VI LÄRARE DEBATT: Regeringens uppdrag till Skolverket – att göra utbildningen i förskolan skärmfri – riskerar att ge negativa och allvarliga konsekvenser, särskilt för barn som är i störst behov av att möta en digitaliserad värld med stöd av utbildade förskollärare och barnskötare. Det skriver 27 barn- och förskoleforskare i ett gemensamt upprop.

I svensk förskola är endast 40% av de som arbetar utbildade förskollärare, vilket i praktiken innebär att undervisning till stor del genomförs av barnskötare (eller annan pedagogisk personal). I förskolans styrdokument anges att det är förskolläraren som ska ansvara för undervisningen. Om barnskötare genomför undervisningen ska detta ske under ledning av förskollärare. I artikeln undersöks hur förskollärare beskriver sitt ledarskap över barnskötares undervisning. Analysen har genomförts med stöd i teorier om lärares professionalism som ansvarsfull eller som redovisningsskyldig. Resultaten visar på flera spänningsfält mellan dessa logiker, där förskollärares ledarskap över barnskötares undervisning både förhåller sig till ett professionellt ansvar och en redovisningsskyldighet, men där redovisningsskyldigheten tenderar att överväga. Resultaten diskuteras utifrån möjligheten att etablera ett nytt ledarskapsbegrepp i förskolan: ansvarsfullt ledarskap.

These results derive from a project on preschool student teachers’ professional development. The basic idea was that issues of democracy – discussed and talked about in different forms and contexts – are vital to become part of teachers’ agency. Thus, the project aimed to explore how the student teachers developed democratic agency during their teacher education.

Theoretically, the project was grounded in an understanding of teacher agency, in which experiences, different contextual aspects as well as temporal dimensions are taken into account. For 7 semesters, a group of 10-20 preschool student teachers in Sweden participated voluntarily in the project throughout their entire teacher education. Our method was to gather regularly in conversations with the students in ‘horizontal networks’. These worked as arenas for the students to challenge their thoughts on democracy and values without being graded for their developing opinions. We were four researchers that, in about 70 occasions, met with the students in such conversations about their future profession. Our roles were to take part of reflections on issues of democracy and teaching profession.

Our main results show that the students developed democratic agency though active participating in horizontal networks. The students themselves were able to describe the value of participating and how they perceived their democratic agency to be more developed compared to non-participating fellow students. The students in focus were able to reflect on issues of democracy in society, how they possibly could act differently in situations with children, colleagues and other actors in the preschool, issues that in previous research have been found to be difficult.

The results demonstrate a need to clearly focus on issues of democracy in the teacher education in order to develop future teachers’ democratic agency, which doubtless has become even more necessary in the present democratically troublesome times.

Research topic/aim: In this presentation, we focus on leadership between colleagues in the working team as well as preschool teachers’ responsibility for teaching in relation to the working team. This can be understood as ‘leadership within the preschool teaching activities’ (Jensen, 2022) The aim is to develop a theoretical understanding of leadership in preschool that takes previous experiences from preschool practice as well as from the teachers into account when arranging teaching activities and planning for the future. 

Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework consists of an ecological approach of Teacher Agency (Priestley, Biesta & Robinson, 2015) in which experiences are central and where cultural, structural and material aspects are considered vital when acting and achieving leadership in preschool.  

Methodology/research design: Through an action research project, preschool teachers will act, document and further discuss leadership activities in preschool with researchers. Insights from such discussions will - through recurring processes - be brought back to practice and enacted in new leadership activities. 

Expected findings: We expect the results to contribute a new understanding of leadership – a responsible leadership, which takes the context, history and temporality into account. Thereby, knowledge about how to enact a responsible leadership can both take advantage of the preschool’s own traditions and experiences and look ahead towards a teaching based on proven experiences and scientific basis.

Relevance to Nordic educational research: The topic is relevant to all Nordic countries as leadership in preschool are relevant and similar within the Nordic education (and other school forms where teachers are expected to shared leadership)

References

Jensen, M. (2022). Ledarskap mitt i verksamheten: Att leda kollegor i förskola, skola och fritidshem. [ Leadership within the teaching activities, in prescjool, school and leisure time centres]. Gleerups

Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher agency: An ecological approach. Bloombury Academic.

Recently, educational practices in many countries has undergone policy changes (Hardy et al., 2019), which highlights the need for developing pedagogical skills in leadership. One of the main policy changes deals with teachers’ leadership, both leadership in the classroom as well as collegial leadership. Previous research within the field of leadership in education has hitherto mostly focused on formal leadership and the role of principals as well as primary and secondary school teachers’ leadership (Håkansson & Sundberg, 2018). However, there is a lack of research focusing on teachers’ leadership in the ECE.  

The current focus on teachers’ leadership in ECE seems to be an international phenomenon (Zulkifly et al., 2020). The Nordic council of ministers stress teachers’ competence, ‘an increased demand on pedagogical skills in leadership to lead and develop education in the ECEC’ (Hännikäinen & Lipponen, 2017, p. 27). In the Nordic countries, ECE teachers are responsible for teaching, which means leading other professional categories (childminders) and taking responsibility for pedagogical decisions. In Sweden, teaching must be conducted under the guidance of the ECE teacher (Education Act). Leadership tasks have proven to be problematic as the historical organization of the ECE holds horizontal distribution of tasks with ‘anyone can do anything’, continue to be of great importance (Catucci, 2021; Hildén, 2021; Olsson et al., 2020; Vallberg Roth, 2020). Overall, there seems to be a lack of theoretical concepts that can clarify and guide ECE teachers in the new task of enacting leadership when guiding childminders in teaching.

The aim of this presentation is to explore ECE teachers’ professionalism and ability to achieve agency related to leadership. In order to describe, understand and discuss ECE teachers’ leadership, we use two related theoretical concepts that are both anchored in pragmatism. We believe that how leadership is enacted, relates to different kind of professional logics prevailing in the specific ECE context. We rely on the concept of teacher professionalism according to Solbrekke and Englund (2011), which in our study means the pedagogical quality of how ECE teachers enact their leadership (how) and with what content (what). 

Our research questions guiding the analysis are

·      What professional logics appear when ECE teachers are guiding childminders in teaching? and 

·      How does these different professional logics affect teachers’ agency when guiding childminders in teaching?

The analysis was conducted within the theoretical framework of professionalism as responsible or accountable (Solbrekke & Englund, 2011). Professional responsibility emphasizes an autonomous teacher who can act in the present and assess a situation based on their competence, who trusts their colleagues and can act proactively. On the other hand, an accountability professionalism, where adherence to guidelines and standardized norms for teaching, controlling and allowing predefined assessment criteria to determine what is considered to be teaching of good quality. Within this professionalism, the teacher acts reactively in relation to decisions made by employers and politicians. 

To further interpret and describe ECE teachers’ leadership, we have based our analysis on theories of teacher agency (TA) (Priestley et al., 2015). TA can be described as an ecological approach with temporal dimensions of past, present and future, in which experiences are central and where cultural, structural and material aspects are considered vital when enacting leadership in the ECE setting.  

Method

The data consists of short written descriptions collected from 18 ECE teachers and 3 childminders. All of them work at three schools under the leadership of the same principal, whose approach consists of specifically arranged learning environments. In addition, all schools work with pedagogical documentation as a procedural approach to plan, analyse and follow up teaching. Relevant ethical guidelines have been followed.

These 21 research participants make up just over half of those who were asked to, via e-mail, provide us with a description based on the following question:

·      What do you think about the phrase "teaching under the guidance of ECE teachers"? How is it done today? What experiences do you have of leading and of being led?

Altogether, the texts comprises of a total amount of 5108 words. The analysis have been conducted through several steps. As a first step, we have searched for words and concepts connected to ECE teachers’ leadership, both when it comes to leading as well as to be led. As a second step, we have interpreted the described leadership actions in terms of professionalism as professional responsibility or accountability (Solbrekke & Englund, 2011). 

Finally, the results of the different professional logics have been related to the theory of teacher agency (Priestley et al., 2015). We have looked for specific experiences in the descriptions of leadership and to what extent we could distinguish visions and ideals of future leadership. Above all, the cultural aspects in terms of tradition within the school’s way of organizing leadership and teaching activities have been our analytical tool. 

Results

In the descriptions of ECE teachers’ leadership over the teaching of childminders, four central concepts emerge: Children, collegiality, learning environment, and documentation. These four concepts have been taken into account in the analysis of the professional logics that data has generated.

The results of ECE teachers’ professional logics are described as three fields of tension around ECE teachers’ leadership while guiding the childminders in teaching. These relate to the professional mandate and the predetermined governance, trust and control, and proactive and reactive actions of ECE teachers. Children and collegiality appear to be more strongly linked to professional responsibility, while the learning environment and documentation are more strongly linked to accountability. 

ECE teachers’ agency, which is built up from both experiences and visions, is made visible in the dimension of the present in what they themselves describe as learning environments. Agency in this dimension is based on experiences and visions of children’s development and learning. However, ECE teachers’ agency when guiding the childminders in teaching is almost non-existent as their own experiences are based on collegiality and trust, which is reinforced by the cultural resources in the form of historical and traditional organization in work teams where anyone can do anything. It prevents ECE teachers from actively guiding childminders in the teaching and documenting processes, as stressed in the governing documents (structural resource). The cultural and structural resources counteract each other and in this way prevent ECE teachers from acquiring agency regarding leadership. Finally, in this presentation, we will present and discuss a theoretical model holding aspects of a responsible leadership that will help and guide ECE teachers in their new task of enacting leadership when guiding childminders in teaching.

This article explores how preschool teachers, over time, collectively manage teaching as a new part of their mission. The study’s empirical data consist of two related but temporally separated sets of data containing collegial discussions among preschool teachers; talks during a development process and group interviews with the same preschool teachers six months later. Through a theorydriven analysis, using the theoretical concept of teacher agency, different ways of achieving teacher agency are brought into light. When tensions appear, the preschool teachers achieve teacher agency by using professional core values in order to make adjustments, additions or changes to school policy. These professional core values consist of for example, sensitivity to the interests and needs of children, the ambition to perform a pedagogical practice for the greater good of children and the professional tradition of preschool teachers and child minders working together in teams.

Policy regulating Swedish preschool practice stresses preschool teachers’ responsibility to take a leading position towards childcare workers when teaching. Practicum places are sites in which development of students’ professional practical skills and experiences of leading childcare workers are expected to take place. However, research has shown resistance among preschool teachers toward taking the leadership making such skills and experiences hard for student teachers’ to achieve during practicum periods. The research aim is to shed some light on what possible combination of theoretical and practical skills about leadership student teachers experience during their preschool teacher education. Guiding questions are: What were their hopes and visions concerning leadership during their preschool teacher education? How are they, as beginners with a few months' employment as preschool teachers, able to practice their skills in the here and now? What gaps are there to mind? We use the theoretical framework of teacher agency (TA) (Priestley et al, 2015). TA is achieved through an interplay between the context and the individual. Experiences from the past (preschool teacher education), the cultural, structural and material aspects in the here and now (in the preschool settings), as well as visions for the future, affects the student teachers’/beginners’ achievement of abilities to practice their leadership skills. Data consist of a total amount of 70 sound-recorded seminars with 15 student teachers. These students were involved in a longitudinal research study during 7 semesters, continuously meeting with a group of researchers, discussing issues related to the preschool teacher profession. In this study, we conducted follow-up interviews with seven of them as beginner teachers a few months after graduating as preschool teachers. Preliminary findings indicate the student teachers’ experiences concerning leadership in preschool as limited, shaping a gap to mind when they as beginners are supposed to enact their visions. As students, they consider leadership to be an important topic to learn. They talk about theoretical skills achieved at campus but fear they will not be able to develop these skills during practicum periods. The study is of Relevance to Nordic educational research as the topic of theoretical and practical skills during teacher education are at hand in all Nordic countries. 

Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher agency: An ecological approach. Bloombury Academic.

The focus of this doctoral dissertation is the teaching preschool teacher and how the teaching mission is transformed and shaped by different actors. The perspectives of three actors are addressed in empirical studies; 1-2 year old preschool children, the preschool principal and the preschool teacher. The overarching aim is to generate knowledge about how these actors contribute to teaching.

The preschool children contribute to teaching by participating and showing initiatives by using a vast variety of different non-verbal expressions and gestures. Principals contribute to teaching by creating conditions. These conditions consist of inviting preschool teachers to take active part in a meaning-making process that involves shaping and transforming of the understandings of teaching. These transformed understandings then influence preschool teachers’ teaching. Preschool teachers handle and manage teaching as a concept and as a new part of their mission during collegial discussions over time. By using professional core values, preschool teachers transform and adjust the concept of teaching in coherence to preschool practice and tradition. One of these professional core values consists of being sensitive to the initiative of children and building on the interests and needs of children when teaching.

The two main results are (a) the importance of non-verbal communication when teaching, and (b) preschoolification as a strategy for preschool professionals when handling policy. Preschoolification is a strategy used by preschool principals as well as preschool teachers in order to transform the concept of teaching by using professional core values. By adding or changing the definition of the concept of teaching found in the School Act, the concept is transformed to fit preschool practice rather than letting preschool practice be a victim of schoolification.

Den här avhandlingen fokuserar den undervisande förskolläraren och mer specifikt hur undervisningsuppdraget formas. Tre empiriska studier har genomförts utifrån olika aktörers perspektiv: de yngsta förskolebarnen, rektorerna och förskollärarna. Avhandlingen skapar kunskap om hur dessa olika aktörer på olika sätt bidrar till undervisningssituationer i förskolan.

De yngsta förskolebarnen bidrar till undervisningssituationer genom att delta och visa initiativ, vilket sker i huvudsak genom icke-verbal kommunikation. Rektorerna bidrar till undervisningssituationer genom att skapa förutsättningar för förskollärares förståelse för undervisning som begrepp och uppdrag. Förskollärarna bidrar till undervisningssituationer genom att ta ansvar och genomföra undervisningen tillsammans med barnen.

Avhandlingens sammanvägda resultat visar den icke-verbala kommunikationens betydelse för undervisningssituationer och på förskolifiering som en strategi för professionen i hanteringen av ny policy. Förskolifiering sker när rektorer och förskollärare fyller begreppet undervisning med ett innehåll som rimmar väl med förskolans tradition och kultur.