Teaching in preschool - according to written descriptions in collaborative research in the years 2016–2023

Collaborative studies have been carried out in Sweden during 2016–2023 to address the question of what characterises teaching in preschool. This article explores participants’ written responses on teaching in a research and development (R&D) programme and an Education-Learning-Research (ULF) network during the mentioned period. Based on a didaktik approach, the article aims to contribute with knowledge about what characterises teaching in preschool in 2023 based on written descriptions by preschool teachers, principals, and administrative leaders in three school authorities/municipalities in an ULF network. Furthermore, it aims to identify similarities and differences between the answers to the question of teaching in preschool in 2016 and those in 2023 in collaborative research in Sweden. 

     The study is guided by continental/German/Nordic didaktik – more specifically, a critical didaktik (cf. Bengtsson, 2022; Biesta, 2011, 2017; Brante, 2016; Broström, 2012, 2022; Klafki, 1995, 1997). We use the German word didaktik (with use of the letter k), which is common in continental Europe and the Nordic countries, and not the Anglo-Saxon word didactics. The material was generated via questionnaires, with a 91% response rate in 2016 and a 71% response rate in 2023. Didaktikally oriented abductive analysis has been carried out based on alternating empirical and theoretical interpretations both in the 2016 and 2023 material. There is a big difference in scope between the 2016 and 2023 material, and we make no claim to any comparisons in a statistical sense. However, we have examined changes in thematic orientations within each year’s material. 

     Our results show six distinctive characteristics of teaching in preschool in 2023:

1) Learning is not the same as teaching.

2 Teaching is child-teacher-content oriented.

3 Teaching is a goal-directed process – namely, teaching is related to governing documents.

4 Teaching is both spontaneous and planned.

5 Teaching is related to equality, inclusion, and sustainability.

6 Teaching is linked to traces of scientific bases, such as didaktik and theoretical concepts.

The result show both similarities and differences as well as shifts in what can characterise teaching in preschool between 2016 and 2023:

1) There is evidence of distancing from teaching in 2016 and absence of distancing from teaching in 2023 – there is also descriptions change from “teaching is the same as learning” in 2016 to “teaching is not the same as learning” in 2023.

2) There is a shift from child-oriented teaching in 2016 to child-teacher-content-oriented teaching in 2023.

3) There are similarities and consistent descriptions of teaching as a goal-directed process in 2016 and 2023; further, the 2023 responses also contain mentions of global goals in teaching. 

4) There is a shift from vague teaching where “all learning is teaching” in 2016 to teaching as simultaneously spontaneous and planned in 2023.

5) There are similarities and consistent descriptions of the inclusion of all children in 2016 and 2023, with later emphasis on equity and sustainability in 2023.

6) Scientific foundations in teaching are highlighted in both 2016 and 2023, with further emphasis on didaktik and didaktik models in 2023.

Studien i artikeln syftar till att utifrån didaktiskt närmande bidra med kunskap om vad medverkande i ett Utbildnings, Lärande och Forsknings-nätverk (ULF-nätverk) skriftligt beskriver kan känneteckna undervisning i förskola år 2023. Vidare är syftet att identifiera likheter och skillnader i svaren på frågan om undervisning i förskola åren 2016 och 2023 i samverkansforskning i Sverige. Det framträder ett underskott på samverkansforskning som belyser professionellas syn på samma fråga om undervisning i förskola över tid, vilket motiverar föreliggande studie. Materialet generades via frågeformulär med 71 % svarsfrekvens år 2023 och 91 % svarsfrekvens år 2016. Didaktiskt orienterad abduktiv analys har genomförts utifrån omväxlande empiri- och teorinära tolkningsled både i materialet 2016 och 2023. Resultatet utfaller i både likheter och skillnader, inkluderat avståndstagande till undervisning 2016 och frånvaro av avståndstagande till undervisning 2023. Förflyttning kan identifieras mellan att undervisning=lärande 2016 och att undervisning inte=lärande 2023. Vidare betonas vag och vid undervisning där ”allt lärande är undervisning” 2016 och vid undervisning som spontan och planerad 2023. År 2016 är praktiknära handlingar mer framträdande än teorinära spår. År 2023 framträder företrädesvis tydliga spår av praktiknära handlingar, men också spår av teorinära beskrivningar. I likhet med tidigare forskning finns det särskild potential när det gäller metateoretisk nivå.