the three subcategories (Aa) addressing everyone, (Ab) addressing everything, and (Ac) addressing play and fantasy; and (B) creating a shared space for learning (Ba) addressing common content. These categories are related to how efforts to take advantage of children ’s perspectives are interpreted and addressed in educational practice. The article discusses and exemplifies the use of various categories and their potential implications for ECE learning practice.

This paper is focusing the computer using practice within pre-school activity. Data was collected in three pre-school units with children from 3-6 years of age. The data consists of approximately 13 hours of video-documented observations supplemented by additional field notes of the same events; nine interviews with the teachers and 38 interviews with the children. The study sheds light on the situated valuation, which is ongoing within an institutional practice such as pre-school. The general picture of the teachers’ ways of handling the computer use is described with two main focuses: first, as constituted in the meeting between political visions and every day practice and second, as grounded in the rationality dominating within the discursive practice. In conclusion, it is argued that the dominating rationalities constitute three different meaning shaping practices, in the study labelled as protective, supporting and guiding. These environments do afford quite different possibilities when it comes to getting access to learning about as well as by the computer.

When using different kinds of illustrations in educational settings; such as pictures or models; transparency is often taken for granted and assumed to be unproblematic. However, different ways of making meaning from visual information are related to culture and context. This poster presentation reports on a pilot study within a Swedish Research Council Project called Illustrations making meaning? Young pupils encountering explanatory pictures and models in science and mathematics education in primary school and pre-school. The aim of the project is to investigate young pupils' encounters with explanatory pictures and models in science and mathematics in primary school and pre-school. Electronic multi-media programs are a common feature in pre-schools nowadays. The aim of the present study is to give an example of how children may meet science in the kinds of software used at pre-school. An inventory that was carried out at ten pre-school departments shows that a program called Ants in the pants is frequently used. The scientific content is described as "you will learn about such as animals, bugs, birds, fungus and trees". An analysis of the software is made with a particular focus on the scinetific illustrations.

Undersökningar visar att samarbete, kommunikation och interak-tion mellan barnen inte bara erbjuds utan också ständigt är närvarande när datorn används i olika utbildningsverksamheter. Det finns dock anledning att kontrastera och kritiskt ganska den stundtals oproblematiska bild av barns samarbete som framträder i tidigare studier. Den här studiens syfte är att lyfta fram dynamiken i samvaron runt datorn i förskolan och analysen riktas därmed mot den sociala dynamik som utspelar sig då barnen samlas runt datorn. Det empiriska materialet består av observationer insamlade på tre svenska förskoleavdelningar. Tre positio-ner, benämnda ägar-, deltagar- och åskådarpositionen, har definierats. Dessa posi-tioner är såväl statiska – så till vida att med dem följer ett visst handlingsutrymme inkluderande vissa rättigheter, skyldigheter och förväntningar – som dynamiska, genom att barnen bland annat beroende på variationer i tidigare erfarenheter har olika möjligheter att utnyttja det handlingsutrymme som erbjuds inom positionernas ram. Spelet runt datorn i förskolan innebär att positionerna kontinuerligt definieras och förändras i relation till varandra.

The aim of the study is to investigate how contrast of critical aspects of the object of learning could be used to improve children’s ways of discerning the mathematical concept twice as, by analyzing an learning study project in Swedish preschool. The empirical material consisted of verbatim transcriptions of a screening (n=24), three video-documented interventions, and 132 individual test forms (n=44) completed before and after a teaching activity and four weeks later. By letting different aspects related to the intended object of learning appear as variant or invariant, different patterns of variation were used in developing the interventions. The results shows differences related to the children's learning in each of the three cycles. It indicates that a conscious use of simultaneity and contrast of identified critical aspects seems successful in stimulating children’s short- as well as long-term learning. Thus, the results of the study suggest that variation theory can serve as a guiding principle in the development of pedagogical design in preschool. The study also indicates the need for more LS projects on the application of variation theory in preschool educational practice.

One of the most important benefits of computer use within educational settings has been described as its potential for use in collective activity. However; there is a need to take a closer look at the apparently unproblematic picture of children's actual cooperation around the computer. The purpose of this research was to study positions and positioning in peer activity around the computer in pre-school. Data were collected in three different Swedish municipal pre-school units with children from three to six years of age. In this paper three positions, described as 'owner', 'participant' and 'spectator', are identified and discussed. The positions are static as they constitute a specific space for acting, including rights, duties and obligations. They are also dynamic as, in relation to previous experiences, they appear to imply different opportunities to use the afforded space for acting. The play around the computer implies that positions and positioning are continuously defined and transformed in relation to each other.

The aim of the study is to describe the ways in which contrast of critical aspects of the object of learning is used to improve children’s ways of discerning the concept twice as found by analysing a learning study process in Swedish preschool. By that, the attempt is to contribute to an expanded understanding of application of learning study and variation theory in preschool educational practice. One researcher, five preschool teachers and 44 preschool children (6 year olds) participated in the project. The empirical material consists of verbatim transcriptions of three video documented interventions and 132 individual test forms (pre-, post- and delayed post-test). The preschool learning study process analysed in this study has been built up by a joint reflection on the use of contrast of critical aspects related to the intended object of learning. The study suggests that a developed use of contrast of critical aspects of the object of learning seem to have bearing on children’s ways of discerning aspects of their surrounding world short- as well as long term. Main principles found seemingly emerging the children’s ways of discerning the intended object of learning is discussed in terms of separation, contrast and generalisation. However, the study indicates the need of additional complementary learning study projects to further expand the knowledge of what it means and entails to take critical aspects of the intended object of learning into account when dealing with content focus in preschool educational practice.

Research Findings: This article is about computer use in 3 Swedish preschools with a specific focus on the preschool teacher's way of managing this use. Data were collected in 3 preschools serving children from 3 to 5 years of age. The data consisted of approximately 13 hr of video-documented observations and interviews with 9 teachers. The study is an example of a situated evaluation, which is an evaluation that takes place within an institutional practice such as a preschool. A key question is how this new artifact should be used in preschool activities. Practice or Policy: The study revealed how political and theoretical visions may be realized in everyday preschool practices. The teacher's approach to computer use was shown to be determined by a combination of the teacher's assumptions about the possibilities of computers and the dominant underlying principle or rationale at work in the preschool. It is argued that the computer is treated differently depending on whether a caring, nurturing, or teaching rationale dominates. It is also argued that the dominant rationale produces three different meaning-shaping practices; in the study, these are labeled protective, supporting, and guiding. These environments afford quite different possibilities for children to learn about and from the computer.

Högskolan i Kristianstads deltagare har undersökt trakasserier och mobbning Preventivt arbete mot trakasserier och mobbning vid Högskolan i Kristianstad. Högskolan har en rad dokument som beskriver det förebyggande arbetet samt hantering av incidenter av mobbning och trakasserier. Dokumenten pekar ut på ett övergripande plan vad som är ett acceptabelt bemötande, alla medarbetares ansvar att föra vidare information om risker och/eller incidenter. Högskolan genomför vartannat år en arbetsmiljöenkät för att få en ökad kunskap om arbetstagarnas psykosociala miljö, dvs. för att få veta hur det ser ut i praktiken. Ett oroväckande högt antal anställda upplever sig ha blivit utsatta för hot, våld och trakasserier i anslutning till arbetet. Lika oroväckande, finner gruppen, är det faktum att det är få som pratar med  sin närmaste chef eller gör en formell anmälan. Detta gör att problemet är svårt att definiera, hantera och göra något åt.

This article reports a meta-analysis based on a multiple case study of the use of learning study (LS) to understand children’s learning in Swedish preschool. The aim is to investigate whether and how the LS model can be developed, adjusted and used to meet contemporary demands placed upon preschool teachers for increased content focus and improved cognitive outcomes. The research questions are (1) How can the LS model be adapted to understand preschool children’s learning? and (2) What challenges and possibilities arise in such process? The material consists of video documentation of eight meetings, 10 interventions and 237 individual, hands-on interviews with preschoolers collected within five LS projects in Sweden including seven researchers, 10 teachers/student teachers and 86 children. Four features (approach to learning, way of guiding the children, content focus and assessment of children’s learning) found to be possibly challenging in the tension between the school based LS model and the preschool context are used to demonstrate changes made to the LS that allowed it to be adapted to preschool settings. We conclude that the LS model may be applied and adjusted to preschool settings to deepen the teachers’ understanding of children’s learning, but the tradition of seeing learning in preschool as doing, having fun or playing should be challenged and revised in a new way unique to this setting. An educational practice combining play with learning in a more purposeful way has to be developed along with better methods to assess children’s learning.

The purpose in this article is to elaborate on how the use of patterns of variation designed by variation theory can challenge and develop the early childhood education (ECE) practice. The analysis is based on six learning study (LS) projects conducted in Swedish ECE. A LS is a systematical, theoretical based de- velopment of teacher professionalism, often in close cooperation with researchers. The projects included 17 teachers, 140 children and 7 researchers. The video documented empirical material consists of 16 analysis meetings, 14 interventions and 407 pre-, post-, and delayed posttests. Each project is a concrete example of the use of patterns of variation to increase early childhood learning. In all cases a tendency of qualitative changes in children’s ways of discerning the object of learning could be noticed. The purpose is to search for how this can be understood from a variation theoretical perspective. The main focus is on changed ways of performing the interventions to search for how patterns of variation were used to create and capture the learning situations throughout the projects. One of our findings is that we have seen that it takes more than one intervention for the teachers to capture which aspects of the object of learning are critical in the targeted group, but as the iterative process allows them to try out the design more than once, they manage to find them. The second finding is that the teachers changed focus from taken for granted assumptions of each child to focusing on their own design to facilitate the child’s learning. Finally, the aspect supposed to be discerned has to vary against an invariant background to be discerned by the chil- dren, and to separate the principle from the representation is needed to be able to generalize their new knowledge.

We explored the use of the learning study (LS) model in developing Swedish pre-school science learning. This was done by analysing a 3-cycle LS project implemented to help a group of pre-school teachers (n?=?5) understand their science educational practice, by collaboratively and systematically challenging it. Data consisted of video recordings of 1 screening (n?=?7), 1 initial planning meeting, 3 analysis meetings, 3 interventions, and 78 individual test interviews with the children (n?=?26). The study demonstrated that the teachers were initially uncomfortable with using scientific concepts and with maintaining the children's focus on the object of learning without framing it with play. During the project, we noted a shift in focus towards the object of learning and how to get the children to discern it. As teachers? awareness changed, enhanced learning was noted among the children. The study suggests that the LS model can promote pre-school science learning as follows: by building on, re-evaluating, and expanding children's experiences; and by helping the teachers focus on and contrast critical aspects of an object of learning, and to reflect on the use of play, imagination, and concepts and on directing the children's focus when doing so. Our research showed that the LS model holds promise to advance pre-school science learning by offering a theoretical tool useable to shift the focus from doing to learning while teaching science using learning activities.

Hur ska datorn och dess möjligheter användas i förskolans verksamhet? Kan ny teknik tillföra något när det gäller skapande, fantasi och kreativetet, eller ska barns datoranvändande snarare ses som en konkurrent till den ”goda” leken?