Everyday environments and activities of children and teachers in Swedish preschools

Figures & data

Table 1. COP and TOP original categories.

Category	Definition
Schedule	How the child group, ≥75% of children, is organized
Proximity	Who is within one metre of the child/teacher
Verbal	If the child/teacher is talking, listening, (or fuzzing/crying COP)
To whom	To whom they are speaking or listening
Interaction state^a	Complexity of the interaction
Type task^a	Complexity of the activity
Material	The type of material the child/teacher uses
Focus	The content of the activity
Engagement^a	5-point scale; Low = 1, High = 5
Teacher task^b	The task/activity with which the teacher/child minder is engaged. E.g. instructing, monitoring
Level of instruction^c	5-point scale; None = 0, to High inferential = 4
Emotional tone^c	5-point scale; Extremely negative = 1, to Vibrant = 5

^aOnly for COP.

^bOnly for TOP.

^cTOP categories not used in the current study.

Table 2. Adaptations to COP and TOP for Swedish preschool context.

Category	Original content	Adaptation
Proximity	1 metre	3 meters for outdoors
Material	NA	Examples for outdoors: Gross Motor: ‘Bicycles, climbing walls, swings or teeter’.
Focus	Other	New codes: Fine motor (e.g. beading pearls on a string or pegboard), Gross motor (e.g. climbing, running)
Focus	NA	Example for outdoors: Drama/pretend play: ‘two or more children are pretending to be a family in a wooden house in the playground’
Engagement	NA	Examples for toddlers: Medium high ‘more intensive exploring of objects through turning, throwing, shaking, and without noticing others passing’, Medium low ‘distracted exploration of material’
Engagement and Social interaction	Engagement automatically ‘low’.	Enabling the child's engagement to be coded higher than ‘low’ when interaction state is coded as social.
Location	NA	New category. Child's physical whereabouts.

Note: NA = not applicable.

Table 3. Characteristics of children's preschool environment and activities (rank-ordered proportions).

	M (SD)		M (SD)
Schedule		Materials
Indoor free play	.36 (.15)	None^a	.45 (.09)
Outdoor free play	.21 (.11)	Toys/games	.23 (.10)
Transition	.13 (.06)	Music movement/Gross mot.	.08 (.05)
Mealtime	.13 (.04)	Drama/pretend play	.07 (.06)
Whole group	.08 (.06)	Literacy	.06 (.03)
Small group	.04 (.06)	Art	.06 (.04)
Small group/s & free play	.04 (.06)	Science	.02 (.02)
Other	.01 (.02)	Math	.01 (.01)
Proximity to whom		Computer/tablet	.01 (.01)
Small group teacher	.33 (.11)	Social studies	.01 (.01)
Small group	.22 (.08)	Content focus
Self	.16 (.08)	Routines/social/none	.45 (.09)
Child	.13 (.04)	Other	.17 (.07)
Whole group teacher	.12 (.08)	Drama/pretend play	.12 (.07)
Teacher	.03 (.03)	Gross motor	.07 (.05)
Talking/listening to whom		Fine motor	.05 (.04)
Not talking/listening	.52 (.10)	Reading	.04 (.03)
Child	.18 (.06)	Math	.03 (.03)
Teacher	.16 (.06)	Literacy	.02 (.02)
Self	.08 (.03)	Science	.02 (.02)
Group	.05 (.05)	Social studies	.02 (.02)
Interaction state		Language arts	.01 (.01)
Routine-based activity	.31 (.08)	Location
Parallel	.25 (.06)	Group room	.43 (.18)
Associative	.19 (.11)	Outdoors	.24 (.12)
Alone	.09 (.06)	Play hall	.14 (.17)
Unoccupied	.09 (.06)	Dining room	.14 (.06)
Social	.03 (.02)	Hallway	.05 (.04)
Cooperative	.03 (.03)
Onlooker	.01 (.02)
Type task
Non-sequential	.34 (.10)
Other	.32 (.08)
Sequential	.11 (.06)
None	.09 (.07)
Passive instruction	.08 (.05)
Social	.03 (.02)
Disruptive	.01 (.01)
Fantasy Drama	.01 (.02)

Note. n = 78.

^aAutomatically coded when interaction state is coded ‘Routine-based activity’, ‘Social’, ‘Unoccupied’, or ‘Time out’.

Table 4. Characteristics of teachers’ preschool environment and activitites (rank-ordered proportions).

	M (SD)		M (SD)
Proximity to whom		Materials
Small group	.32 (.11)	None^a	.84 (.09)
Self	.24 (.11)	Literacy	.04 (.03)
Small group teacher	.14 (.09)	Music movem./Gross mot.	.03 (.04)
Child	.14 (.08)	Toys/games	.03 (.03)
Whole group teacher	.09 (.07)	Art	.02 (.03)
Teacher	.07 (.05)	Science	.01 (.02)
Whole group	.02 (.03)	Drama/pretend play	.01 (.02)
Talking/listening to whom		Social studies	.01 (.01)
Not talking/listening	.40 (.11)	Content focus
Child	.32 (.09)	Not instructing	.83 (.09)
Group	.14 (.08)	Other	.06 (.05)
Teacher	.13 (.07)	Reading	.03 (.03)
Parent	.02 (.02)	Math	.02 (.02)
Teacher task		Literacy	.02 (.03)
Managing	.33 (.12)	Science	.01 (.02)
Instructing	.17 (.09)	Social studies	.01 (.02)
Monitoring	.10 (.07)	Drama/pretend play	.01 (.02)
Socializing	.09 (.05)	Gross motor	.01 (.02)
None	.09 (.07)	Fine motor	.01 (.01)
Administrating	.08 (.07)
Behaviour approving	.06 (.07)
Personal care	.05 (.06)
Behaviour disapproving	.04 (.04)

Note: n = 78.

^aTeacher task is not coded ‘Instructing’.

Table A1. Coding alternatives for shared COP and TOP categories.

Category	Codes	Definition
Proximity	Small group with teacher	Child/teacher is near at least one child and a teacher
	Small group	Child/teacher is near at least two children and no teacher
	Self	Child/teacher is alone or set apart from others
	Child	Child/teacher is near a single child
	Whole group teacher	Child/teacher is near the whole group and (other) teacher is present.
	Teacher	Child/teacher is near (another) teacher, but not other children.
	Whole group	Child/teacher is near whole group (≥75%), without (other) teacher
Verbal	No	Child/teacher is neither talking nor listening
	Yes	Child/teacher is talking (understandable words or other sounds)
	Listening	Child/teacher is listening to person (not tape recorder, TV, or video)
	Fussing/crying (COP)	Child is fussing, whining, crying, arguing, or yelling
To whom	Not talking/listening	Not talking or listening to anyone
	Teacher	A single teacher
	Child	A single child
	Small group	At least two children, and no teacher
	Small group teacher (COP)	At least one child and a teacher
	Whole group	Most of the group (≥75%), and no teacher
	Whole group teacher (COP)	Most of the group (≥75%) and teacher
	Self	Child/teacher is talking to self (understandable words or noises)
	Parent (TOP)	Parent or external adult
Materials	None^a	No activity with learning-related materials
	Toys/games	Manufactured toys or materials related to play or fine motor activities
	Music movement/Gross mot.	E.g. musical instruments, singing, dancing, balance board
	Drama	Related to pretend play. E.g. clothes, pretend stoves
	Literacy	Related to reading/writing print, vocabulary and comprehension
	Art	Related to the arts. E.g. crayons, play doh, scissors
	Science	Related to physical science. E.g. pouring cup, magnifying glass
	Math	Designed for math. Incl., numbers, measurement, puzzles, shapes
	Computer/tablet	Incl., computer, iPad, SMART board
	Social studies	Related to understanding people, emotions. E.g. globes, maps
	TV/Video	Incl. any mechanical source of sound
	Worksheet	Any prepared piece of paper. Usually including instructions
Focus	None^b	No learning-related (non-academic) content
	Other	Else. E.g. non-pretend with toys, building with blocks, art/music
	Drama	Pretend play. E.g. roles are enacted, play resolves around a theme
	Gross motor	Large muscle movement. E.g. climbing, running, bicycling
	Fine motor	Fine motor activities. E.g. beading pearls on a string or pegboard
	Reading	Connected text with meaning
	Math	Related to numbers, shapes, measurement, patterning, classification
	Literacy	Language arts + reading. E.g. name writing/recognizing
	Science	Physical science and nature. E.g. colour mixing, exploring senses
	Social studies	Related to understanding people, history, behaviour, emotions
	Language arts	Letter sounds/names. E.g. writing single letters, alphabet puzzles

^aAutomatically coded when interaction state is coded ‘Routine-based activity’, ‘Social’, ‘Unoccupied’, or ‘Time Out’.

^bAs above and when interaction state is coded ‘Onlooker’.

Table A2. Coding alternatives for single COP or TOP categories.

Category	Codes	Definition
Schedule (COP)	Free play inside	Relatively large freedom what to do and where. Location ≠ Outdoors
	Free play outside	Relatively large freedom what to do and where. Location = Outdoors
	Transition	Child group is transitioning, e.g. lining up, washing hands, waiting
	Mealtime	Child group can start to eat or pass the food/snack.
	Whole group	Child group is meeting together, and content is being discussed
	Small groups	All children are in small groups, each led by teacher. Non-optional
	Small group & free play	Some children are in small group/s and some in free play.
	Other	Else not listed. E.g. rest times (but not sleeping), gym, specials.
Interaction state (COP)	Routine-based activity	Non-academic. E.g. dressing, eating without interaction
	Parallel	Learning activity without interaction but similar materials as others
	Associative	Interaction without fixed rules. E.g. tower-building, sharing book
	Alone	Child is involved in a unique activity and not interacting
	Unoccupied	Not involved in learning activity. Demands 2×3 s observation
	Social	Informal interaction. E.g. talking about a television show, hugging
	Cooperative	Interaction with fixed rules. E.g. formal games, restaurant scenario with role speech
	Onlooker	Child is observing a learning activity but does not participate
	Time out	The child is isolated from the group. E.g. out of the room, corner
Type task (COP)	Non-sequential	No obvious sequence. E.g. doodling on a paper, pushing toy trucks
	Other	Other expected tasks. E.g. washing hands, lining up, setting the table
	Sequential	Sequence of steps. E.g. working a puzzle, recognizable drawing
	None	Not involved in learning or social talk
	Passive instruction	Child is recipient of instruction rather than active participant
	Social	The child is interacting but not on a learning topic.
	Time Out	The child is isolated from the group. E.g. out of the room, corner
	Disruptive	Any behaviour that draws others off-task
	Fantasy Drama	Sequenced, predictable pretend play enacting familiar stories together
	Wrongly accused	Wrongly accused as disruptive
Engagement (COP)	Low to Medium Low^a	Child is not attending at all, clearly not interested, to looking inconsistently at teacher/materials, flat affect, looking bored
	Medium	Child pays attention to the activity. May look up but returns immediately. Seems interested in the activity but could give it up
	Medium High to High	Child shows eager expression, positive affect, to intensely focused on the activity, displays genuine engagement, oblivious to noise
Location (COP)	Group room	Room suited for a smaller group of children
	Outdoors	The preschool playground, or playground/woods outside preschool
	Play hall	Room used for activities where most children are present
	Dining room	Room used for mealtime
	Hallway	Hallway, incl. bathroom area
Teacher task (TOP)	Managing	Activity that is required to run a classroom. E.g. teacher is active in organizing children, providing materials
	Instructing	Teacher is interacting with child/children on a learning topic
	Monitoring	Passively observing children
	Social	Personal/informal conversation. E.g. talking about home life
	None	No task (or unrelated to the class).
	Administrating	E.g. paperwork, talking on the phone (work-related)
	Behaviour approving	Approving verbal comments, facial expressions, physical contact
	Personal care	E.g. tying shoes, fixing clothes, help blowing nose
	Behaviour disapproving	Disapproving facial expressions, verbal comments, physical contact

^aAutomatically coded when interaction state is coded ‘Routine-based activity’, ‘Unoccupied’, or ‘Time Out’.

Data availability statement

The results of the current study is based on the data-set by Åström & Sjöman (2020). The data are openly available upon request in Swedish National Data Service at https://snd.gu.se/en. doi:10.5878/8rsx-5w70. Reference number 2019-219.