FOLLOW-UP RESEARCH RELATED TO SCIENCE KIDS: A PRESCHOOL SCIENCE PROJECT

In this presentation, we report on a municipality’s experiences of partaking in a professional development programme called Science Kids. We aim to develop knowledge about how participation in such programmes can contribute to the development of science teaching in preschools. The research is done in cooperation with a mid-sized Swedish municipality and empirical data is collected in terms of pre- and post-questionnaires, focus-group discussions, and interviews. Content analysis is used supported by frameworks of curriculum emphases and professional development. The analysis is ongoing and results and discussion related to current and future science teaching in preschool will be presented at the conference. Preliminarily we can say that the participants display a positive attitude towards science in preschool and that they highlight the importance of everybody's participation. There is a pronounced focus on the importance of children being able to understand and discuss science content among themselves. Not so much about decision-making, science in society, and other aspects of science.