Heli Ketovuori, Sanna Hirvensalo, P. Pihlaja, E. Laakkonen
Social participation means taking a full and active role in school life, being a valued and integral member of the school community. The purpose of this study was to examine pupils’ experiences of social participation and their active roles in Finnish primary schools. The intention was to find out in what ways primary school pupils’ (n = 3,760) personal experiences of pupil–pupil (PP) and pupil–teacher (PT) interaction vary between genders and across age groups in small and large schools. Pupils’ experiences were examined with questions concerning the active participation of the child and the participatory role of the teacher. The results show that pupils’ experiences vary, and there are differences between schools in terms of pupils’ social participation.
{"title":"Pupils’ Experience of Social Participation in Finnish Primary Schools","authors":"Heli Ketovuori, Sanna Hirvensalo, P. Pihlaja, E. Laakkonen","doi":"10.23865/nse.v40.2600","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2600","url":null,"abstract":"Social participation means taking a full and active role in school life, being a valued and integral member of the school community. The purpose of this study was to examine pupils’ experiences of social participation and their active roles in Finnish primary schools. The intention was to find out in what ways primary school pupils’ (n = 3,760) personal experiences of pupil–pupil (PP) and pupil–teacher (PT) interaction vary between genders and across age groups in small and large schools. Pupils’ experiences were examined with questions concerning the active participation of the child and the participatory role of the teacher. The results show that pupils’ experiences vary, and there are differences between schools in terms of pupils’ social participation.","PeriodicalId":38767,"journal":{"name":"Nordic Studies in Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42946190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tarja Karlsson Häikiö, P. Mårtensson, Liisa Lohilahti
The aim of the article is to highlight and discuss the relationship between core activities in early childhood and primary education, with a special focus on aesthetic practice in relation to sustainability, participation, project work and learning environments. The two preschools presented, one in Finland and one in Sweden, work with ecology and sustainable education in their daily practice. The result of the study comprises a presentation of and reflections on photographs as visual representations of educational activities, learning environment settings, as well as daily educational work.
{"title":"Aesthetic Practice as Part of Work with Sustainability, Participation and Learning Environments – Examples from a Finnish and Swedish Preschool","authors":"Tarja Karlsson Häikiö, P. Mårtensson, Liisa Lohilahti","doi":"10.23865/nse.v40.2601","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2601","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of the article is to highlight and discuss the relationship between core activities in early childhood and primary education, with a special focus on aesthetic practice in relation to sustainability, participation, project work and learning environments. The two preschools presented, one in Finland and one in Sweden, work with ecology and sustainable education in their daily practice. The result of the study comprises a presentation of and reflections on photographs as visual representations of educational activities, learning environment settings, as well as daily educational work.","PeriodicalId":38767,"journal":{"name":"Nordic Studies in Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43083432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper reports on a study of compulsory school principals conducted in 2017. It focuses on principals’ values, both ethical and management related, and their actual and desirable prioritization of important tasks. Data was gathered with a questionnaire which was sent to all Icelandic school principals, 162 individuals in total. The response rate was 69%. The findings show that 94% of the principals say they highly emphasize the ethical values care, equality, democracy, autonomy, tolerance and justice. These ethical values, however, do not seem to impact task prioritization. This indicates that the principals may not have a clear picture of their own value base in the way that scholars have advocated for. The emphasis the principals place on management related values is more variable. It is therefore uncertain to what extent values guide them in their everyday practice.
{"title":"Principals’ Priorities and Values – Twenty-five Years of Compulsory School Principalship in Iceland","authors":"Fridgeir Borkur Hansen, S. H. Lárusdóttir","doi":"10.23865/nse.v40.2603","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2603","url":null,"abstract":"This paper reports on a study of compulsory school principals conducted in 2017. It focuses on principals’ values, both ethical and management related, and their actual and desirable prioritization of important tasks. Data was gathered with a questionnaire which was sent to all Icelandic school principals, 162 individuals in total. The response rate was 69%. The findings show that 94% of the principals say they highly emphasize the ethical values care, equality, democracy, autonomy, tolerance and justice. These ethical values, however, do not seem to impact task prioritization. This indicates that the principals may not have a clear picture of their own value base in the way that scholars have advocated for. The emphasis the principals place on management related values is more variable. It is therefore uncertain to what extent values guide them in their everyday practice.","PeriodicalId":38767,"journal":{"name":"Nordic Studies in Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48253491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Teresa K. Aslanian, Anette Andresen, Turid Baasland
Firmly planted in the Nordic tradition, policies that guide practice in Norwegian kindergartens emphasize a holistic approach that integrates care, play and learning and promotes well-being and development through relationships and experiences in the natural environment. While the holistic approach enjoys support both politically and within the profession, a political call for increased learning has resulted in a number of programs embracing school-based methods of learning infusing the field. The aim to increase learning has increasingly relied on a concept of learning that is the result of intentional pedagogic practice and high quality engagement between educators and children. This understanding of learning does not embrace learning related to children as biological beings in a vital phase of growth; that occurs outside of situations crafted to be learning situations. In this article, we address learning as a biological and social phenomenon, and consider how schoolchildren’s recollections of life in kindergarten can shed light on how and what children learn in the unique learning environments of Norwegian kindergartens. Our approach offers an opportunity to understand what holistic learning in ECEC can mean for children as biosocial beings.
{"title":"Climbing, Hiding and Having Fun: Schoolchildren’s Memories of Holistic Learning in a Norwegian Kindergarten","authors":"Teresa K. Aslanian, Anette Andresen, Turid Baasland","doi":"10.23865/nse.v40.2447","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2447","url":null,"abstract":"Firmly planted in the Nordic tradition, policies that guide practice in Norwegian kindergartens emphasize a holistic approach that integrates care, play and learning and promotes well-being and development through relationships and experiences in the natural environment. While the holistic approach enjoys support both politically and within the profession, a political call for increased learning has resulted in a number of programs embracing school-based methods of learning infusing the field. The aim to increase learning has increasingly relied on a concept of learning that is the result of intentional pedagogic practice and high quality engagement between educators and children. This understanding of learning does not embrace learning related to children as biological beings in a vital phase of growth; that occurs outside of situations crafted to be learning situations. In this article, we address learning as a biological and social phenomenon, and consider how schoolchildren’s recollections of life in kindergarten can shed light on how and what children learn in the unique learning environments of Norwegian kindergartens. Our approach offers an opportunity to understand what holistic learning in ECEC can mean for children as biosocial beings.","PeriodicalId":38767,"journal":{"name":"Nordic Studies in Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48015575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article is an introduction to a special thematic issue of Nordic Studies in Education focusing on kindergarten pedagogy and policy within the field of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in a Nordic context. The article provides an overview of the five articles contained in the issue.
{"title":"Special Issue: Kindergarten Pedagogy and Policy","authors":"Camilla Eline Andersen, Jenny Steinnes, S. Vik","doi":"10.23865/nse.v40.2455","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2455","url":null,"abstract":"This article is an introduction to a special thematic issue of Nordic Studies in Education focusing on kindergarten pedagogy and policy within the field of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in a Nordic context. The article provides an overview of the five articles contained in the issue.","PeriodicalId":38767,"journal":{"name":"Nordic Studies in Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47995943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
K. Gustafson, Danielle Ekman Ladru, Tanja Joelsson
Since about a decade there is a new phenomenon in Nordic early childhood education and care, the mobile preschool. It is an ECEC practice conducted on a bus that travels to various locations to perform everyday preschool activities and routines. With theory of policy enactment this article analyzes workshop discussions with mobile preschool professionals. The results show two main policies within mobile preschools; safety as well as experiential learning in a variety of learning environments. While discussing how to handle these policies, the professionals construct the mobile preschool simultaneously as ordinary and unique in relation to ordinary stationary preschools.
{"title":"Säkerhet samt upplevelsebaserat lärande i en variation av lärmiljöer – två centrala policyer i mobila förskolor","authors":"K. Gustafson, Danielle Ekman Ladru, Tanja Joelsson","doi":"10.23865/nse.v40.2444","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2444","url":null,"abstract":"Since about a decade there is a new phenomenon in Nordic early childhood education and care, the mobile preschool. It is an ECEC practice conducted on a bus that travels to various locations to perform everyday preschool activities and routines. With theory of policy enactment this article analyzes workshop discussions with mobile preschool professionals. The results show two main policies within mobile preschools; safety as well as experiential learning in a variety of learning environments. While discussing how to handle these policies, the professionals construct the mobile preschool simultaneously as ordinary and unique in relation to ordinary stationary preschools.","PeriodicalId":38767,"journal":{"name":"Nordic Studies in Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43492823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Whenever the amount of placements in kindergarten exceeds the number of children, the various kindergartens are inclined to compete in order to attract the families. Drawing on Freidson’s (2001) theory on professionalism, the present article focuses on the ways in which teachers in kindergarten experience and assess such competition. The empirical data stem from interviews with 18 teachers employed by large enterprises of private kindergartens. The analysis demonstrates that while they identify with the “third logic”, the teachers are faced with a competitive market regulated by supply and demand. Thus, they find themselves caught in the tension between, on one hand, the ethical values inherent to the profession, stressing their own professional judgement and the interests of all the children, and on the other, the owner’s need to win the competition, leading to product orientation, marketing, and secrecy.
{"title":"Barnehager som konkurrerende virksomheter","authors":"Hanne Fehn Dahle","doi":"10.23865/nse.v40.2451","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2451","url":null,"abstract":"Whenever the amount of placements in kindergarten exceeds the number of children, the various kindergartens are inclined to compete in order to attract the families. Drawing on Freidson’s (2001) theory on professionalism, the present article focuses on the ways in which teachers in kindergarten experience and assess such competition. The empirical data stem from interviews with 18 teachers employed by large enterprises of private kindergartens. The analysis demonstrates that while they identify with the “third logic”, the teachers are faced with a competitive market regulated by supply and demand. Thus, they find themselves caught in the tension between, on one hand, the ethical values inherent to the profession, stressing their own professional judgement and the interests of all the children, and on the other, the owner’s need to win the competition, leading to product orientation, marketing, and secrecy.","PeriodicalId":38767,"journal":{"name":"Nordic Studies in Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44340301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The purpose of this research overview is to understand the main contemporary research objects that characterizes the research field of school leadership in Sweden. Published literature within the field between 2014 and 2018 together with a mapping of research interests from 99 university teachers in the state funded education programme for principals, form the understandings of the field. The results indicate that the field is constituted by the interests of foremost understanding governance, policy, inspection and school leaders work and pedagogical leadership. A need of systems thinking, investigations of skills and competences, and lack of critical research are examples that calls for new directions in future studies within the field.
{"title":"Skolledarskap i Sverige: en forskningsöversikt 2014–2018","authors":"Lars Norqvist, P. Isling","doi":"10.23865/nse.v40.2230","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2230","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this research overview is to understand the main contemporary research objects that characterizes the research field of school leadership in Sweden. Published literature within the field between 2014 and 2018 together with a mapping of research interests from 99 university teachers in the state funded education programme for principals, form the understandings of the field. The results indicate that the field is constituted by the interests of foremost understanding governance, policy, inspection and school leaders work and pedagogical leadership. A need of systems thinking, investigations of skills and competences, and lack of critical research are examples that calls for new directions in future studies within the field.","PeriodicalId":38767,"journal":{"name":"Nordic Studies in Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45648610","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Contemporary education is characterised by a global testing culture, reflecting the fact that students’ learning outcomes and standards are the focus of policymakers worldwide. It therefore plays a significant role in educational policies in different national contexts. We offer a brief outline of the precursors and preconditions that have facilitated the rise of today’s global testing culture. The article notes two chronological stages: the first encompasses a confluence of comparative education, the rise of applied psychology, and the formation of transnational organisational structures prior to World War II. The second stage features the emergence of international organisations immediately after World War II. We argue that these developments subsequently conflated into a trajectory fostered by Cold War policies and became dominant from the 1990s onwards.
{"title":"Historical Roots of the Global Testing Culture in Education","authors":"Christian Ydesen, K. Andreasen","doi":"10.23865/NSE.V40.2229","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23865/NSE.V40.2229","url":null,"abstract":"Contemporary education is characterised by a global testing culture, reflecting the fact that students’ learning outcomes and standards are the focus of policymakers worldwide. It therefore plays a significant role in educational policies in different national contexts. We offer a brief outline of the precursors and preconditions that have facilitated the rise of today’s global testing culture. The article notes two chronological stages: the first encompasses a confluence of comparative education, the rise of applied psychology, and the formation of transnational organisational structures prior to World War II. The second stage features the emergence of international organisations immediately after World War II. We argue that these developments subsequently conflated into a trajectory fostered by Cold War policies and became dominant from the 1990s onwards.","PeriodicalId":38767,"journal":{"name":"Nordic Studies in Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46299132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The aim of this study was to study children’s transitions from preschool to school in two municipalities in Sweden and also activities that were intended to make these transitions effective. A mixed method approach and a multiple-case study design were used. The result showed that children’s transitions from preschool to school differed, that several transition activities were performed, that transition activities were general or extra and also proximal or distal – seen from a child perspective. Several development areas appeared as being particularly important when working towards improvement of preschool-school transitions.
{"title":"Barns övergång från förskola till skola: en multipel fallstudie om övergångsaktiviteter","authors":"J. Lundqvist, Margareta Sandström","doi":"10.23865/nse.v40.2228","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2228","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this study was to study children’s transitions from preschool to school in two municipalities in Sweden and also activities that were intended to make these transitions effective. A mixed method approach and a multiple-case study design were used. The result showed that children’s transitions from preschool to school differed, that several transition activities were performed, that transition activities were general or extra and also proximal or distal – seen from a child perspective. Several development areas appeared as being particularly important when working towards improvement of preschool-school transitions.","PeriodicalId":38767,"journal":{"name":"Nordic Studies in Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44320289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}