Viewpoints of preschool teachers and preschool assistants: Emphases and work division in preschool practice

Abstract

Roughly 96% of Icelandic children between the ages of two and five attend preschool, and approximately 28% of them are two years old (Statistics Iceland, 2013). Despite the law that stipulates that educated preschool teachers should account for at least twothirds of the staff that handle the care and education of children in each preschool (Laws on Education and Appointment of Teachers and Principals in Preschool, Elementary School and Secondary School nr. 87/2008), only 38% of the preschool staff had received preschool teacher education in the year 2011.

The aim of this study is to examine the views, roles, and pedagogy of preschool teachers and preschool assistants in Iceland. This is a part of a collaborative study between the University of Iceland, the University of Volda and the University of Oslo. Research that compares the work of preschool teachers and assistants is rare, and the present study is the first of its kind in Iceland. In order to ensure the quality education of preschool children, it is important to gain insight into how those working in preschools view their own work. This research examined the ways in which preschool teachers and preschool assistants described their daily work and emphases. This article seeks to answer the following questions: 1. Is there a difference in how preschool teachers and preschool assistants describe what they emphasize in their work with preschool children? 2. Is there a difference in how preschool teachers and preschool assistants describe their daily work with preschool children? Data were gathered through a questionnaire sent to all preschools in Iceland during the 2011–2012 school year. Two questionnaires were used, one for the preschool teachers and another for the assistants. Staff without preschool teacher education were categorized as assistants. The questionnaires that were translated from Norwegian had the same questions, aside from those relating to background information. The questions were ranked on the Likert scale including 5–7 values. The answers of the preschool teachers and assistants were compared. The findings indicate a vague division of labour between the two groups, which suggests that the specialized knowledge of preschool teachers faces considerable difficulties, as has been corroborated in other Nordic research (Aasen, 2000; Arna H. Jónsdóttir, 2012; Grimsæth, Nordvik and Bergsvik, 2008; Haug, 2010; Lövgren, 2012; Olsen, 2011). Both preschool teachers and preschool assistants emphasized play, caregiving, movement, social development, and the active participation of all children. However, the preschool teachers indicated to a greater extent that they emphasized learning, specifically those learning areas presented in the National Curriculum Guidelines (Mennta og menningarráðuneytið, 2012). Mathematical concepts and nature and science, among other areas, fall under the field sustainability and science. More preschool teachers than assistants claimed to emphasize these areas. Preschool teachers also placed more stress upon aspects categorized as culture and arts. They indicated more frequently that they supervised arts, music and creative expression and generally emphasized culture and arts to a higher degree than the assistants. Concerning literacy and communication, the preschool teachers also reported teaching the children about numbers and letters and read for them on a more frequent basis than the assistant teachers did. There was also a noticeable difference between the groups in relation to the supervision of circletime or groupactivities, which the preschool teachers attended to more frequently. The main difference between the groups, however, was that preschool teachers were more responsible for cooperating with parents and working with children with special needs. The preschool national curriculum (Mennta og menningarráðuneytið, 2012) states that preschool teachers should take on a leadership position in guiding and strengthening the role of the preschool by, among other things, becoming exemplary in their work with children and bolstering the professional role of the preschool. The findings of the research pose questions concerning the extent to which preschool teachers are able to fulfil this obligation. Further research is required in order to investigate further the work and division of labour of preschool teachers and assistant teachers. It is important to shed light on how and where the preschool teachers’ specialized knowledge is fruitfully applied and what aspects prevent them from utilizing their professional knowledge.