Högskolan i Skövde

Study: Degree project in teacher education, Advanced Level 15p

University of Skövde

Title: Using a blog as a tool for pedagogical documentation in interaction between two preschool teachers and parents.

Pages: 39

Authors: Beatrice Johansson and Ellinor Pettersson

Tutor: Urban Carlén

Date: HT 2013

Keywords: Pedagogical documentation, interaction, blog, communication.

The purpose of this study is to examine preschool teachers’ use of blogging as a tool for pedagogical documentation and the parents’ participation in the blog. The study examines the interaction between the preschool and the children’s homes as well as if the use of a blog contributes to a greater insight for parents in the pedagogical activities.In the latest curriculum, there have been a point of monitoring, evaluation and development, which seems to be a goal in the curriculum that creates uncertainty among the profession, how to configure them. Therefore, we felt that pedagogical documentation would be interesting to investigate. To examine documentation from a current perspective arose blog as a tool.

The study is qualitative and interviews were conducted, as well as snippets of preschool blogs. Two preschool teachers and eight parents were interviewed at two separate municipal preschools in a municipality in Skaraborg. Both preschools conduct their own blogs.

The result showed that a blog is a tool that contributes the parents a greater insight into the preschools pedagogical activities. The blog can be a tool for the preschool teachers to follow, document, evaluate and evolve their pedagogical operation. The results also showed that both the teachers and the parents felt that the blog contributed to more verbal communication about what is happening in the preschool.

In the discussion, the study's methods are discussed and how interview as a method has affected the result of the study. We also debate the study's credibility and how analyzing the interview has provided a greater understanding of the blog as a tool. Then the results are discussed in parity to the literature of the study and our own reflections and expreriences. We also discuss how the use of blogs can be integrated in the preschools approaches and contribute to make parents more involved in the pedagogical activites.