Lärares roll och utmaningar i arbetet med barns tidiga skolövergångar

Sammanfattning: In educational settings transitions are significant events in a child’s learning and development. That children encounter new contexts and transitions within and between different types of schooling and pedagogical levels may be seen as a natural part of both life and the educational period. At the same time transitions bring change, adjustment, possibilities, and challenges. The problem area and starting point for this thesis is the change that occurs during times of transition, where the teacher is the central figure in the everyday work. The areas of interest are the two transitions where pre-school, pre-school class, and year 1 of primary school meet, and the question is what role teachers’ work have in children’s transition between these forms of schooling as well as the contributing factors in how the work is shaped.The aim of the thesis is to deepen the understanding of teachers’ didactical work in children’s transition between different forms of schooling. Attention is brought to the obstacles and possibilities presented in teachers’ didactical work in children’s transitions, what factors are of importance to the ability to work with children’s transitions, and in what way teacher’s work with children’s transitions has an impact on children in need of extra adaptions or special support. The theoretical basis for the study is Bronfenbrenners (1979) ecological model and Bronfenbrenner and Morris (1998; 2006) bioecological model. The focus of this thesis is the children’s transformation through the experiences and preconditions that the teachers and school managers have accounted for. The empirical data have been collected through focused group conversations with teachers and interviews with teachers and school managers.The results show that the teachers’ didactical work with children’s transitions is a complex process. The study shows that sharing of information, relationship-creating processes, guidance, and organizational preconditions contribute to the fact that different conditions are created for children in the teachers’ transition work. Teachers are affected by different factors and processes that they need to adhere to which the teachers more or less can affect, creating both obstacles and possibilities in the everyday work with children’s transitions. The factors and processes which have emerged affect the teachers’ work and highlights not only system levels but also the fact that there are connections between different components that affect each other. From an ecological perspective the role of the teachers involves a dynamic process in which the individual, the process and the context interact in various ways. Key words: ecological theory, pre-school, pre-school class, primary school, teacher’s work, transition, transitional activities