Avdelningsövergångar i förskolan : En studie av förskollärarnas beskrivningar och dess tolkning ur barnets bästa

Sammanfattning: This paper examines how a group of preschool teachers describe their work with transitions in preschool, between departments, from the best interest of the child. The study uses semi-structured interviews, conventional qualitative content analysis, and the hermeneutic spiral. The selection consists of preschool teachers from various preschools in Sweden working on departments with children aged 1-4 years, 1-3 years, and 1-2 years. The purpose is to demonstrate how preschool teachers within the same preschool can create continuity in children's development and learning from one department to another. Results show that group size and resources sometimes conflict with what teachers perceive as quality and individual children's needs. In the selection process, the most crucial factor was the child's social development and maturity, as well as maintaining friendships. In cases where children needed to move to another department due to logistics, teachers evaluated if the child was "ready." However, it was clear that some children who were not ready still had to move due to the number of children. The study also shows that the preschool teachers had different time frames for transitions and planning. While some had a specific time of the year for transitions, others had them throughout the year. The conditions for transitions varied depending on how the operations were structured. Finally, the study concludes that preschool teachers need more time to plan, prepare, and execute well-planned transition visits to avoid frustration. Overall, this paper highlights how preschool teachers work with transitions, the factors affecting the decision-making process, and the challenges of creating continuity in children's development and learning. Despite practical challenges and limitations, teachers strove to make decisions in the best interest of both the children and the preschool.