On completion of the course, the student should be able:

- explain the implications of contemporary preschool pedagogies for the learning and development of preschool children, staff, and educators
- explain relevant pedagogies organized around play, exploration, and aesthetics
- explain contemporary approaches to research and education for developing, implementing, and maintaining preschool environments organized around intercultural education and education for sustainable development

- formulate and defend arguments about preschool educational and didactical issues
- apply pedagogies organized around play, exploration, and aesthetics in the design, evaluation and implementation of preschool activities and environments
- apply pedagogies organized around play, exploration, and aesthetics in evaluating preschool children’s learning and development
- design preschool activities and environments to promote and support sustainable and multi/intercultural education

- evaluate and assess preschool didactic practices from the perspective of various theories, concepts and models related to play, learning, and development

• The “readiness for school” vs. “social pedagogy” debate in early childhood education provision.
• Survey of Swedish Preschool Pedagogies with particular focus on:
- Developmental Pedagogy
- Reggio Emilia and the Pedagogy of Listening
- Creative Pedagogy of Play (Playworlds)
• The role of play in early childhood learning and development, with special focus on the debate over pedagogization of play.
• The role of exploration in early childhood learning and development.
• Education for sustainable development in early childhood education generally and in Swedish preschool specifically.
• Multi/intercultural education in Swedish preschool.

The course combines classroom-based seminars, lectures, group work and field visits to preschools and other childcare institutions.

An online learning management platform (Ping Pong) is used for course communication and assignment distribution and evaluation.

Students who have been admitted to and enrolled in the course have the right to receive instruction/supervision for the duration of the course. Right to instruction expires once the course has ended.

The teaching is conducted in English.

General entry requirements and a bachelor's degree (i.e. the equivalent of 180 ECTS credits at an accredited university) within behavioral science, social work, educational sciences, or related field, including independent, theoretical-based work, i.e. a thesis or equivalent.
English proficiency is required. Exemption is granted from requirement in Swedish.

The course is graded A, B, C, D, E, FX or F.

The grades A, B, C, D and E are all passing grades. For courses with more than one examination, students are given a final grade based on an overall assessment of all examinations included in the course. The final grade of the course is issued only when all course units have been passed.
To pass the course, the student needs to fulfill all the course requirements. Mandatory assignments, such as short papers and presentations (i.e. course assignment portfolio) will be graded pass/fail. The final course paper will be graded A, B, C, D, E, FX, or F.
The examination is based on instruction and course literature.

The examination must allow for students to be assessed on an individual basis. Students may not make a second attempt at any examination (or element of examination) already passed in order to receive a higher grade. Further information concerning assessment and grading criteria is provided in a study guide distributed at the beginning of the course.

Students are guaranteed a minimum of three examination occasions, including the regular occasion.

If a student has failed the same examination three times, the student is entitled to request that the next examination is assessed and graded by a new examiner if possible. The decision to accept or reject such a request is made by the vice dean of education.

In case the course is terminated or significantly altered, examination according to the present course syllabus shall be offered on at least two occasions in the course one year after the termination/alteration.

Name of the Test	Value	Grading
Course Assignment Portfolio1	7.5 credits	U/G
Individually Written Essay	2.5 credits	A/B/C/D/E/FX/F

¹ The examination is graded Fail (U) or Pass (G)

At the end of the course, a course evaluation is performed and commented on by the course coordinator and, if possible, a student/students (course developer/s). The course evaluation, which is published on the relevant learning platform and submitted to the study administration, is to function as a basis for future improvements to the course.

Baumer, S., Ferholt, B., & Lecusay, R. (2005). Promoting narrative competence through adult–child joint pretense: Lessons from the Scandinavian educational practice of playworld. Cognitive Development, 20(4), 576–590. (14 p.)

Brooker, L. (2011). Taking Play Seriously. In S. Rogers (Ed.), Rethinking play and pedagogy in early childhood education: concepts, contexts and cultures (pp. 152–163). New York: Routledge. (11 p.)

Broström, S. (2017). A dynamic learning concept in early years’ education: a possible way to prevent schoolification. International Journal of Early Years Education, 25(1), 3–15. (11 p.)

Caiman, C., & Lundegård, I. (2014). Pre-school children’s agency in learning for sustainable development. Environmental Education Research, 20(4), 437–459. (22 p.)

De Freitas, E., & Palmer, A. (2015). How scientific concepts come to matter in early childhood curriculum: Rethinking the concept of force. Cultural Studies of Science Education. Epub ahead of print 10 February 2015. doi:10.1007/s11422-014-9652-6 (22 p.)

Engdahl, I., & Ärlemalm-Hagsér, E. (2014). Education for sustainability in Swedish preschools. In J. Davis & S. Elliott (Eds.), Research in early childhood education for sustainability: International perspectives and provocations (pp. 208–224). New York: Routledge. (16 p.)

Nilsson, Monica & Ferholt, Beth (2015). Vygotsky's theories of play,imagination and creativity in current practice: Gunilla Lindqvist's “creative pedagogy of play” in U. S. kindergartens and Swedish Reggio-Emilia inspired preschools. I Perspectiva, 32(3), sid. 920-950. (30 p.)

Ferholt, B., Nilsson, M., Jansson, A., & Alnervik, K. (2015). Creativity in education: Play and exploratory learning. In T. Hansson (Ed.), Contemporary approaches to activity theory: Interdisciplinary perspectives on human behaviour. (pp. 264–284). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Fredriksen, B.C. (2011) When past and new experiences meet Negotiating meaning with 3-D materials in early childhood education. FORMakademisk, 4(1) 65-80 (15 p.)

Giudici, C., Rinaldi, C., & Krechevsky, M. (Eds.). (2001). Making learning visible: Children as individual and group learners. Cambridge, MA: Project Zero and Reggio Emilia: Reggio Children. (approx. 100 p.)

Lindqvist, G. (1996). The Aesthetics of Play. A Didactic Study of Play and Culture in Preschools. Early Years, 17(1), 6–11. (5 p.)

Lindqvist, G. (2001). When Small Children Play: How adults dramatise and children create meaning. Early Years, 21(1), 7–14. (7 p.)

Marjanovic-Shane, A., Ferholt, B., Miyazaki, K., Nilsson, M., Rainio, A. P., Hakkarainen, P., … Beljanski-Ristic, L. (2011). Playworlds–An art of development. Play and Culture, 11(1), 3–32. (29 p.)

McInnes, K., Howard, J., Miles, G., & Crowley, K. (2011). Differences in practitioners’ understanding of play and how this influences pedagogy and children’s perceptions of play. Early Years, 31(2), 121–133. (12 p.)

Moore, D., Edwards, S., Cutter-Mackenzie, A., & Boyd, W. (2014). Play-Based Learning in Early Childhood Education. In A. Cutter-Mackenzie, S. Edwards, D. Moore, & W. Boyd (Eds.), Young Children’s Play and Environmental Education in Early Childhood Education (pp. 9–24). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. (15 p.)

Murray, J. (2012). Young children’s explorations: young children’s research? Early Child Development and Care, 182(9), 1209–1225. (16 p.)

Murris, K. (2017). Reading two rhizomatic pedagogies diffractively through one another: a Reggio inspired philosophy with children for the postdevelopmental child. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 1–20. (19 p.)

Palmer, A. (2010). “Let”s Dance!’ Theorising Alternative Mathematical Practices in Early Childhood Teacher Education. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 11(2), 130–143. (13 p.)

Pramling Samuelsson, I., & Pramling, N. (2016). Variation Theory of Learning and Developmental Pedagogy: Two Context-related Models of Learning Grounded in Phenomenography. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 60(3), 286–295. (9 p.)

Ramsey, P. G. (2004). Teaching and learning in a diverse world: multicultural education for young children (3rd ed). New York: Teachers College Press. (25 p.)

Rinaldi, C. (2006). In dialogue with Reggio Emilia listening, researching and learning. London; New York: Routledge. (50 p.)

Rogers, S. (2011). Play and Pedagogy: A Conflict of Interest. In S. Rogers (Ed.), Rethinking play and pedagogy in early childhood education: Concepts, contexts and cultures (pp. 5–18). New York: Routhledge. (13 p.)

Samuelsson, I. P., & Carlsson, M. A. (2008). The Playing Learning Child: Towards a pedagogy of early childhood. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 52(6), 623–641. (18 p.)

Sandberg, A., Arlemalm-Hagser, E., & others. (2011). The Swedish National Curriculum: Play and learning with fundamental values in focus. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 36(1), 44-50. (6 p.)

Sandberg, A., Lillvist, A., Sheridan, S., & Williams, P. (2012). Play competence as a window to preschool teachers’ competence. International Journal of Play, 1(2), 184–196. (12 p.)

Wood, E. (2007). New directions in play: consensus or collision? Education, 35(4), 309–320. (11 p.)

Wood, E. A. (2014). Free choice and free play in early childhood education: troubling the discourse. International Journal of Early Years Education, 22(1), 4–18. (14 p.)

Total pages – Course Literature: 658

In addition to listed course texts there will be, in accordance with lecturers’ recommendations, reports, articles and internet resources.

Ailwood, J. (2011). It’s about power: Researching play, pedagogy and participation in the early years of school. In S. Rogers (Ed.), Rethinking play and pedagogy in early childhood education: Concepts, contexts and cultures (pp. 19–31). New York: Routhledge.

Bagley, D. M., & Klass, P. H. (1997). Comparison of the Quality of Preschoolers’ Play in Housekeeping and Thematic Sociodramatic Play Centers. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 12(1), 71–77.

Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., & Pence, A. R. (1999). Beyond quality in early childhood education and care: postmodern perspectives. Philadelphia, PA: Falmer Press.

Elias, C. L., & Berk, L. E. (2002). Self-regulation in young children: Is there a role for sociodramatic play? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 17(2), 216–238.

Gibson, E. J. (1988). Exploratory behavior in the development of perceiving, acting, and the acquiring of knowledge. Annual Review of Psychology, 39(1), 1–42.

Güleç, S., & Macan, B. (2014). The Effects of Drama-supported Cooperative Learning Method on the Development of Pre-school Children’s Communication Skills. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 136, 532–536.

Hedegaard, M. (2007). The development of children’s conceptual relation to the world, with focus on concept formation in preschool children’s activity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Hutt, C. (1966). Exploration and play in children. In Symposia of the Zoological Society of London (Vol. 18, pp. 61–81).

Lenz Taguchi, H. (2008). An “Ethics of resistance” challenges taken-for-granted ideas in Swedish early childhood education. International Journal of Educational Research, 47(5), 270–282.

Lenz-Taguchi, H. (2010). Going beyond the theory/practice divide in early childhood education: introducing an intra-active pedagogy. New York: Routledge.

Lillard, A. S., Hopkins, E. J., Dore, R. A., Palmquist, C. M., Lerner, M. D., & Smith, E. D. (2013). Concepts and theories, methods and reasons: Why do the children (pretend) play? Reply to Weisberg, Hirsh-Pasek, and Golinkoff (2013); Bergen (2013); and Walker and Gopnik (2013). Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 49–52.

Mead, R. (2015, January 19). A City Run by Children. The New Yorker.

Olsson, L. M. (2009). Movement and experimentation in young children’s learning: Deleuze and Guattari in early childhood education. New York: Routledge.

Pramling Samuelsson, I., & Johansson, E. (2009). Why do children involve teachers in their play and learning? European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 17(1), 77–94.

Rethinking Play SIG - EECERA. (2014). Position Paper on The Role of Play in Early Childhood Education.
Ridgway, A., Quiñones, G., & Li, L. (2015). Early Childhood Pedagogical Play. Singapore: Springer Singapore.

Spodek, B., & Saracho, O. N. (1999). The Relationship Between Theories of Child Development and the Early Childhood Curriculum. Early Child Development and Care, 152(1), 1–15.

Stebbins, R. (2001). Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.

Taguchi, H. L. (2010). Rethinking pedagogical practices in early childhood education: a multidimensional approach to learning and inclusion. in Nicola Yelland (Ed.) Contemporary Perspectives on Early Childhood Education, (pp. 14–32). Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Vecchi, V. (2010). Art and creativity in Reggio Emilia: exploring the role and potential of ateliers in early childhood education. New York: Routledge.

Citing Sources – How to Create Literature References. http:ju.se/library/search--write/citingsources---how-to-create-literature-references.html

Information Material about Anti-Plagiarism at Universities. The Interactive Anti-Plagiarism
Guide – Jönköping University. http:pingpong.ju.se/public/courseId/10565/publicPage.do