ABSTRACT

This study explores preschool teachers’ considerations when organising children into subgroups in Swedish preschools. Grounded on interactionist perspectives and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the study hypothesises that preschool teachers’ practice of organising children into subgroups is embedded in and shaped through dynamic interactions with all actors and levels of the entire preschool system. Based on this theoretical framework, a hypothetical model has been specified that brings together variables related to children’s characteristics, preschool teachers’ interpersonal relationships and working conditions as well as preschools’ organisational aspects. The sample consists of 698 preschool teachers from different preschools in 46 municipalities in Sweden who completed an online questionnaire. By applying Confirmatory Factor Analysis technique in evaluating the hypothesised model, the study’s objective was to identify factors that determine preschool teachers’ decisions when organising children into subgroups. The analysis identified a three-factor model where two residual but distinct factors, namely an interrelational and a structural factor, were nested under one general factor. The results suggest that organising children into subgroups in preschool is partly a collectively negotiated practice and partly closely connected to the complexities of preschool classrooms’ actual conditions.

摘要

这项研究探讨了在将瑞典的儿童组织成小组时，幼儿园老师的考虑。该研究假设基于互动论者的观点和布朗芬布伦纳的生态系统理论，学前教师将儿童组织成小组的实践被嵌入并通过与整个学前系统的所有参与者和各个层面的动态互动而形成。在此理论框架的基础上，指定了一个假设模型，该模型将与孩子的特征，学龄前老师的人际关系和工作条件以及学龄前组织的方面有关的变量汇总在一起。该样本由瑞典46个城市的不同幼儿园的698名幼儿园老师组成，他们完成了在线问卷调查。通过应用验证性因素分析技术评估假设模型，该研究的目的是确定在将儿童组织成小组时确定学前教师决定的因素。分析确定了一个三因素模型，其中有两个残留但截然不同的因素，即一个相互关系和结构因素嵌套在一个一般因素之下。结果表明，将儿童组织成学龄前儿童的子群体，部分是集体协商的做法，部分是与学前班教室实际情况的复杂性密切相关的。