Perceptions of Conditions that Characterize Projects as a Development Strategy: A Phenomenographical Study of Eleven Swedish Preschool Development Projects.
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| Title: | Perceptions of Conditions that Characterize Projects as a Development Strategy: A Phenomenographical Study of Eleven Swedish Preschool Development Projects. |
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| Authors: | Damber, Ulla1 (AUTHOR) Ulla.Damber@miun.se, Randevåg, Lena1 (AUTHOR) Lena.Randevag@miun.se |
| Source: | Early Childhood Education Journal. Oct2025, Vol. 53 Issue 7, p2755-2765. 11p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Preschools, *Phenomenography, *Children's language, *Educational quality, *Literacy, Research & development projects, Leadership |
| Abstract: | The present study focuses joint school and university development work in preschool-projects try to increase educational quality. The aim of this study was to explore perceived conditions and perceptions of projects among participants in development projects in eleven preschools. In addition, we were interested in the perceived outcomes of the projects. All projects were aimed at strengthening the preschool principal's and staff's competence regarding children's language and emergent literacy development. The studied projects lasted up to three years. The results are based on phenomenographical analyses of thirteen focus group interviews with principals and staff, including eighty-eight participants, during the project period. Follow-up interviews were conducted with twenty-four representatives from the participating preschools one year after the closure of the projects. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Field notes from visits in the preschools contributed to the empirical material. Our findings indicate that the perceptions of a project, contributed to the understanding of a project as loaded with expectations that the development project is limited in time and that it will add extra-curricular work demanding extra resources, which led to the perception that when the project is over, development work is over. The word project, thus, per se functioned as a limiting factor, if on-going development work, was aimed for. Lack of anchoring the development work in the local context was perceived as problematic, with effects for the participants' experience of agency. Furthermore, difficulties in managing large staff turnover during the project was perceived to cause the development work to come to a stand-still. Active leadership, and shared responsibility were perceived as favorable factors for the progress of the development work. Our conclusions encompass participants' perceptions of adjustment to the local context, shared responsibility and seeing development work as exceeding time limits as vital components of successful development work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Early Childhood Education Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 187863986 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Perceptions of Conditions that Characterize Projects as a Development Strategy: A Phenomenographical Study of Eleven Swedish Preschool Development Projects. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Damber%2C+Ulla%22">Damber, Ulla</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> Ulla.Damber@miun.se</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Randevåg%2C+Lena%22">Randevåg, Lena</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> Lena.Randevag@miun.se</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Early+Childhood+Education+Journal%22">Early Childhood Education Journal</searchLink>. Oct2025, Vol. 53 Issue 7, p2755-2765. 11p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Preschools%22">Preschools</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Phenomenography%22">Phenomenography</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children's+language%22">Children's language</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+quality%22">Educational quality</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Literacy%22">Literacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+%26+development+projects%22">Research & development projects</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Leadership%22">Leadership</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The present study focuses joint school and university development work in preschool-projects try to increase educational quality. The aim of this study was to explore perceived conditions and perceptions of projects among participants in development projects in eleven preschools. In addition, we were interested in the perceived outcomes of the projects. All projects were aimed at strengthening the preschool principal's and staff's competence regarding children's language and emergent literacy development. The studied projects lasted up to three years. The results are based on phenomenographical analyses of thirteen focus group interviews with principals and staff, including eighty-eight participants, during the project period. Follow-up interviews were conducted with twenty-four representatives from the participating preschools one year after the closure of the projects. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Field notes from visits in the preschools contributed to the empirical material. Our findings indicate that the perceptions of a project, contributed to the understanding of a project as loaded with expectations that the development project is limited in time and that it will add extra-curricular work demanding extra resources, which led to the perception that when the project is over, development work is over. The word project, thus, per se functioned as a limiting factor, if on-going development work, was aimed for. Lack of anchoring the development work in the local context was perceived as problematic, with effects for the participants' experience of agency. Furthermore, difficulties in managing large staff turnover during the project was perceived to cause the development work to come to a stand-still. Active leadership, and shared responsibility were perceived as favorable factors for the progress of the development work. Our conclusions encompass participants' perceptions of adjustment to the local context, shared responsibility and seeing development work as exceeding time limits as vital components of successful development work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Early Childhood Education Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s10643-024-01776-9 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 11 StartPage: 2755 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Preschools Type: general – SubjectFull: Phenomenography Type: general – SubjectFull: Children's language Type: general – SubjectFull: Educational quality Type: general – SubjectFull: Literacy Type: general – SubjectFull: Research & development projects Type: general – SubjectFull: Leadership Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Perceptions of Conditions that Characterize Projects as a Development Strategy: A Phenomenographical Study of Eleven Swedish Preschool Development Projects. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Damber, Ulla – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Randevåg, Lena IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 10 Text: Oct2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 10823301 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 53 – Type: issue Value: 7 Titles: – TitleFull: Early Childhood Education Journal Type: main |
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