Omsorg i en förskola på vetenskaplig grund ingår i en serie förskolelitteratur. Omsorg är grundläggande i förskolans pedagogik och en viktig sida av alla mänskliga relationer. Den ska enligt läroplanen prägla verksamheten, och barn i förskolan ska erbjudas en trygg omsorg. Omsorg är också en viktig del i kunskapsrepertoaren hos dem som arbetar i förskolan, en kunskap som ofta förblir tyst och svår att dela och utveckla utan ett gemensamt språk för det man gör. I boken Omsorg i en förskola på vetenskaplig grund utforskas omsorg i förskolan som fenomen och begrepp ur olika perspektiv. Här ges både nya kunskaper och ett bidrag till förskolans professionella språk för arbete med omsorg. Boken vänder sig både till studerande på förskollärarutbildningar och till verksamma pedagoger i förskolan.

Projektet riktar sig till studenter som vidareutbildar sig tillspecialpedagog eller speciallärare, dvs. båda de specialpedagogiska programmen vid Institutionen för skolutvecklingen och ledarskap vid Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle, Malmö högskola. Dessa utbildningar är påbyggnads- eller vidareutbildningar efter lärar-, förskollärar- eller fritidspedagogexamen och förutsätter minst tre års arbetslivserfarenhet som lärare/förskollärare/fritidspedagog. Det innebär att dessa studenter när de kommer till oss på Malmö högskola redan har både en grundutbildning och ett stort pedagogiskt erfarenhetskapital, från olika skol- och undervisningsformer, som kan tjäna som utgångspunkt för problematisering, fördjupning och vetenskaplig belysning.

Research aims: Joint attention and social interaction are important prerequisites for language development. Reciprocal turn-taking in dialogues fosters and challenges language development. The aim of this study was to highlight the process of inviting young children to participate in dialogues. Relationship to previous research works In an earlier study we focussed on interactional style in conversation. In this study we explore professional elicitation strategies and scaffolding in early communication. Theoretical and conceptual framework The theoretical framework relies on the assumption that children develop language by participating in social interaction as active conversationalists (Holquist, 1990; Vygotsky, 1978). Paradigm, methodology and methods Dialogues between 7 speech therapists and 11 children representing an early stage of language development were recorded and transcribed. The elicitation strategies of the speech therapists that preceded the most elaborated utterances from the children (mean length of utterance plus 2) were analyzed with respect to interactional style. Ethical Considerations All the participants had approved to participate in this study. Main finding or discussion The main findings reflect three succeeding types of elicitation strategies. During the first phase the speech therapist is eager to follow the child’s focus of interest in order to co-construct a common ground. The second phase is characterized by emerging mutuality, in which turn-takings and sharing of experiences are expected and encouraged. During the third phase the child is given less active scaffolding but positive feedback and challenge in order to grow as an independent conversationalist. Implications, practice or policy In order to be able to support, scaffold and challenge children’s language development it is important to know about how to invite, support and challenge children to participate actively in conversations.

During 2012 the Special Education Teacher Training Programme at Malmö University ran the education development project “From experience-based practice to scholarly thinking”. The background of the project was the fact that the students’ practical teaching experience had not been sufficiently utilized and scientifically processed, while at the same time the courses in Philosophy of Science and Research Methodology were perceived to be distancing and difficult to absorb. The aim of the project was to allow theory and practice to mutually enrich one another in a clear manner in the progression towards scholarly thinking. All lecturers of all the courses within the Special Education Programme, met together with two librarians to discuss perceptions of what scholarship is and why a research based approach is important in Special education and in the profession Special education teacher. Together we brainstormed ideas and suggestions of learning activities which together could form a progression to develop a research based approach among students. One idea that has already been launched is Spanarverkstad (a version of Journal Clubs) where articles chosen by students ranged from practical education journals to scholarly journals, are discussed. Another form has been Idea Seminars where representatives from the special education field offer to come up with thesis ideas. Another activity is when lecturers from the Philosophy of Science and Research Methodology courses talks about the research methods that they have personal experience of and perspectives on scholarly thinking. They meet the students in a panel debate where the students have the chance to put forward questions. One developing idea is to encourage students to record their experiences and thoughts in writing. Namely a genre-based pedagogy which could be called something along the lines of “From blog to academic article and vice versa”. The aim with the round table discussion is to have the opportunity to exchange experiences, thoughts and ideas of how the collaboration between lecturers and librarians can become a strategic partnership in the pursuit of developing students’ scholarly thinking. The round table discussion begins with a presentation of the project “From experience-based practice to scholarly thinking”. Afterwards we would like to give the participants the chance to pose questions and discuss how librarians and lecturers can jointly contribute to achieve this goal. How can librarians and lecturers work together to prepare students for a profession where a research-based approach is an important factor in school development? Another point we want to bring into the discussion is what librarians can contribute to a teaching team when it is focusing on planning tutorials for students in higher education? What do lecturers see the librarians’ roles as within the team? These are a few examples of questions which could be asked or could be worth developing.