Science learning starting in everyday situations: preschool teachers evaluate different situations’ suitability

This article takes a starting point in the idea that science in preschool would benefit from starting with children’s questions and situations in preschool everyday life. In a previous study preschool teachers have collected such questions and everyday situations in their own preschool practice. A content analysis was performed resulting in a number of different categories describing the potential science content. With the present study we want to contribute to a deepened understanding of how preschool teachers view the possibility to work with science starting from different kinds of questions and situations in preschool everyday life. The data were collected in focus group interviews with preschool teachers who were asked to evaluate different questions/situations (collected in the previous study) in respect to the extent they could work as starting points for science learning situations. The results show that the preschool teachers put forward different kinds of reasons when discussing whether or not the questions/situations could work as a starting point for science learning. These reasons are discussed in relation to policy documents as well as earlier results in the research field concerning science and preschool.