Syftet med den här artikeln är att tolka och förstå förskollärarstudenters reflektioner över sin lärprocess i dans, rörelse och drama i en skapandekurs vid ett svenskt lärosäte. Det empiriska underlaget består av 56 reflektionsuppgifter som analyserades utifrån en lärandeteori. Tolkningen av materialet visar att studenterna har förvärvat både praktiska och teoretiska kunskaper om barns motoriska utveckling och kroppsuppfattning. Dessutom beskriver studenterna en öppnare inställning till dans, rörelse och drama efter genomförd kurs. I resultatet framkommer även att studenterna upplever ett ökat kunnande samtidigt som färdigheterna uppfattas vara otillräckliga. Detta skapar en osäkerhet relaterat till undervisning i estetiska uttrycksformer i förskolan. Studien väcker frågor om kroppsliga lärandeprocesser i förskollärarprogrammet, och hur bristen på färdigheter och förmågor kommer att påverka barns lärande i förskolan.

The aim of this presentation is to develop knowledge about teaching in dance in preschool. What characterise preschool teaching in dance? How can dance education in preschool be understood? Based on the current revisions in the preschool curriculum, physical activity such as dance is important. All children should develop their creative abilities and the ability to express and communicate impressions, thoughts and experiences. Vallberg Roth (2018) points the need to explore how the concept of teaching is used and understood by preschool teachers. Swedish teacher education has been changed with less academic credits in aesthetic subjects (Lindgren & Ericsson, 2013). Previous studies of preschool teachers and students show that they feel insecure in relation to aesthetic subjects e.g. dance and music (Ehrlin, 2014; Lindqvist, 2019). This paper will discuss “teaching” and “didactics” guided by Selander (2017). The aim is to analyse didactics from a broad historical, intellectual and critical understanding of learning. This can help us to understand different theories about education and learning. Within a qualitative research paradigm, the material consists of focus group discussions with preschool teachers in Sweden. Interviews were taped, transcribed and analysed based on a discourse psychological approach. A consent form including information about the project and informants rights was provided to managers and preschool teachers. Written consents were collected from the preschool teachers. Interviews were anonymised. The preschool teachers didactic thinking is central according to high-quality activities. This study provides discussions of teaching quality and competence in dance and bodily learning among preschool teachers.

Att rörelse är viktigt för barn och ungdomar är ingen nyhet. Inte heller det faktum att den fysiska aktivitetsnivån har minskat. En kraftsamling för daglig fysisk aktivitet i skolan, "Samling för daglig rörelse", har initierats av regeringen. Målet är att stimulera till mer rörelse och dans som aktivitet kan spela en roll i det arbetet. Det är dock inte givet att förskolebarn får möta dans som rörelseaktivitet i förskolan. Förskollärares intressen och kunskaper om dans varierar. Andra faktorer handlar om tillgång till rörelserum och prioriteringar i verksamheten. En ytterligare aspekt rör dans och genus. Stereotypa föreställningar om dans kan vara ett hinder för dans som uttryck i förskolan.

The aim of this paper is to analyse future challenges in Swedish preschools according to childrens right to learn in and through the arts (Bamford, 2006). This presentation adress how students and one professional composer describe their process of learning related to arts subjects in preschool. A report from the Swedish Arts Council stresses the need of professional artists in preschool. It is also expected that preschool teachers incorporate national curriculum goals which include areas with focus on arts subjects. Sheridan et al. (2011) describes how Swedish preschool teaching has been changed and shows that different areas needs to be developed. Ehrlin (2014) talks about few academic credits in the aesthetic subjects which implicate the training of future preschool teachers. Illeris (2015) emphasise three qualities in relation to competence development; functionality, sensitivity and sociality of learning and believe that all three dimensions must be included in learning. The study is interpretative, conducted from an experience-near perspective (Dewey, 1934). The data is collected to semi-structured interviews with one professional composer and 55 narrative texts written by preschool students during their second course in aesthetic subjects. All respondents were informed about the study and ethics guidelines. Participation was voluntary. Collected data were anonymised with guarantee of confidentiality. All identifying characteristics in the texts have been changed. The paper will discuss the process of learning as competence development from different approaches in terms of professional knowledge, understanding and skills related to arts subjects. What learning processes and training needs, do the participants describe?

This thesis is a continuation of my licentiate thesis from 2007 “Dansens plats i skolan. Tradition, utveckling och lärande i Skellefteå kommun” [‘The place of dance in schools. Tradition, development and learning and teaching in the Municipality of Skellefteå’]. The overarching aim of the thesis is to interpret and understand dance as a form of expression and phenomenon in schools, which comprises dance teaching, learning in dance, and dance teachers’ attitudes, experiences and ideas. Dance teachers’ experiences and conceptions of dance teaching are at the centre of this thesis. The aim is to interpret and understand dance teachers’ attitude to gender as well as dance as an area of knowledge from dance teachers’ perspective. In the thesis the following will be answered: How do dance teachers describe their experiences and conceptions of gender in the dance teaching of preschools and schools? What is dance teaching in schools from dance teachers’ perspective? The empirical material is principally based on a questionnaire study implemented in the spring of 2008 and answered by 154 dance teachers but also on observations of dance teaching in schools from 2006. The thesis takes a hermeneutic approach. Gender theories and phenomenological theories have been of major importance for the understanding of the result. The thesis deals with central concepts such as ‘gender structures’, ‘masculinities’, ‘relations’, ‘the lived body’, ‘the lifeworld’ and ‘transcendence’. Dance teachers perceive marked differences between girls and boys in three respects. There are fewer boys than girls that are favourably disposed to dance, that clearly try to imitate the dance teacher’s movements and that give full expression to lyrical, peaceful exercises. There is a connection here to dance as a femininely coded subject, homophobic conceptions and the distinction between masculine and feminine movements. As regards wealth of ideas in improvisation exercises, a majority of dance teachers think that there is no difference between boys and girls. Nearly all dance teachers think that they work with the same types of movements for boys and girls, while at the same time they conceive of sex and gender in different ways. This study shows many experiences of dance where gender does not play any role but also that dance in schools may imply a gender-stereotyped attitude. There is also a common view among dance teachers of what dance teaching is. Dance has an existential dimension where the lived body is emphasized. In the thesis the so-called “boy problem” is questioned, since boys’ verbal deprecation is not visible in the dance teaching itself.

In 1977 Skellefteå municipality started their work with dance as art in the primary school. By this time, education in the art of dance was an unusual activity in Swedish schools. Commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Swedish Arts Council begun a development work 20 years ago.  In april 2005 The Swedish National Agency for School Improvement, Swedish Arts Council, NCFF (a national centra for work with health, ÖrebroUniversity) and the Pupil´s organization signed an agreement. The purpose is to support and develop dance education practice in schools.

   The aim of this study is to increase knowledge about the tradition and development in dance delimited to dance education in the compulsory school in Skellefteå municipality. Another aim is to describe and analyze how dance contributes to learning in the school setting.

   Data was collected through interviews mainly with dance teachers and administrators, and through a variety of documentary information, questionnaires and observations. Concerning obser-vations of dance education, ten different classes in primary school were selected.

   The results of the study indicate that dance in school started as a pioneer work, initiated by the dance teacher Eva Dahlgren, thereafter together with her daughter, Cecilia Björklund Dahlgren. Several significant factors were however crucial for the continued work and the establishment of dance in school in Skellefteå municipality. Cooperation between different participants and an evident definition of dance as an intrinsic value, was important for the further development of dance education. Regarding the tradition of dance implemented by Dahlgren, attention was paid to joy and expression. The prime ideas about dance are still represented in the working plan for dance in school in Skellefteå municipality. In conclusion, there have been few organizational changes during the years.

    Regarding learning in dance and dance teachers´ approach, a sociocultural perspective indicates the emphasis on interaction between the teacher and pupils. It also brings into focus the communication with body and movements. From a behavioristic perspective, reinforcement /feed-back is common in teaching dance. In summary the dance teacher is in many different aspects an important model for the pupils. By using metaphorical language, and a playful and imaginative educational situation, pupils´ ideas, thoughts and feelings are stimulated.