Swedish preschool is a preschool for all children and free play is an important educational activity. The question is whether all children are participating (ie, are attending important activities and are engaged when they are there) to a sufficient extent in preschool free play? This study aims to explore children's observed participation based on quantitative observational data and a person-oriented method of analysis. A series of systematic instantaneous observations á 3 seconds (M = 19.50, SD = 8.40) of individual children (n = 453) with a minimum age of 36 months, were carried out continuously for 1-2 full days in 56 preschool units in southeast Sweden. Only observations where the overall activity (activity setting) was free play (indoors and outdoors) were used in the analysis. The summed observations resulted in frequency data for four types of activities; pretend play, associative / cooperative interactions, proximity to a small group incl. teachers, and level of engagement (level of focus or effort in the activity) and were selected as important based on the Swedish preschool context and previous research. Proportions (divided by the individual's total number of observations in free play) of the individual activities were calculated. The four proportion variables were used in a series of cluster analyzes to find distinct and interpretable clusters or patterns of participation where the children in a cluster were highly similar in all variables, and at the same time were very different from children in the other clusters. The clusters were then compared based on child characteristics (age, gender, need for special support, receiving mother tongue support) answered by preschool staff, and preschool unit characteristics (number of children, number of staff, children / staff ratio, number of children with mother tongue support, number of children in need of special support, number resource staff) answered by the preschool director / principal, to see if certain characteristics were more common in some clusters than in others.

The results identified eight distinct and interpretable patterns that could be arranged from higher to lower participation. Most interesting were two clusters of children that indicated low to very low observed participation, and with high and low proximity to a small group of teachers, respectively. The children in the cluster with a very low participation pattern and low proximity to a small group of teachers were more often children with another mother tongue, and more children came from units with more resource staff. It is noteworthy that few of these children were considered to need special support according to the preschool staff. The children also came from different preschool units. Children in the cluster with a low participation pattern and high proximity to a small group of teachers more often came from preschool units where more children had a different mother tongue. No significant difference between the clusters was noted in the number of children in need of special support, although trends could be discerned.

Data was collected with systematic observations with the help of manual-based instrument Child Observation in Preschool (COP), adapted to the Swedish preschool context. The observations consists of many snapshots of individual children across a preschool day, at least. Several aspects of the child's current activity are coded. Individual data is summed across the observations, and proportions of different activities (pretend play, associative/cooperative interactions, proximity to small group with teacher, level of engagement) were calculated. Frequency and proportionate data from the observations are available in the data set, as well as child and preschool unit background information. Show less..

Data contains personal data

Yes

Sensitive personal data

Yes

Type of personal data

Pseudonymised data, indirect identifiers, questions about special support, mother tongue support, health/psychological/behavioral data

Code key exists

Yes

Language

English

Method and outcome

Unit of analysis

Individual

Population

Preschool children in Swedish preschool aged 3-5 years

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling procedure

Non-probability

Data from 453 children from two different projects were used in the study. Different types of convenience sampling were used.

Time period(s) investigated

2014-09-01 – 2014-12-31

2015-09-01 – 2016-06-30

Variables

Number of individuals/objects

453

Data format / data structure

Numeric

Data collection

Data collection 1

Mode of collection: Observation
Description of the mode of collection: observations of preschool children
Time period(s) for data collection: 2014-09 – 2016-06-30
Data collector: School of Education and Communication
Instrument: Child Observation in Preschool (COP) (Data collection guidelines) - based on systematic observations of preschool children, developed in the US, and adapted to Swedish preschool context
Sample size: 453
Number of responses: 3
Source of the data: Events/Interactions, Communications

Data collection 2

Mode of collection: Self-administered questionnaire
Description of the mode of collection: questionnaires to preschool directors/principals
Time period(s) for data collection: 2014-09 – 2015-12
Data collector: School of Education and Communication
Number of responses: 56
Source of the data: Research data

Data collection 3

Mode of collection: Self-administered questionnaire
Description of the mode of collection: questionnaires to preschool teachers
Time period(s) for data collection: 2014-09 – 2016-06-30
Data collector: School of Education and Communication
Number of responses: 45
Source of the data: Research data

Geographic coverage

Geographic spread

Geographic location: Sweden

Geographic description: South-east region of Sweden

Lowest geographic unit

Municipality

Highest geographic unit

Country

Administrative information

Responsible department/unit

The School of Education and Communication

Contributor(s)

Lena Almqvist - Mälardalen University, School of Health, Care, and Social Welfare

Eva Björck - Jönköping University, School of Education and Communication

Mats Granlund - Jönköping University, School of Education and Communication

Funding 1

Funding agency: FORTE
Funding agency's reference number: 2013-00163

Funding 2

Funding agency: the National Board of Health and Welfare

Funding 3

Funding agency: Swedish Research Council
Funding agency's reference number: 2016–05555 and 2018 6995

Ethics Review

Linköping - Ref. 2012/199-31

Linköping - Ref. 2014/479-31

Topic and keywords

Research area

Education (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Children (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Compulsory and pre-school education (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Social sciences (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

Psychology (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

Educational sciences (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

General health and well-being (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Psychology (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Keywords

Preschool children, Pre-primary schools, Observation (data collection), Activity, Language, Involvement, Inclusion, Free play, Cluster, Participation, Mother tongue, Special support, Person-oriented

Publications

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Åström, F., Björck-Åkesson, E., Sjöman, M., & Granlund, M. (2020). Everyday environments and activities of children and teachers in Swedish preschools. Early Child Development and Care. Epub ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2020.1754209
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2020.1754209
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-48650

Åström, F., & Almqvist, L. (2022). Patterns of Observed Child Participation and Proximity to a Small Group including Teacher in Swedish Preschool Free Play. Frontiers in Education, section Special Educational Needs.
: not published
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.982837

Granlund, M., Almqvist, L., Gustafsson, P. A., Gustafsson, B. M., Golsäter, M., Prozchowska, M., & Sjöman, M. (2015). Tidig upptäckt - Tidig Insats: slutrapport [Early detection - early intervention: final report]. Retrieved from: http://ju.se/download/18.7d241c5015334a41afbaaf9/1456998747634/TUTI+Rapport+till+Socialstyrelsen.pdf. Jönköping University/CHILD

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Published: 2022-08-25