Science and thematic teaching in preschool – pre- and in-service teachers’ collaboration on degree projects collaboration on degree projects in preschool teacher education

The project aims to contribute knowledge about how the degree project process can support preschool teacher students‘ and work teams’ knowledge development regarding science and thematic teaching linked to children's everyday lives. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate points out the need for competence development efforts in science for preschool teachers at the same time as we at HKR's preschool teacher programme have discussed the need to challenge the students' content and method focus during the degree project, where science as content is often chosen and interview is overrepresented as a method. Students will work together with teams to plan and implement thematic teaching in preschool. Documentation of planning and implementation forms the basis for the students' analysis in the degree project. Researchers analyse the students‘ and teams’ experiences before, during and after the project through surveys, group interviews and documented planning sessions.

The overall aim of this research project is to contribute knowledge about how the degree project process can support preschool teacher students‘ and teams’ knowledge development about science and thematic teaching in relation to children's everyday lives. In a 2018 report on preschool goal attainment, the Swedish Schools Inspectorate highlights how science is often taught in the form of individual activities and experiments with no connection to other areas of the preschool curriculum (2018), despite preschool teachers demonstrating skills in teaching other content areas in an integrated and thematic manner (Skolinspektionen 2018). We know from experience from a previous competence development project in eight preschools (Fridberg et al. 2019, 2020a, 2020b) that science raises many questions among preschool teachers, both about content and teaching (Thulin & Redfors 2017).

Student teachers have questioned the weak link between their degree projects and their future professional role (Arneback et al. 2016, Erixon Arreman & Erixon 2015) and at Kristianstad University we see a uniformity in the preschool teachers' degree projects in terms of content and method. The research questions often concern ‘classic’ preschool areas such as children's participation and co-operation, and science is very rarely chosen as content, while interviews are overrepresented as a method of data collection. In this research project, therefore, student preschool teachers will instead be involved in planning and implementing thematic teaching that includes science and other content aspects of the preschool curriculum. The activities will be designed by students, teams and researchers together and carried out by either students or teams in the preschools. The planning and implementation are documented by the student and form the basis for analysis in the degree project and the results are fed back to the work team. The researchers distribute a pre- and a post-survey to students and teams to follow the development of their perception of science as both content and teaching area. The planning sessions are also documented and analysed and students‘ and teams’ thoughts expressed in surveys and during planning are followed up with group interviews. More specifically, the project aims to develop knowledge about the possible impact of degree projects on students‘ and teams’ perceptions of thematic teaching and science in preschool. The research questions are formulated:

1.How can preschool teacher students‘ and teams’ expressed perceptions of thematic teaching, of science linked to other content aspects, be described before and after the degree project?

2.What different perceptions of teaching science in preschool can be described before and after the degree programme?

The outcome of the project will generate a valuable insight into how participants are affected by thesis processes involving thematic work where science is combined with other content aspects. It will also contribute to discussions on the teaching of science and thematic work in pre-school teacher education in general.

References
Arneback, E., Englund, T., & Dyrdal Solbrekke, T. (2016). Writing in and out of control: A longitudal study of three teachers ́ experiences of academic writing in preschool teacher education. Nordic Studies in Education, 36(3), 211-228.

Erixon Arreman, I., & Erixon, P.-O. (2015). The degree project in Swedish early childhood education and care: What is at stake? Educational Inquiry, 6(3), 309-332.

Fridberg, M., Jonsson, A., Redfors, A. & Thulin, S. (2019) Teaching chemistry and physics in preschool: a matter of establishing intersubjectivity. International Journal of Science Education. 41(17) 2542-2556. doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2019.1689585

Fridberg, M., Jonsson, A., Redfors, A., & Thulin S. (2020a). The role of intermediary objects of learning in early years chemistry and physics. Early Childhood Education Journal, online first

Fridberg, Jonsson, Redfors, & Thulin (2020b). Final report on professional development project – manuscript.

Skolinspektionen (2018). Slutrapport. Förskolans kvalitet och måluppfyllelse: ett treårigt regeringsuppdrag att granska förskolan. Stockholm: Skolinspektionen.

Skolverket (2018). Läroplan för förskolan, Lpfö 18 [Curriculum for preschool, Lpfö 18]. Stockholm, Sverige: Skolverket.

Thulin, S. & Redfors, A. (2017). Student Preschool Teachers’ Experiences of Science and its Role in Preschool. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(4), 509-520.