"PEOPLE INTERPRET THINGS DIFFERENTLY" - PRESCHOOL AND HOME COOPERATION - DIVA
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Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
________________________________________________________________
Thesis Project in Early
Childhood Education research,
Swedish Preschool Education
International Master’s Program,
15 credit, Spring 2021
“People interpret things
differently”
- Preschool and home cooperation
Spring 2021
Author: Ebba Fromell
Supervisor: Susanna Anderstaf
Examiner: Alejandra Sánchez Álvarez
Date of examination: June 9th, 2021
1Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
Abstract
This study focuses on preschool and home cooperation in a Swedish context. Both Swedish and
international reports and research emphasize this subject as an important matter for Early Childhood
Education. However, several factors such as diversity in society and preschool, different people’s
interpretations, and different individual and societal conditions such as resources show that it is a
complex topic to approach. The aim of the thesis is to examine how preschool teachers interpret the
content and the implementations based on the preschool and home section in the newest revision of
the Swedish curriculum (Skolverket, 2018). There are two research questions examined. How do
preschool teachers interpret the content in the parent and home section in the Swedish curriculum?
How do preschool teachers interpret the implementations of the parent and home section in the
Swedish curriculum? Preschool and home cooperation is examined through semi-structured
interviews with preschool teachers. The theoretical framework for this thesis is curriculum theory and
the collected data is interpreted through thematic analysis. The results show that the preschool
teachers found the topic important for a well working practice despite it not being a prioritised matter
to discuss on a regular basis. Different factors such as consensus in the work team, diversity in the
parent groups build up a complex system with several factors that need to work to create good
relationships and cooperation with all families. The discussion addresses how the curriculum
theoretical aspects of formulation, norms and values impact the preschool teacher’s interpretation and
implementations concerning preschool and home cooperation based on the preschool and home
section of the curriculum.
Key words: Preschool, Parents, Cooperation, Participation, Relationships, Interpretations, Curriculum
2Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
Contents
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4
2. Background .................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.1 Definitions of terms .................................................................................................................................... 6
2.2 Preschool and society ................................................................................................................................. 7
2.2.1 An equivalent preschool with equal opportunities ........................................................................... 7
2.2.2 Swedish preschool history and values ............................................................................................... 8
2.2.3 Swedish preschool system and policy document .............................................................................. 9
2.3 Prior research regarding Preschool and home cooperation ................................................................. 10
2.4 Theoretical framework ............................................................................................................................ 12
3. Research aims and questions .................................................................................................................... 14
3.1 Research aim............................................................................................................................................. 14
3.2 Research questions ................................................................................................................................... 14
4. Materials and Methods .............................................................................................................................. 15
4.1 Qualitative approach................................................................................................................................ 15
4.2 Semi-structured interviews ...................................................................................................................... 15
4.3 Purposive sampling .................................................................................................................................. 16
4.4 The participants........................................................................................................................................ 17
4.5 Thematic analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 18
4.6 Ethical considerations .............................................................................................................................. 19
4.7 Research quality ....................................................................................................................................... 20
5. Results ......................................................................................................................................................... 20
5.1 Theme one: Diversity among parents ..................................................................................................... 21
5.2 Theme two: Parental participation and influence ................................................................................. 22
5.3 Theme three: Trustful relationship ........................................................................................................ 24
5.4 Theme four: Consensus in the work team .............................................................................................. 25
5.5 Theme five: Routines and strategies for implementations .................................................................... 26
6. Discussion ................................................................................................................................................... 28
6.1 Trustful relationships as an interpretation of a curriculum formulation ........................................... 28
6.2 To find consensus we need time to talk about everyone’s interpretations .......................................... 29
6.3 To interpret parental influence and that all themes are interwoven ................................................... 30
6.4 Limitations ..................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
6.5 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................... 31
7. References ................................................................................................................................................... 33
8. Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 36
8.1 Appendix 1: Interview guide for interviewer ......................................................................................... 36
8.2 Appendix 2: Information and consent form........................................................................................... 37
8.3 Appendix 3: Interview guide for participants ........................................................................................ 38
3Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
1. Introduction
Preschool and home cooperation is an important part of Early Childhood Education and Care
(ECEC) and is beneficial within the preschool systems. Reports show that this cooperation
benefits learning outcomes and that it is extra valuable in marginalized and areas with less
resources (OECD, 2017; Person 2015). The Swedish curriculum (Skolverket, 2018)
emphasizes the value of creating an equivalent preschool education throughout Sweden. It
states for example: “The Education Act stipulates that education should be of equivalent
value regardless of where in the country it is provided” (Skolveket, 2018, p.6). The Swedish
curriculum (Skolverket, 2018) is a 22 pages document, divided into two chapters, “The
fundamental values and tasks of preschool”, and “Goals and guidelines” (Skolverket, 2018,
p.3). The chapter “Goals and guidelines” is divided into eight sections, one of them is called
“Preschool and home” (Skolverket, 2018, p.3). Curriculum as a concept can be explained as
a document that shows what demands a society has on education (Lundgren 1979). Preschool
and home cooperation has been visible in the Swedish preschool system throughout its
history. The concept has been on the agenda for 150 years but has transformed from fostering
the parents into a cooperation with them. In the big growth of the preschool provision in the
1970s “Preschool for all” and “Parental participation” were some of the slogans in the public
movement. There have been several commissions appointed by the government throughout
time where different sections of preschool and home cooperation plays an important role
within the preschool practice (Korpi, 2007; Tallberg Broman, 2009; Hammarstöm-
Levenhagen, 2013; Pramling Samuelsson, Sheridan & Williams, 2006; SOU 1972:26; SOU
1997:157).
Despite that, preschool and home cooperation are solely a small part of the ECEC research
field. Studies and debates from different stakeholders such as parents, preschool teachers and
politicians have stated that more research on the topic is required. The research within this
field is lacking several stakeholder perspectives both internationally and in Sweden. It is also
addressed that the most current research concerning the topic focuses on school rather than
preschool. These research gaps make the contribution of further research, such as this thesis,
welcomed (Sandberg & Vuorinen, 2007; Vuorinen, 2020; Hedlin, 2019). Findings in prior
research touches on different aspects. For example, Sandberg and Vuorinen (2007; 2008)
found that politicians and parents saw parents as a resource for education, although the
teachers rather expressed a responsibility to support and teach parents. In their study,
4Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
preschool teachers were open for different types of preschool and home cooperation such as
parental influence over the preschool practice such as care, however they did not want
parents to influence the pedagogy. Also, among the parents, quite few requested influences
regarding pedagogy. Hedlin (2019) highlights that the teachers believe that the relationship
with parents is important for a working practice and teachers also strive to meet the parents’
requests. Some teachers experienced that the number of requests they received concerning the
preschool´s content depended on the socio-economic area, areas with more resources
equalled more parental feedback.
Parent and home cooperation can be explored from different stakeholders’ perspectives. In
this thesis preschool teachers are the focus of the study. The aim of this thesis is to examine
preschool teachers’ interpretations of the preschool and home section in the current Swedish
preschool curriculum (Skolverket, 2018). Since the curriculum plays a central part in
preschool teachers´ work, their perspective on the matter is relevant. The theoretical
framework for the thesis is curriculum theory. This theory is used as a guide, which
permeates through the different parts of the thesis. The collected data is interpreted through
thematic analysis and the results were organised into five themes: “Diversity among parents”,
“Parental participation and influence”, “Trustful relationships”, “Consensus in the work
team” and “Routines and strategies for implementation”. The variety of themes are threads
that together create a weave of a complex and multifaceted topic and I believe that is what
makes this topic interesting to investigate. As a preschool teacher myself, I have experienced
that preschool and home cooperation is vital for everyone’s well-being, including the staff,
the parents, and the children. I have had different conditions working towards the curriculum
guidelines about preschool and home cooperation, due to preschools different resources, such
as money, education among staff or parents’ knowledge regarding preschool. The discussion
chapter of this thesis discusses aspects highlighted in this chapter such as the results in
relation to the background and the theoretical framework, it also proposes new questions for
further research.
2. Background
This section aims to contribute with an understanding for preschool and home cooperation. It
will highlight some central terms for this thesis and give a summary of previous research in
relation to the topic. The section also introduces the Swedish preschool context in relation to
preschool and home cooperation and presents the theoretical framework.
5Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
2.1 Definitions of terms
Some recurring central terms for this thesis are briefly described to highlight how these words
are interpreted in this thesis.
Cooperation:
Is described as the process of working together with someone to achieve something or to be
helpful when someone ask for assist or help with something (Cambridge Dictionary, 2021).
Influence:
Can be explained as a person being able to have an impact over something or someone.
Therefore, something or someone could change a development, behaviour or an event based
on a person’s wishes or requirements (Cambridge Dictionary, 2021). In the Swedish
curriculum (Skolverket, 2018), under the “preschool and home” section they mention
parental influence as part of a guideline. However, since the curriculum is written is rather
broad goals is does not give specific details on what that would mean for the preschool
practice. However, it is part of what the teachers are discussing or interpreting both in this
study and in previous research.
Interpretation:
Can be a way to understand, think or describe the meaning of something. For example, it
could be a text, a regulation, music, a concept, or a situation. However, the meaning could be
understood differently for different people and therefore have several ways of thinking or
describing something (Cambridge Dictionary, 2021). In this thesis, it is relevant both
concerning that the participants are making interpretations but also that I make interpretations
of other literature and of the collected data.
Implementation:
Can be described as a concept that concerns how something is accomplished. For example,
when policies, strategies, plans are put into practice or are actively executed (Cambridge
Dictionary, 2021).
Relationship:
Some ways of describing relationships concerns how people act or feel towards each other. It
also includes the connection between two matters. Relationship can for example include work
related actions or connections (Cambridge Dictionary, 2021). In this thesis context that can
6Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
mean the relationships between parents, between staff or between parents and preschool staff,
concerning how they act or feel towards each other and the connections between those
different roles.
2.2 Preschool and society
2.2.1 An equivalent preschool with equal opportunities
Equivalents is a concept concerning having an equal amount of something (Cambridge
Dictionary, 2021). For this thesis that could for example be equal opportunities for all
preschools to work with the curriculum guidelines for preschool and home cooperation. The
Swedish curriculum (Skolverket, 2018) means that equivalents between preschools are
important for equal educational opportunities and therefore, resources should not be divided
equally, it should be decided by needs. The ministry of education (September, 2020) argues
that one way to work towards an equivalent education is to give extra resources such as
money or further education to schools that operate in socio-economic areas with less
resources. The curriculum says: “The Education Act stipulates that education should be of
equivalent value regardless of where in the country it is provided” (Skolverket, 2018 p.6).
The OECD (2017) collects data from approximately 35 member countries among them
Sweden, and investigate the quality concerning early childhood education. The OECD
emphasize that cooperation between early childhood education and home is essential for the
preschool system and especially important to include marginalized families in areas with less
resources. The OECD also argue that member countries can struggle with preschool and
home cooperation and argue that when parents have limited time and low interest cooperation
can be hard to achieve. Also, Person (2015) addresses that cooperation could be extra vital
for marginalized groups and socio-economic areas with less resources. Preschool arguably
concerns more than just the preschool practice; it is also a part of society and of the area it
operates in. In the Swedish preschool system, there is an emphasis on creating an equivalent
preschool education. Therefore, The Ministry of Education (September, 2020) defines that
extra resources needs to be provided to areas with less resources to create more equal
opportunities, such as measurements to strengthen the Swedish language communication.
Person (2015) argues that parents, mostly mother’s, education level influences children’s
learning. Parental cooperation and influence seem to have a positive effect on children’s
learning. Therefore, one way for the preschool provision to work towards an equivalent
education is through preschool and home cooperation.
7Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
2.2.2 Swedish preschool history and values
The Nordic perspective could be seen as influenced by democratic values though different
aspects, for example through the lens of women and children’s rights. Parent participation is a
significant factor for the Nordic countries ECEC and is in modern time an ideal model within
in the Nordic context (Karila 2012). Preschool and home cooperation is, both in Sweden and
internationally, represented and highlighted in policy documents (Tallberg Broman, 2009;
Korpi, 2007; Pramling Samuelsson, Sheridan & Williams, 2006). For the last 150 years
parental participation within ECEC have been visible in Swedish policy documents.
However, the perspective of preschool staff teaching parents, has grown preschool and home
cooperation (Pramling Samuelsson, Sheridan & Williams, 2006).
In a government appointed commission from year 1772 there is a chapter regarding preschool
and home cooperation. It promotes good relationships between preschool and home to
understand each other’s roles and perspectives. It highlights that cooperation is important for
the preschool to be able to build trustful relationships and, that it is essential to continuously,
through different types of gatherings, to build on the foundation that is created already at the
child’s introduction (SOU 1972:26). In the 1970s there was a large movement for the growth
of Swedish preschool. Among the different slogans about the growth of preschool education,
there were statements regarding parental participation (Hammarström-Levenhagen, 2013). In
the commission conducted in 1997, to investigate the preschool system before creating the
first preschool curriculum, the strive for a strong preschool and home cooperation and
parental influence is emphasized. It declares that cooperation includes all contact reaching
from introduction and development talks to daily chats. It stated that parents should be
included in creating goals for their child and that the cooperation also is a democratic value.
Therefore, preschools and municipalities should strive to strengthen parental influence (SOU
1997:157). The first Swedish curriculum was then launched in 1998 (Korpi, 2007).
However, Tallberg Broman (2009) argues that there has been a change in discourse regarding
preschool and home cooperation. That the perspective has changed from being a core
democratic value into a strategy to improve learning results. Person (2015) mainly argues
preschool and home cooperation from a learning point of view. Sandberg and Vuorinen
(2007) argues that politicians and parents thought that preschool and home cooperation was
particularly important regarding the preschools work with norms and values, and for that,
parents should be seen as a resource.
8Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
2.2.3 Swedish preschool system and policy document
The newest revision of the Swedish curriculum (Skolverket, 2018) is a 22 pages document,
divided into two chapters, “The fundamental values and tasks of preschool”, and “Goals and
guidelines” (Skolverket, 2018, p.3). The chapter, “Goals and guidelines” is divided into
eight sections, one of them is called “Preschool and home” (Skolverket, 2018, p.3). The
preschool and home section from this curriculum is a core policy document in this thesis and
in the study that has been conducted. It is the base for the interview guide and for the research
questions. The section contains six guidelines together with one initial sentence (Skolverket,
2018). Because it is such a central document for this thesis the whole section is presented
below.
”2.4 PRESCHOOL AND HOME
In order to create the best possible conditions for children to be able to achieve rich, versatile
development, the preschool should cooperate in a close and trusting way with the home.
Guidelines
Preschool teachers are responsible for
• the content, design and implementation of the development dialogue being consistent with the
national goals, and
• guardians being given the opportunity to participate in the evaluation of the education.
The work team should
• assume responsibility for developing a trusting relationship between the preschool and the
home,
• be clear about the goals and content of the education in order to create the conditions for the
opportunities of children and guardians to have an influence,
• maintain an ongoing dialogue with children’s guardians about the child’s wellbeing,
development and learning, and hold development dialogues, and
• keep informed about children’s personal circumstances with respect for children’s integrity.”
(Skolverket, 2018, p.18)
In the curriculum section “Preschool and home”, they have divided the responsibility
between “Preschool teachers”, and “The work team” (Skolverket, 2018). Korpi (2007)
explains that Sweden decided to organise their preschool staff in work teams already in the
late 1960s. Form the beginning it was agued from a democratic value to run the organisation
in teams, and it has stayed as an organisational mode since. The OECD (2006) explains that
there are different categories of staff working within preschool, and in Sweden it is mainly
divided between preschool teachers with a three-and-a-half-year university degree, and child
assistants with a two-year non-university degree. In this thesis I will refer to the terminology
9Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
used in the preschool and home section in the curriculum. The term work team will be
referred to when it regards a set of staff that works together. The term preschool teachers will
be used when it is referred to only preschool teachers and to preschool staff when it regards
all staff in the preschool. In other words, everyone that is included in the work team. Since
the curriculum (Skolverket, 2018) also refers to the points in the “preschool and home”
section as guidelines they will be referred to as guidelines throughout the thesis.
2.3 Prior research regarding Preschool and home cooperation
The preschool staff is arguably a very important factor for parents to be satisfied with the
preschool education provided and to feel safe and trusting. Therefore, relationships between
staff and parents are essential for a successful cooperation. However, in evaluation forms or
other documents where the parents are asked to answer questions regarding the preschool
content it can be difficult way to measure preschool and home cooperation. Preschool
pedagogy or curriculum goals and guidelines are not parent’s main domain, and they are not
the ones formulating the questions, but it would be of great interest to ask parents about their
view on actual cooperation with preschool (Vuorinen 2020). Sandberg and Vuorinen (2008)
performed a study regarding preschool and home cooperation. Their aim was to study
perspectives from both preschool teachers and parents regarding views of current and future
cooperation. This was completed through interviews and focus groups and they had 58
participants. One of their findings referred to parental influence. The parents showed a large
variety of responses. Some wanted influence over solely the bigger changes such as changing
department and some parents for everything concerning their own child. Quite few expressed
a will to influence the pedagogy or the educational goals.
Interviews with parents in Iceland have indicated negotiation of roles and power, between
both them and the staff and between parents, which creates different situations regarding
preschool and home relationships. However, the participants represented diverse situations
and backgrounds and therefore expressed differences in their opportunities to express
themselves. The findings indicated that it was easier for the parents to cooperate with
educated staff compared to non-educated staff (Einarsdottir & Jonsdottir, 2019). Löfdahl
(2014) addresses the topic of documentation sharing with parents as a tool for cooperation.
Löfdahl means that documentation strengthens parents’ information regarding the preschool
practice but only serves as a one-way communication, which does not invite parental
influence. Furthermore, the parents must trust that relevant perspectives are put into the
documentation. An Australian study (Reynolds & Duff, 2016) discussed pedagogical
10Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
documentation to build bridges between preschool and home. The families that participated
in this study emphasized that this created opportunities to talk to their children regarding
preschool activities and that their children were proud to show their parents the
documentation.
Relationships with parents are key for a successful preschool practice (Hedlin, 2019;
Vuorinen 2020). Sandberg and Vuorinen (2007; 2008) have showed that preschool teachers
are open for some parental influence, where it was considered essential for bigger changes,
for example moving the child to a new department. However, in general they did not want the
parents to have influence regarding pedagogy, finances, or staff organisation. Preschool
teachers also indicated a feeling of responsibility to support and teach parents rather than sole
cooperate with them. Another Swedish study (Hedlin, 2019) indicated that preschool teachers
felt like the parents only saw their own child and were unable to see a group perspective.
However, there was also a strive to meet parental demands, although the teachers expressed
that it is not always easy or possible to achieve.
Hedlin (2019) examined preschool teachers’ views regarding preschool and home
cooperation. A theme that emerged indicated that the relationship between preschool and
home has changed over time to a more professional one, they use to treat each other more as
friends and therefore would share private matters with the parents. Another theme regarded
feedback the preschool teachers received from the parents. Some teachers experienced that
the number of comments they received as feedback from parents, that concerns the preschool
practice depended on the socio-economic area the preschool was located in. In areas with
more resources the parents had the tendences to give more feedback. Einarsdottir and
Jonsdottir (2019) discusses that preschool staff need to find ways to cooperate with a diverse
group of parents with different needs. Hedlin (2019) described that the preschool teachers
sometimes needed the curriculum to lean on in certain discussions with parents, that they had
to show parents content in the curriculum, to create an understanding for why they stood
behind certain values. A study by Cottle and Alexander (2013) contained focus groups and
interviews with 165 participants that was working within early years of education in England.
It also showed that the participants often referred to the social situations of families when
discussing different questions and topics. It could for example be a parents age, relationship
status or socio-economic aspects. The participants were also convinced that parent and home
cooperation mattered for the quality of a practice. A recurring perspective was that trust and
common values were important for these relationships, but not always easy to implement.
11Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
The perspectives regarding cooperation also differed among participants, where the authors
indicated that the staffs’ interpretations of policy documentation affected how they viewed
their professional role.
2.4 Theoretical framework
In this study curriculum theory is the theoretical framework and this perspective permeates
the different chapters presented. For example, it is used as an indicator for the research
questions and the interpretations of data. It also enriches the interpretation of the data analysis
and the depth of the discussion. The curriculum theory is present throughout the thesis and
builds part of its theoretical foundation.
Curriculum theory is a way to understand and make curricula (Lundgen, 1979; Pinar, 2012).
However, it is considered a research perspective rather than one single theory. A curriculum
can be explained as a document that shows what demands a society has on education, and
curriculum theory, as a research perspective that focuses on why and how that is (Lundgren,
1979). Curriculum theory also creates the possibility to do analyses in curricula that can
make certain norms and values visible such as tendences for neglections of minorities and,
can therefore be a helpful process for curriculum revisions (Pugach, Blanton, Michelson &
Boverda, 2019). Harris & Burn (2011) are investigating consequences in educational
experience due to curricula reforms in the English education system. The authors address the
use of curriculum theory as important when revising curricula or policy documents, if factors
such as historical norms or political values are not analysed, there is a risk of creating
insufficient revisions, that can result in undesirable learning outcomes for the children.
Blackmore, Hawkins, Holmes, and Wakeford (2011) describe the concept of values as a set
of guidelines on an individual and a societal scale. Values are explained as an important
ingredient to understand for creating a healthy democratic society. These values impact
different levels through both attitudes and behaviours such as political views, what to eat, the
approach towards other people or attitudes, regarding for example racism and human rights.
Cambridge Dictionary (2021) describe the concept of norms as a consensus about how to act
in a certain situation. Norm are created by society if there is a general approval about how it
is appropriate to act in a certain situation, such as behaviours in social settings. In the
Swedish preschool curriculum (Skolverket, 2018) there is an extensive part of values, and
aspects of norms. Under the section “Norms and values” it is stated, “The preschool should
actively and consciously influence and stimulate children into eventually embracing the
12Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
common values of our society and let them find expression in practical, everyday action in
various contexts” (Skolverket p.13). Considering how open for interpretation and broad the
statements are in the Swedish curriculum (Skolverket, 2018) one could argue that the
curriculum is a form of living document since it requires preschool teachers’ interpretation.
Lundgren (1979) explained that main aspects within curriculum theory are investigating how
policy documents are formulated combined with how the education is experienced. However,
a key factor to investigate the relations between how curriculum is formulated and how the
education is experienced is to examine how the norms and values in a society affect the
process between formulation and education experience. The way a society interprets norms
and values affects the formulation of the curriculum. The implementation practices are
equally affected by the norms and values that are currently deemed as important by the
society when the curriculum is written. In other words, the interpretations of curriculum
formulations transform in relation to how the reader interprets it. Curriculum theory has been
conducted in different versions and contexts depending on the version and on the researcher.
However, it can contribute with ways to approach and understand how a particular culture
and society creates goals and content. In other words, curriculum theory can be based on the
collaboration between policy formulation, interpretations, and the implementation in practice,
that all are affected by society.
Based on Lundgren’s (1979) explanation about curriculum theory, I made an interpretation of
the research context. To clarify how this interpretation is understood and used for analysis, I
elaborated a model (see model 1) to visualize curriculum theory as a research perspective to
be referred in this thesis.
13Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
This model, Model, 1, is proposed by me; however, it is an interpretation of Lundgren’s
(1979) explanation of what curriculum theory can be. Although, the author emphasizes that
curriculum theory is a research perspective that can be used in different ways. The
springboard for this model is the Swedish preschool curriculum, which is influenced,
interpreted, and formulated by societal aspects, such as norms and values (Skolverket, 2018).
The curriculum is then locally transformed and interpreted in preschool, based on different
aspects, such as competence, norms, and values. Again, the Swedish preschool curriculum
(Skolverket, 2018) is quite short and build on broad goals, guidelines and statements that
leaves a lot open for interpretation, for example, “The work team should assume
responsibility for developing a trusting relationship between the preschool and the home”
(Skolverket, 2018). How it is interpreted will lead to how the implementations of these
curriculum formulations are practiced. Additionally, everyone who is a part of preschool is
also a part of shaping norms and values in the society they are ap art of. All these parts of the
Model.1 affects each other.
3. Research aims and questions
3.1 Research aim
This thesis focuses on preschool and home cooperation. The aim of the thesis is to examine
how preschool teachers interpret content and implementation based on the preschool and
home section in the Swedish curriculum (Skolverket, 2018). This study is to be seen as
complementary to previous research within this field by referring to preschool teachers’
perspectives about preschool and home cooperation.
3.2 Research questions
How do preschool teachers interpret the content in the parent and home section in the
Swedish curriculum?
How do preschool teachers interpret the implementations of the parent and home section in
the Swedish curriculum?
14Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
4. Materials and Methods
This thesis is a qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with
preschool teachers to learn their interpretations regarding the preschool and home section in
the curriculum. The data is interpreted through thematic analysis.
4.1 Qualitative approach
Bryman (2012) clarifies that qualitative and quantitative research are the main research
strategies. In general, qualitative research focuses on words and meaning while quantitative
research focuses on numbers and statistics. To conduct this study a qualitative research
approach has been chosen. Focus lies on preschool teachers’ interpretations regarding the
preschool and home section in the curriculum. Qualitative research often has an inductive
approach to the relationship between theory and research results, which can be described as
drawing general conclusions based on a specific set of results. The epistemology in
qualitative research is overall viewed as interpretative (Bryman, 2012).
4.2 Semi-structured interviews
In this study semi-structured interviews have been conducted. According to Bryman (2012)
semi-structured is described as a qualitative interview form, sometimes called in-depth
interviews. It focuses on the participants interpretations compared to the more measurable
approach in structured interviews, often used in quantitative research. Qualitative
interviewers mostly desire longer answers from the participant and the structure of the
interview can be flexible. Semi-structured interviews often have an interview guide with
broad questions and a general structure but with a flexibility to add questions and allow for
open responses from the participant. In this study, a semi-structured approach allows for a set
of structured questions combined with the possibility to ask follow-up questions based on the
responses provided. Because of the specific research aims and questions in this study
combined with the broad curriculum guidelines (skolverket, 2018) and ways to interpret them
this approach was deemed well suited. An interview guide was created (see appendix 1). The
preschool and home cooperation curriculum section were the basis for the interview guide.
Also, I consider the research aims and questions to formulate three open-ended questions,
(see result section). As noted, the curriculum document states broad guidelines (skolverket,
2018) and the research questions aimed to learn the teachers’ interpretations.
15Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
The interviews were conducted on Zoom, which beneficially gave more geographical
freedom in the sampling. Other advantages of digital interviews include increasing
anonymity, since the location of the authors university does not give indications of the
participants whereabouts, and freedom for participants to choose their location for the
interviews. The interviews were conducted in Swedish, because Swedish was the first
language of both the teachers participating and the interviewer (me). Also, Swedish was the
language the participants were most comfortable addressing the preschool teacher profession
in. Every Zoom meeting started with a general conversation between ten and twenty minutes
for everyone to get settled in before the interview begun. It was clearly stated when the
recoding started. The written consent was read aloud, and the participants provided their
consent to respond orally. The interviews were roughly one hour, in addition to the initial
conversations.
4.3 Purposive sampling
Bryman (2012) describe purposive sampling as a common sampling strategy for qualitative
interviews. The participants are selected because they suited with the research questions.
Also, the researcher conducting the study often looks for variety in experiences to generate a
variating result. A type of purposive sampling is snowball sampling, which entails reaching
out to a small group and letting those connections lead to other people. For this study it was
decided to conduct four semi-structured interviews. The responses collected data from four
participants was considered as enough data for a rich inductive research and in accordance
with the time limitation for the completion of this study. Bryman (2012) argues that it is
difficult to know what a good number of interviews are. It depends on the size of sampling
you might need to create a result from your research question. The length and depth of the
interviews can also affect how many interviews are needed. Qualitative approach often
results in a large portion of collected data and here the concept of theoretical saturation can
be taken into account. Bryman (2012) argues that different researchers explain saturation
differently and it is therefore a concept which can be hard to define. Sandelowski (1995)
addresses that a set of data can be too small to reach theoretical saturation or too large to do a
proper analysis. In the end, to achieve saturation a balance needs to occur between the quality
of data collection and other parts of the method. The number of participants in qualitative
research is important; however, it needs to be decided in relation to other factors in the
research process such as data collection method.
16Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
When looking for the participants for this thesis, preschool teachers that could contribute with
diverse experiences were sought after to obtain a rich data. Therefore, I reached out to a few
people in the field who might fit these criteria asking if they were interested, or to see if they
could refer me to other potential suitable participants. These diverse experiences could for
example include number of years in the field, socio-economic areas they practiced in or if
they worked privately or publicly. Previous research (Hedlin, 2019; Vuorinen, 2020) shows
that participants experiences impact the collected data. For example, Hedlin (2019) indicates
that preschool teachers’ experiences regarding cooperation varied depending on socio-
economic area. Vuorinen (2020) discusses that newly examined preschool teachers show
more insecurity regarding the cooperation with parents.
4.4 The participants
Robyn is 54 years old, has worked as a preschool teacher for over 30 years and has taught in
the current workplace for approximately 20 years. Robyn is a mentor for new preschool
teachers in the municipality and a supervisor for students. Robyn works in a small public
preschool in a suburb with single-family houses to a smaller municipality where the
preschool is part of the community. The preschool is described as traditional with modern
perspectives added, for example concepts from Reggio Emilia. Robyn emphasized on trustful
relationships, experience, and routines, combined with a curiosity regarding the children’s
home life.
Eli is 41 years old, been a preschool teacher for four years and been in the same practice
since. They work in a preschool three days a week and is teaching at a university for the other
two. Eli works in the outskirts of a large town in Sweden, in an area with mainly older rentals
apartment. The area has many different languages, and it is culturally diverse. The preschool
is public and described as large, modern, and progressive, inspired by Reggio Emilia
philosophy. Eli has worked in creating a common language with all families and to build
bridges between preschool and the home environment.
Elliot is 26 years old, been a preschool teacher for three years and worked in a couple of
preschools. Elliot has been in the current workplace for one year, which is a public middle
size preschool newly built with modern features. The preschool is in a suburb to a middle size
town and in an area of mostly single-family houses. Elliot has worked in different towns and
different socio-economic areas which has generated a diverse experience. From my view,
17Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
Elliot uses routines to handling different types of parental requests was important to build an
equal relationship to all parents.
Alex is 41 years old, works in a private Reggio Emilia inspired preschool since 2008, after
graduating as a preschool teacher in 2007. Alex is also supervising preschool teacher
students. The preschool is in the centre of a middle size town. The parents actively apply for
this specific preschool and many parents work in different locations in the centre nearby or
live in the area. My impression from Alex was a desire for a working organisation that
creates different opportunities to meet the parents and create possibilities for everyone to be
able to share information and experiences.
4.5 Thematic analysis
The interpretations of the teachers’ responses were based on Braun and Clarkes (2006) six
steps to conduct thematic analysis. The first step is to transcribe and get to know the data.
The second step is to look for initial codes with content, words or segments that could be of
interest. Step three is to search for themes in the codes. In the fourth step, the themes will be
revisited and revised again to polish and select the final ones. The fifth step is going over the
final themes, giving them a final name and polish them more. The last and sixth step is to
write the themes into the results. A few researchers describe thematic analysis as a flexible,
core method used for analysis (Bryman, 2012; Braun and Clarke, 2006). However, thematic
analysis is not always clarified as a procedure (Bryman, 2012).
The analysis in this study started with listening through the interviews followed by
transcribing them. Initial transcription generated a rough draft. This rough draft was
proofread before going over all the material again while proof reading at the same time. Since
the interviews were conducted in Swedish they were also transcribed in Swedish. When all
four interviews were transcribed, they were printed, and the final text was skimmed through.
Phase two was divided into two parts. Initially the data was divided into two categories based
on what research question the piece of text was deemed to belong to. Text related to research
question one was highlighted in green and text related to question two in orange. This step
was followed by reading through the data section by section looking for codes. Key terms and
concepts were written down on the side of the text for each section.
To make these codes, terms and concepts into themes, each segment was written down on
post-its. Each interview had one colour of post-its. All of them were laid out on a table sorted
18Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
by colour. The process proceeded by finding patterns in interviews and between interviews
by matching similar codes and segments. When all post-its were used a final set of five
themes emerged containing circa 30 post-its each. In the next step I looked over my themes
again from different angles to refine them. I reviewed if I had captured significant aspects
from all interviews and browsed each colours content. When I laid out the research aims and
questions on the table and made reflection over connections between the themes and the aim
of this thesis. Finally, I looked at the themes based on Lundgren (1979) who indicated the
curriculum theory concepts formulated, interpreted, and implemented. I made notes of the
three terms and laid them out in different themes. I wanted to see that I could see the
connections and how all themes were interwoven both with the other themes and with the
concepts from curriculum theory. When this step was done, I still had the same themes,
however some codes had been moved and that slightly changed the angle of a couple of
themes. I looked at the final themes and refined how they were titled. Finally, the themes
were written into the result chapter of this thesis under the names “Diversity among parents”,
“Parental participation and influence”, “Trustful relationships”, “Consensus in the work
team” and “Routines and strategies for implementations”. The result section in this thesis
focuses on content of the participants through the themes that was found in the interpretation
of the collected data, and my analysis are visible in the discussion.
4.6 Ethical considerations
In this thesis a few ethical aspects influence the choices made, mainly concerning the
participants. I sent out information via e-mail before the interviews were conducted (see
appendix 2). The e-mail contained information regarding the aim of the thesis and the
participants rights. For example, they were informed that their participation is voluntary and
can be terminated. It was clarified what they consented to, and this consent was to be given. I
informed the participants where and for how long information would be stored and
mentioned that the data would only be used for this study. To be transparent regarding the
interview they were agreeing to participate in they were also sent an interview guide
containing the main questions and the parent and home section of the curriculum (see
appendix 3). The participants have been anonymised throughout the thesis regarding name,
workplace, area of residency and gender. That means that the participant has been given other
gender natural names for this study and the pronounce used for the participants are they.
Their engagement in this study is crucial for this thesis to be conducted. According to the
19Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
Swedish research council (2017) good research ethics relies on different societal norms and
values that in different ways should permeate the different parts in the conducted research.
ALLEA (2017) which stands for All European Academies points out respect and honesty as
two of the key principles for conducting ethical research. The word honesty includes concepts
such as being fair and transparent. Fair treatment of research participants is an important
factor of respect.
4.7 Research quality
This study is not generalizable. Bryman (2012) emphasizes that purposive sampling and
small amounts of participants do not make a study generalizable. The concept trustworthiness
is referred to as being more accurate. Within trustworthiness the concepts of dependability,
credibility, and confirmability reside. I have taken credibility into account when I have made
my ethical considerations. Also, I decided to consider the dependability and transparency
carefully by sending the transcripts to the participants. It gave the participants a chance to
confirm that my interpretation is according to their statements. The material that is included
in the “results” section was translated from Swedish to English. A language bias can generate
a small difference in meaning. It is important to highlight that me translating the material
adds an interpretation aspect, which can also impact the results. Although, Bryman (2012)
explains that no social research can be objective.
5. Results
As previously noted, the aim of the thesis is to examine how preschool teachers interpret
preschool and home cooperation based on the preschool and home section in the Swedish
preschool curriculum (Skolverket, 2018). The research questions concerned how preschool
teachers interpret the content in the parent and home section in the Swedish curriculum, and
how preschool teachers interpret the implementations of the parent and home section in the
Swedish curriculum. The participants were given an interview guide consisting of three main
open-end questions: “Can you describe your impressions when you look at this section of the
curriculum?”, “How do you interpret the content in these guidelines?” and “Can you narrate
experiences you have regarding working with these goals?” The collected data from the
interviews were interpreted through thematic analysis and organized in five themes. The
themes are my interpretation of what the participants indicated as central aspects. The final
themes included: “Theme one: Diversity among parents”, “Theme two: parental participation
20Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
and influence”, “Theme 3: Trustful relationships”, “Theme 4: Consensus in the work team”
and “Theme 5: Routines and strategies for implementation”. The participants Robyn, Eli,
Elliot, and Alex shared different interpretations regarding the formulation, content, and
strategies for implementation in relation to these five themes. The preschool teachers
participating in this study will be referred to as participants.
5.1 Theme one: Diversity among parents
All participants emphasize that parents express different needs in various ways. Elliot
(personal communication, April 2021) addresses that there have been differences in the
groups of parents in the preschools they have worked. In the preschool located in less
resourceful socio-economic area, which had parents speaking different languages and
representing many different cultures, the most common questions from the parents concerned
care. Elliot (personal communication, April 2021) says “Then I question if I could have done
a better job in telling the parents more about what preschool is and what goals we work
towards, but at the same time, I rarely experienced that the parents were unhappy”. Eli
(personal communication, April 2021) also shares some of these experiences working in a
similar area. Overall, parents that Eli met seems to want information regarding practical
matters or concerning the child’s wellbeing. The participant argues that the preschool
teachers can come from a different perspective than the parents where the teacher rather
focuses on child’s learning and development. So, sometimes it would clash between the
parent’s perspective and the teachers’ perspective. “That is something I often reflect over
when I meet parents. Because I realise that they come to me from that perspective. And then I
come to tell them what progress we made..” (Eli, personal communication,April, 2021).
Although Eli mentions that as a parent Eli also takes a different role, when in the role being a
parent, well-being is prioritised while as a professional preschool teacher learning and
development becomes important. Elliot (personal communication, April 2021) explains that
in other preschools they have worked in, parents have focused on evaluation and behaviour.
The parents expressed a desire to know what the child can or cannot do, while Elliot in the
role of a preschool teacher wanted to focus on development. Alex (personal communication,
April 2021) addresses a different aspect where parents were sometimes asking what the
preschool staff thought the parents contribute with at home, based on learning or interest that
the preschool addresses.
21Ebba Fromell, Thesis, 2021
Robyn (personal communication, April 2021) emphasizes that their preschool is a part of the
community, the staff knew many parents from other circumstances and vice versa. That
Robyn saw as a strength for the relationships between preschool and home. Robyn felt that
their group of parents did not do much questioning: “I experience that a lot of parents are
satisfied with what they get and don’t question that much. Sometimes you might feel that they
don’t have the energy, I don’t know, maybe like the time is not there to be more engaged than
they are” (Robyn, personal communication, April 2021). Alex (personal communication,
April 2021) also addresses that some parents have more time than others and that parents’
personalities also come through concerning how expressive they were. Elliot raised that some
parents were easier to talk and connect to than others.
The participants explain that parents came to preschool with varying experiences and
expectations. Therefore, finding consensus regarding what preschool is, was considered
important to establish a common ground. These experiences and expectations should have
been addressed in the introduction. In situations with no common spoken language this could
be an even bigger challenge. To reach different parents they both needed to provide a
variation of meetings, be open for suggestions and have a desire to find consensus with all
parents. “Because we know that people interpret things differently” (Eli, personal
communication, April 2021).
5.2 Theme two: Parental participation and influence
The participants mean that they need to create an understanding with parents regarding how
the preschool operates and inform the parents about the pedagogical content.” I also think
that in might be a lot of these misunderstandings from both parts if the clarity is not there”
(Elliot, personal communication, April 2021). Elliot (personal communication, April 2021)
means that the clearer information and more transparent the preschool is regarding its
practice, the stronger are the possibilities for the parents to be given influence. However,
sharing information with the parents includes a balance between what the staff wants to
express and what the parents want to hear. Alex (personal communication, April 2021)
emphasizes that creating a common language through discussions increases the parents’
possibilities to influence.
If Eli (personal communication, April 2021) interpret the curriculum formulations parents
should have possibilities for influence, although the topic should be connected to the different
curriculum goals or guidelines. Elliot (personal communication, April 2021) said that the
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