Sjónarmið leikskólakennara og leiðbeinenda : áherslur og verkaskipting í leikskólastarfi

Abstract

Markmiðið með þeirri rannsókn, sem hér er kynnt, er að skoða sýn, hlutverk og starfshætti leikskólakennara og leiðbeinenda. Rannsóknin er samvinnuverkefni milli Rannsóknarstofu í menntunarfræðum ungra barna (RannUng) hjá Menntavísindasviði Háskóla Íslands, Háskólans í Volda og Háskólans í Ósló. Gögnumfyrir íslenskan hluta rannsóknarinnar var safnað með spurningakönnun sem send var í alla leikskóla hér á landi veturinn 2011–2012. Í þessari grein er leitast við aðvarpa ljósi á hvort munur er á því hvernig leikskólakennarar annars vegar og leiðbeinendur hins vegar lýsa áherslum sínum ogdaglegum verkum í leikskólanum.Niðurstöður leiða í ljós að óljós verkaskiptingvirðist vera milli leikskólakennara ogleiðbeinenda í íslenskum leikskólum hvað varðar dagleg störf. Báðir hópar segjast sinna jafnt daglegri umönnun barnanna og taka þátt í leik þeirra og hreyfingu. Báðir hópar segjast leggja mikla áherslu á virka þátttöku, tjáningu, félagsfærni, leik og uppeldi barnanna. Hins vegar sögðust fleiri leikskólakennarar en leiðbeinendur leggja áherslu á nám og afmarkaða þætti tengda námssviðum leikskólans. Það semeinkum greindi hópana að voru samskipti við foreldra og umönnun og menntun barna með sérþarfir sem leikskólakennarar báruá ábyrgð í ríkari mæli. Niðurstöður eru ræddar í ljósi fagmennsku leikskólakennara og menntastefnu sem sett er framí Aðalnámskrá leikskóla.

Roughly 96% of Icelandic children between the ages of two and five attend preschool, and approximately 28% of them are two years old (Statistics Iceland, 2013). Despite the law that stipulates that educated preschool teachers should account for at least two-thirds of the staff that handle the care and education of children in each preschool (Laws on Education and Appointment of Teachers and Principals in Preschool, Elementary School and Secondary School nr. 87/2008), only 38% of the preschool staff had received preschool teacher education in the year 2011. The aim of this study is to examine the views, roles, and pedagogy of preschoolteachers and preschool assistants in Iceland. This is a part of a collaborativestudy between the University of Iceland, the University of Volda and the Universityof Oslo. Research that compares the work of preschool teachers and assistantsis rare, and the present study is the first of its kind in Iceland. In order toensure the quality education of preschool children, it is important to gain insightinto how those working in preschools view their own work. This research examinedthe ways in which preschool teachers and preschool assistants describedtheir daily work and emphases.This article seeks to answer the following questions:1. Is there a difference in how preschool teachers and preschool assistantsdescribe what they emphasize in their work with preschool children?2. Is there a difference in how preschool teachers and preschool assistantsdescribe their daily work with preschool children?Data were gathered through a questionnaire sent to all preschools in Iceland duringthe 2011–2012 school year. Two questionnaires were used, one for the preschoolteachers and another for the assistants. Staff without preschool teachereducation were categorized as assistants. The questionnaires that were translatedfrom Norwegian had the same questions, aside from those relating to backgroundinformation. The questions were ranked on the Likert scale including 5–7values. The answers of the preschool teachers and assistants were compared.The findings indicate a vague division of labour between the two groups, whichsuggests that the specialized knowledge of preschool teachers faces considerabledifficulties, as has been corroborated in other Nordic research (Aasen, 2000;Arna H. Jónsdóttir, 2012; Grimsæth, Nordvik and Bergsvik, 2008; Haug, 2010;Lövgren, 2012; Olsen, 2011). Both preschool teachers and preschool assistantsemphasized play, caregiving, movement, social development, and the activeparticipation of all children. However, the preschool teachers indicated to a greaterextent that they emphasized learning, specifically those learning areas presentedin the National Curriculum Guidelines (Mennta- og menningarráðuneytið,2012). Mathematical concepts and nature and science, among other areas, fallunder the field sustainability and science. More preschool teachers than assistantsclaimed to emphasize these areas. Preschool teachers also placed morestress upon aspects categorized as culture and arts. They indicated more frequentlythat they supervised arts, music and creative expression and generallyemphasized culture and arts to a higher degree than the assistants. Concerningliteracy and communication, the preschool teachers also reported teaching thechildren about numbers and letters and read for them on a more frequent basisthan the assistant teachers did. There was also a noticeable difference betweenthe groups in relation to the supervision of circle-time or group-activities, whichthe preschool teachers attended to more frequently. The main difference betweenthe groups, however, was that preschool teachers were more responsible for cooperatingwith parents and working with children with special needs.The preschool national curriculum (Mennta- og menningarráðuneytið, 2012)states that preschool teachers should take on a leadership position in guidingand strengthening the role of the preschool by, among other things, becomingexemplary in their work with children and bolstering the professional role of thepreschool. The findings of the research pose questions concerning the extent towhich preschool teachers are able to fulfil this obligation. Further research isrequired in order to investigate further the work and division of labour of preschoolteachers and assistant teachers. It is important to shed light on how andwhere the preschool teachers’ specialized knowledge is fruitfully applied andwhat aspects prevent them from utilizing their professional knowledge.