Challenges in working with pedagogical quality in preschools – a meta-interpretation synthesis of empirical studies

ABSTRACT

This article presents a meta-interpretative synthesis of contrasting research studies about methodological and theoretical challenges for Swedish preschool teachers in systematic quality development work. The first challenge involves an awareness of producing documentation from different levels of preschool work. The second challenge concerns critical reflection of multi-documentation. The third challenge focuses on an awareness of theoretical approaches which can allow a deeper understanding of quality within preschool work. This article proposes that, even if there are tensions and epistemologically different interests in many of the methods of evaluation used in preschools today, there is a need for comprehensive methods and recurring reflections that places preschools’ pedagogical work in an ongoing process of developing quality.

KEYWORDS:

• Evaluation
• preschool quality
• systematic quality development work
• documentation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Eva Svärdemo Åberg holds a Ph.D. in Education and is a senior lecturer at the Department of Education at Stockholm University. Her main research focuses on design for learning, communication, evaluation and assessment in educational settings.

Eva Insulander holds a Ph.D. in Didaktik and is a senior lecturer in the Department of Education at Stockholm University. Her research interests center on designs for learning and multimodal social semiotics, on learning and assessment, often regarding teaching and learning of history in and outside schools.