Science communication in Early Childhood Education: examples from Swedish preschools

Preschool in Sweden is a voluntary school form entailing education and play. A national curriculum with learning goals regulates educational activities, and prescribes covering science. This mission affects practices, teachers' knowledge, and competences. Didactical approaches, in relation to children's learning are on the agenda. We will discuss and problematize teaching of science based on three research reports. The research adheres to the ethical guidelines of the Swedish Research Council.

(1) Science communication – children and teachers

Firstly we report from a design-based research project where viable science practices were developed and implemented with a focus on communication. Collected video data was analysed based on phenomenography and developmental pedagogy. Analysis of teachers’ planning of consecutive activities with children focusing the intended object of learning (forces and motion) is presented. The importance of content,  educational knowledge, and teachers' experiences of their mission is discussed.

(2) Science communication – children and tablets

Secondly we report on a study of the potential of tablets as scaffolds in collaborative inquiry-based science learning in preschools. Specifically, we have investigated the role of Time-lapse photography and Slowmation production in scaffolding communication and learning. The theoretical framework is phenomenography  and developmental pedagogy. Video and qualitative data measures were collected. The potential of teachers, children and researchers jointly developing, enacting and evaluating learning processes supported by tablets in preschool is discussed.

(3) Science communication – booktalks about shadows

Thirdly we report on a study about opportunities for children in preschool to discern the physical phenomenon ‘shadow’ in conversations from various children's books. The theoretical framework is variation theory with phenomenography as an analysing method. Research results based on children´s perspective will be discussed in order to show how children perceived shadow, when talking about literature that contains fiction, visual art as well as scientific illustrations.