This article focuses on Swedish preschool managers’ views of their tasks and daily work: activities, conditions, challenges and ideas on leadership. Five preschool managers were asked to write diary notes during a couple of weeks at work. Through the analysis process, we were inspired by Yukl’s hierarchical behaviour taxonomy. The taxonomy divides leadership behaviours into four parts, task-oriented, relations-oriented, change-oriented and external. The taxonomy was used in terms of positions the managers navigate between, rather than considering them as being bearers of certain behaviours. Data indicate that these preschool managers mainly use the task-oriented and the relation-oriented position. We noticed that they also activate positions oriented to change and external contacts and network building, but to a significantly lesser extent. They solve all kind of problems and many of their stories are about how they strive to meet the needs of children, parents and staff.

The aim is to investigate early childhood mathematics in a preschool unit in Sweden. A mixed-method research approach and a case study research design were used. Three preschool staff members and 19 children were enrolled. Data were collected by means of observations and a focus group interview. Numerical and thematic analyses were conducted. The mean value of ratings of early childhood mathematics in the preschool unit approached ‘good’ (m = 4.5) and can be described by means of six themes: one to ten mathematics; a short question and a short answer; embedded mathematical concepts in everyday routines and play activities; whole-group mathematical circle times incorporating support for younger children and those who are struggling; accessible robots, materials and tools, and small group mathematics. The study could form a basis for discussions on such matters as early childhood mathematics and differentiation in preschools, both in Sweden and in other countries.

The purpose is to discuss two competing theories of learning in preschool based on preschool teachers' views of knowledge and learning. The focus is mathematical learning but the discussion is applicable to all early childhood learning contexts. Preschool teachers' views on children's learning and development is important for the pedagogy they use and affects how they structure everyday life in the preschool and could lead to consequences for toddlers' knowledge development. In Swedish research on learning, we can identify two dominant, competing perspectives, one based on a predetermined linear course that can be understood as adults defining what is important for children to learn, and a multidimensional perspective, starting with children's knowledge - what they already know and express with spoken or unspoken language. I advocate the broader view of learning since the linear view gives children little opportunity to influence what is to be learned and in what way. Children's initiatives are overlooked in favour of teachers' perceptions of what is important to learn.

The article focuses on mathematics for toddlers in preschool, with the aim of challenging a strong learning discourse that mainly focuses on cognitive learning. By devoting more attention to other perspectives on learning, the hope is to better promote children's early mathematical development. Sweden is one of few countries to have a curriculum for preschool, which includes a provision of promoting children's mathematical learning. What then might mathematics be to these young children? The article is based on a pilot study in which 13 one- to three-year-old preschool children were observed in play situations. The results show that children often use their bodies as a tool for understanding mathematical concepts. These results are interesting as the body has been virtually invisible in previous research on toddlers and mathematics. The results have been analysed with inspiration from theories that open up for new ways of understanding the learning subject.

This project highlights preschool teachers' views of toddlers' learning in mathematics. The Swedish national curriculum covers even the youngest children who are 1–3 years old. Interesting questions are thus: what should mathematics be for this age group and how should preschool teachers work with maths to achieve the curriculum objectives? Data were collected through interviews with six preschool teachers working in four different preschools. The data show that the teachers emphasize the body as very important for the learning process, which means that for these children, it is not a matter of simply talking about mathematical concepts, but experiencing them bodily. The teachers also report that they now pay more attention than previously to what material the children use and how they interact with it. They are more aware of how they organize and offer the various materials in the preschool and how this influences the way children use them and, consequently, their learning processes.

Syftet med den här artikeln är att presentera och diskutera delar av datamaterial från ett forskningsprojekt med fokus på skolledarskap och kön. Studiens syfte är att undersöka den diskursiva konstruktionen av svenskt skolledarskap i ett könsperspektiv. I studien deltog fyra manliga och fyra kvinnliga skolledare samt nio kvinnliga och sju manliga lärare i svensk grundskola. Resultatet visade att när skolledare och lärare talar om betydelser inbäddade i begreppet skolledarskap har tre huvudsakliga subjektspositioner identifierats: supporter, chef och pedagogisk ledare. I en stor del av både skolledares och lärares tal positioneras skolledaren som supporter med innebörderna lyhördhet och tillgänglighet är dominerande. Jag har därför valt att diskutera innebörder och konsekvenser av supporterpositionen i den här artikeln. Studien visar inga betydande skillnader i de skolledande kvinnornas och männens konstruktioner av positionen supporter. Med andra ord verkar könsstereotyper inte vara styrande för deras tal. Däremot visar resultatet att könsdiskurser aktiveras i lärarnas konstruktion. Stereotypa föreställningar om hur kvinnor och män förväntas vara som ledare kommer till uttryck i lärarnas tal. Diskussionen reflekterar kring supporterpositionens dominerande ställning samt konsekvenser för ledarskapet. Vidare lyfts könsdiskursers betydelse för skolledarskapets utövande.