Preschool Improvement Practices

Abstract

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) are current interests in many countries following international studies that show the importance of children starting their early years within a high-quality education and caring environment, which include health and well-being. This chapter is based on an action-research study, where four preschools explore the children’s and preschool staff’s experiences of activities that create recovery. The aim was: How can the theory of practice architecture be used to understand preschool staff and children’s experiences of activities that provide well-being, and what promotes alternatives hinder the process? With the support of practice architecture, arrangements have been made visible that promote or hinder the preschools’ work towards creating learning environments and activities that contribute to recovery The practice is shaped by the cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political arrangements that frame the practice and constrain or enable it. The result shows for instance that knowledge and a shared understanding of phenomena are necessary for the process, and that planned actions could be hindered by work environment laws and employee absences. The children’s input about recovery and what they liked or disliked gave insights into how the preschools could arrange activities catering to different needs and wishes.

1. Introduction

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) have been of global interest for years, according to Karila [1]. Kalicki and Koening [2] suggest that the post-PISA debates trigger it, and it is focused on European education policy. Researchers argue that there is growing pressure on educational outcomes, even for young children [3].

ECEC is a critical learning environment for children and is of great value for both short- and long-term development, including learning, health, and well-being [4]. Children spend much time in preschool and childcare, and interest in children’s well-being has increased in political, social and educational contexts [5] and Moss [3] argue that there is pressure on educational outcomes, also for very young children. Previous studies have shown that well-being has many positive consequences, such as good health and effective learning [6, 7]. Mashford-Scott et al. [8] and Coverdale and Long [9] show that children experience quality of life and well-being as a means to healthy development. The researchers define well-being as a subjective, inner sense of “well-being”.

The agency child construction has emerged from Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden [10]. Children are encouraged to learn how to control themselves and be aware of their learning and health [11], for example, how they feel in different activities and environments.

This chapter presents a collaboration model project where researchers from the university and staff from independent preschools meet in collaborative forms and work with jointly developed problem formulation and problem sets. Researchers and preschool staff started a project that touches on an area identified in the preschools and intends to benefit all parties involved. By working systematically with documentation in a way that is based on a scientific foundation, the project expects to contribute proven experience that is relevant for both the university and preschool.

The practical research project intends to contribute to practice, research, and education, challenging and enriching each other in an ongoing process where professional development can contribute to the field of knowledge.

In the long term, knowledge about this expects to balance the mental and physical health of the children and give them possibilities to learn more about their health. In a collaboration between preschool staff and researchers, this practical project wishes to establish an exchange of experience and knowledge between the participants, focusing on how pulse-raising activities and rest can contribute to preschool children’s recovery in the preschool environment.

The project intends to contribute knowledge about how different activities can offer a balance between rest and more pulse-raising activities. The physical artefacts included in various activities consist of the material provided to the children through learning and play materials. Digital tools are also included as part of these artefacts alongside the learning environment—outside and inside—which contributes to children’s learning and development. Agenda 2030 [12] highlights in goal 4, “Good education for all”, that all education systems all over the world need to meet people’s needs throughout their lives—from preschool, primary school and up in the school system, as well as equal opportunities for all individuals for lifelong learning that favours participation in work as well as in society. Children are in preschool for a period of their upbringing, and their development is influenced by what happens there. The preschool must ensure children’s learning and teaching experiences promote health and well-being. The preschool is also responsible for identifying, preventing, and removing obstacles in children’s learning and development activities. A recurring development area with health promotion work is that it must be linked more clearly to teaching [11]. Learning can develop when the children are engaged in their learning process about their well-being [13].

Aim:

How can the theory of practice architecture be used to understand preschool staff and children’s experiences of activities that provide well-being, and what promotes alternatives hinder the process?

2. Swedish preschools

The ECEC institutions in Sweden are educational settings that aim to give education and care to children in their early years. The ECEC institution is divided into preschools for children aged 1-5 years and preschool classes for 6-year-olds before formal schooling starts at seven. All Swedish children from 1 year have the right to be educated and cared for in ECEC institutions. The School Act (2010:800) [11] establishes that education within the school system, which includes preschool, aims to promote the development of all children and a lifelong desire to learn. According to statistics [14] in 2022, there were 508.815 children in Swedish preschools, 115.309 were 4 years old, and 116.092 were 5. From the age of one, children must be offered preschool to the extent necessary concerning the parents’ gainful employment or studies or if the child has their own needs due to the family’s situation in general. The municipalities must also offer preschool to all children for at least 525 free hours per year from and with the autumn term in the year the child turns three (general preschool). The home municipality is responsible for ensuring that preschool education is provided for all children in the municipality who must be offered preschool and whose guardian wishes it. Individuals may, after application, be approved as the principal of a preschool. Preschools with an individual principal can be operated as, for example, a parent cooperative or staff cooperative by a foundation or a limited company. The municipalities ensure the business meets good quality and security requirements. Most Swedish preschools run by a municipal principal make up 70% of the preschools, and those with an individual principal, as in this study, amount to 30% of the Swedish preschools. The groups of 4-years to 5-year children consist of 16 children in preschools driven by municipalities. In independent preschools, the groups are slightly smaller [14]. The Swedish preschool has a national curriculum [11], which should reflect the values and rights expressed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) [15]. It is fundamental that all children must be involved in the activities and that they are planned and carried out to promote their development, health, and well-being [11, 16]. There are conditions for well-being in preschools where all children can interact with other children and staff. Responsive staff who create a positive learning environment and take the children’s opinions into the teaching are essential for the children’s involvement in the actual preschool activities. It provides a sense of social belonging to cope with things and be independent, which is necessary for well-being [17]. Play should play a vital role in education, and an approach by the work team and an environment that encourages play confirm the importance of space for children’s development, learning, and well-being. Listening to the children’s voices is a part of everyday activity, and in Sweden, children are encouraged to express their thoughts about the experiences provided by the adults [11].

3. Well-being

Children’s rest, recovery, and well-being are essential, and all decisions must be based on what is considered best for the individual child [18]. The preschool curriculum [11] emphasises that the preschool must offer a good environment and a well-balanced daily rhythm adapted to children’s needs, meaning that activities are part of the learning environment. It states, “Preschool education should be planned and implemented to promote the children’s development, health, and well-being” (p. 7). Preschool children can have extended stays at preschool and leisure activities during their free time, which can cause stress that can manifest itself in different ways, and their experiences of tension and relaxation can be very individual [19]. Therefore, preschool staff needs to construct places where pressure is reduced and become aware of how they can contribute to feeling better [20]. According to the preschool curriculum [11], “the children must be given the conditions to develop versatile movement skills by being allowed to participate in physical activities and stay in different natural environments. The education should enable the children to experience the joy of movement and develop their interest in being physically active (p. 9). Evidence-based interventions in the preschool learning environment to increase physical activity to improve children’s health can be found through previous research [21]. There is room for research that touches on the balance between physical activity and rest and the children’s recovery.

4. School improvement

School improvement research examines how society mandates reforms can be implemented in schools’ pedagogical work, where the basic idea is to control this through improvement efforts [22]. Hopkins [23] defines school improvement as a distinct approach to create educational change that enhances student outcomes and strengthens the school’s capacity for managing change. Harris [24] argues that successful school improvement depends on the school’s ability to manage change and development and should be a process. In professional, collegial learning communities, teachers and other school staff work to accomplish a unified understanding of their professional mission by identifying fundamental knowledge, skills, motivation, values, and attitudes necessary for the work [25].

Researchers have described school improvement processes in phases such as initiation, implementation, institutionalisation, and diffusion [26, 27, 28, 29]; initiation means a new idea is presented in an organisation, for example a school. This idea must then be implemented in practice, which involves anchoring ideas, activities or structures in the individuals who will create change [30]. Institutionalisation is a process where the organisation has made an idea known that is fully established in the organisation. After this phase, experiences can be spread to other schools [31]. Previous studies show that school improvement can be challenging to implement and that a commitment of teachers is needed in school improvement processes [32, 33].

The improvement work in this study is regarded as a planned change process which, according to Jacobsson [31], needs to have well-developed strategies for improvement, while emerging approaches where school actors adopt an implementation to their own local needs are of decisive importance to achieve results planned changes can be considered conscious and goal-oriented actions where the organisation’s members go through different phases to achieve a change [34]. The planned change has a normative element because there is a desired state as an endpoint or goal [35]. In professional, collegial learning communities, teachers and other school staff work to accomplish a unified understanding of their professional mission by identifying fundamental knowledge, skills, motivation, values, and attitudes necessary for the work [25]. Planned changes can be considered conscious and goal-oriented human actions where the organisation’s members go through different phases to achieve a difference [34].

5. Action research

According to Koshy [36], action research is seen as a practical approach to gaining a better understanding and improving practice and also to increase the empowerment of the teachers. An action research process includes self-reflective cycles of questioning, gathering data, reflection and deciding the course of action [37]. The approaches are action-oriented and enable participants to learn from their experience, change directions and priorities for their research, and introduce corrections repeatedly throughout the project. Action research is based on a democratic methodology in which the researcher, together with, for example, children in preschool and their teachers, develops knowledge about a specific area and applies this new knowledge practically [38]. The action research approach supports scientifically based professional development following the Swedish Education Act [39] and has its starting point in proven experience and a scientific basis. Warren et al. [40] means that teachers’ beliefs, professional identities, and levels of expertise change through action research can be strengthened and changed by an action research approach.

6. Practice architecture

This study used a practice-theoretical theory to investigate what happens in the change process. Mahon et al. [41] argues that everyone participates in different practices daily without reflecting on them. According to Mahon et al., it could be practices like teaching, painting, or cooking. Practice can be described in varying ways depending on which theoretical perspective it is based on, and according to Schatzki et al. [42], an internship exists in a specific context (site), such as a school activity. This means practice is bound to a space and must be studied in its context. Schatzki [43] points out that practices can change and contain different activities related to time and space. For example, the change preschools face in terms of knowledge about children’s well-being in the daily activities in preschool. The perspective of practice is thus understood as something that consists of the activities of individuals, and that includes what is: (1) said (statements, thoughts), (2) done (actions and actions in various forms), (3) relates (different ways in which individuals relate to each other) and, in summary, a practice is made up of the speaking, doing and relating that exists in a common goal or project [41]. The three arrangements expressed by Mahon et al. [44] involve each other and form architectures of practice that can both limit and enable practice. In this study, cultural-discursive arrangements influence what is said and thought (sayings), for example, language and the discourses, i.e., the communication and reasoning used within a practice. These arrangements can influence by hindering or promoting what is possible to say and discuss in a specific context and place at a particular time. It can also be considered resources available to practice. Examples include the language spoken and discourses in national documents. The material-economic possibilities affect what is possible to carry out (doings) in a physical dimension. A school with limited access to training pedagogues can limit the opportunities to teach a subject qualitatively. The resources can enable or restrict what can happen in practice via actions by influencing what, when, how and by whom something can be implemented [45]. The social-political arrangements affect how individuals relate to each other (relating). For example, politicians influence teachers’ actions by deciding on governing documents for the school. Likewise, hierarchies and power can affect an organisation. Examples include autonomous teachers, formal leaders and how a school’s infrastructure affects opportunities for collaboration and exchange of experience [45]. Schatzki [43] emphasises that all social life is part of the practice and, according to the researcher, social reality includes a network of practices that are not isolated from other practices. A practice is affected by other practices and affects other practices, something that Kemmis et al. [46] term ecologies of practices indicate. Among the central concepts in practice architecture, the project is also essential in the theoretical framework. A project in a practice is the intention that the participants try to achieve, the purpose of the practice. What is said/done/related is connected to specific projects and constitutes the purpose of the practice according to the theory of practice architecture [46]. Practice is defined by saying, doing, and relating in a specific context and in a particular place and can be told to answer the question What is happening here? [38, 46]. In summary, practice architecture is the conditions and prerequisites that enable and limit what happens in practice. According to Mahon et al. [44] a practice-theoretical starting point is appropriate when it comes to understanding and developing a practice.

7. Method, material, and analysis

7.1 Action research approach in this study

An action research process includes self-reflective cycles of questioning, gathering data, reflection and deciding the course of action [37]. The approaches are action-oriented to learn from experience and enable participants to learn from their experience, change directions and priorities for their research and introduce corrections repeatedly throughout the project [38]. A distinction from more traditional research is that action research is when researchers work with the researched to break down the differences between them, which is the approach for this study. In this study, the participants focused on activities in the initial cycles of our action research project, specifically the gathering of teacher’s and children’s experiences of well-being. The research in the study followed a typical action research process, including planning, action, observation, and reflection [47]. The identified target leading to action was viewed from perspectives, and group discussions were conducted involving the participants in the study. Warren et al. [40] state that teachers’ beliefs, professional identities, and levels of expertise change through action research can be strengthened and changed by an action research approach. The identified target leading to action was viewed from diverse perspectives, and group discussions were conducted involving the participants in the study. Warren et al. [40] state that teachers’ beliefs, professional identities, and levels of expertise change through action research can be strengthened and changed and that systematic reflection can improve their pedagogical content knowledge.

7.2 Background and sample

The overall study is a 3-year study with an action research approach named “The possibility of learning environments to offer long-term recovery of rest and pulse-raising activity”. It was initiated by four principals who lead one preschool each, and they all base the needs of their organisation on agreement with the preschool teachers. The project started in January 2022 and will end in December 2024. The study’s target group consists of four Swedish preschools where staff, principals, and children aged 4–5 were the informants. All pedagogical staff in this study are named preschool teachers, even if the presentation of each preschool shows that some are childminders. A preschool teacher from each of the four preschools was recruited as a co-researcher/process leader; in the text, they are called middle leaders [48]. They arranged actions with the other staff and the researcher and supervised their colleagues. Five children from each preschool, aged 4–5 years, participated as informants in the study. The preschools have de-identified names in the text and have been given fictitious names. The Fir Tree Preschool is a staff cooperative; the Oak Preschool is a non-profit association; The Cherry Tree Preschool and The Pear Tree Preschool are parent cooperatives.

7.3 Data collection and analysis

The empirical material comprises six process meetings between the researcher and the middle leader and two dialogical meetings between the researcher and principals from November 2022 to May 2023. Field notes and photos documented 10 observations. The staff interviewed the children during spring 2023, used cameras, and attempted to notice speech, body language and facial expressions during the actions by field notes. After moments of data collection, analysis was done together with the researcher and discussions of forthcoming action. The four middle leaders regularly discussed with the researcher to reflect on the action and process. The research has been carried out and analysed based on the three arrangements that practice architecture consists of and which are simultaneously in practice, according to Schatzki [43]. What is said, done, and related overlap, according to Kemmis et al. [46]. However, the analysis has refined these arrangements to create an understanding of the data material. Transcription, reading and re-reading the material and noting initial ideas was the first step. This process became important to be familiar with the data. After that, the collected data has undergone a content analysis [49]. By working with a highlighter, expressions in the text were marked with yellow, actions with green, and relations with pink, and then sorted based on which arrangement they fit into. Afterwards, statements were entered into a worktable where cultural-discursive, material-economic and socio-political arrangements constituted units of analysis. This moment included reviewing codes during the process; Initial codes were created and then added to themes. The culturally discursive arrangements that emerge in the analysis by sayings were phenomena and knowledge. The material-economic arrangements realised through activity and work were time, participation and structure. Finally, the socio-political arrangements that emerged in the analysis were a common goal and relations. The study complies with ethical requirements in Swedish research and has undergone an ethics review.

8. Results

8.1 General narrative for the project with four preschools

In a 3-year action research project involving preschool teachers, children, principals and one researcher, we wanted to deepen our understanding of the phenomena of well-being and what enables and limits recovery practices. We sought knowledge about how practices that promote children’s recovery can be understood and developed. This chapter presents previous results after the project’s 7 months of action research. The children’s participation in the process was a starting point. The action research project was divided into several phases, and we used different ways to collect data. Dialogic conversations between middle leaders and researchers were conducted once a month. Dialogical discussions between researchers and principals were done twice during the period. Documents and observations formed the basis for increased understanding and possible changes and interactions between the development work and research. In the action research project, preschool teachers and principals focused on researching and developing recovery practices to improve their professionalism and knowledge. The first phase began with all preschool staff participating in a meeting, receiving some training in action research from university teachers and discussing previous action research projects. The perceptions of recovery practices at the preschool, both rest and pulse-raising activities, were inventoried as a first survey. The results were presented to the participators after the meeting, and then they collected the children’s opinions at each preschool about how they experienced recovery—both rest and pulse at their preschool with a focus on activities and learning environments. The result from teachers and children were shown in mind maps on the valet in the preschools.

This chapter gives an insight into the process and offers preliminary results from the project. All preschools have struggled with the implementation of the project, it took time to read and learn how to do action research in their units, and the processes take time. All preschool middle leaders mean that the time is necessary to involve all staff and get ready to research and work systematically.

8.2 A narrative from the Fir Tree Preschool

Five preschool teachers, one cook and a principal work at this preschool. The preschool’s theme is health, movement and outdoor activities and focuses on health. The preschool offers the children many outdoor and varied activities during the day. The meals are done by an employed cook who prepares the food from high-quality eatables, and the preschool wants to offer healthy meals. The preschool staff discussed the idea of recovery through rest and pulse, and the children became familiar with the concept and its meaning. They have told the team their experiencing recovery. The children and staff explored what is perceived as recovery. These thoughts formed the basis for mind maps that the staff produced and presented visibly on the preschool’s walls. Also, the staff have noticed their ideas about what recovery can be in a mind map. They analysed that the team considers recovery too narrowly and needs to expand their perception of what it can be. They are convinced that the children’s participation in the action research project can expand the view of what recovery is. In the opinion of recovery, it appears that stress can counteract recovery. Both children and staff mentioned rest as an activity after eating lunch. This topic was something the team wanted to improve and learn more about children’s experiences.

The preschool’s first action meant they wanted to investigate the possible recovery the children experienced during the rest after the meal. The children offer four different breaks: choice (1) sleeping outside in a pram, choice (2) sleeping inside on a mattress (often time-bound), choice (3) listening to a book in a small group (three children) with a staff member who reads in a separate room, choice 4) getting a massage as recovery. In the morning, the children can request the type of rest they want after lunch, and usually, they get their wish, but sometimes some rest cannot be carried out due to the logistics.“ We are not able to do this every day, all staff must take their breaks”(Middle leader, 1). Likewise, it can be challenging to carry out planned activities when there are substitutes.

When the children talk about their experiences of the rest and try to express different feelings, some share that they enjoy being in the small group of three children who get a book read by an educator, alternative 3. Two children mentioned feeling relaxed and calm in this activity because no “toddlers” were disturbed and loud. The educator read calmly and clearly, allowing all three to comment and ask questions about the content. “It will be calm and nice when she reads a story to us, and we can see all the pictures when there are not many of us” (Child 1).

Regarding massage recovery, choice number four, most children liked it, but two children did not want a massage at all and wanted to choose other rest alternatives. One child expressed that she likes having someone massage her neck, but not on different places of the body (Child, 4).

One of the rests, choice nr two, means the children listen to sound recordings and lie on the floor or a sofa. During an observation, eight children rest that way, and it is a rest that several children seem to appreciate. Comments from children after the activity gave the impression that the children entered a rest phase with recovery, which all children except one child confirmed.

This child only wanted to sleep and rest at home—during the day at preschool, the child wanted to be active and play, and rest was not his cup of tea. Sleeping at preschool does not feel so good; I’m too big for that and do not want to rest either. It’s boring (Child, 5). This child only wanted the time to pass so it could be possible to play with a friend in the preschool.

Action two at this preschool means we try the rhythm as a starting point for discussing recovery via heart rate and rest. Twelve children gather on a round carpet where the preschool teacher informs them about what will happen. Recovery as a phenomenon and concept is addressed, and the preschool teacher asks the children to try to feel what happens in the body during the rhythm session. A digital program is conducted where the children, as a first step, conduct pulse-raising activities to music and are then asked questions about how it feels in the body. Answers such as “The heart is beating very fast” (Child, 2),; “The pulse feels like fire”, (Child, 3) and “The pulse beats faster than before we started”.(Child, 5) The level of activity in the movement is increased, and the children can then tell how it feels, and they can tell that the heart is now beating even faster than after the first activity. “The heart is pounding even more now” (Child, 3), a concluding part of the rhythm, means a winding down and meditation where the children can sit, close their eyes, and unwind. They express the difference between the heart-rate-raising activities and the closing part. Observations of the activity show that the children looked relaxed and calm during the last session, and the children also confirmed this later on by talking about the feelings in their bodies. A preschool teacher points out that both actions can be affected by staff being absent due to illness or leave.

Difficulties in carrying out activities are mainly mentioned because staff have the right to rest, and getting the logistics to work can sometimes be challenging. Likewise, it cannot be easy to carry out planned activities when there are substitutes. It also appears that some children do not wish to rest in any way but want to play instead. Observation shows that the children know the body’s reactions during pulse-raising activities. Several of them express that they enjoy the final part of the action, where they wind down and close their eyes.

8.3 A narrative from the Oak Tree Preschool

The Oak Preschool is a unit of 20 children and five staff: three preschool teachers, one Montessori-educated leisure educator, and one medical resource for children with medical needs, in addition to the principal leading the preschool and the school included in the unit. Preschool Oak is a private and non-profit association where the board heads the school. The orientation is Montessori pedagogy, and the operating idea is that everyone should feel good and develop sustainable self-leadership. This preschool first wanted to explore if and how their collective morning meeting with the children could be improved and give them learning moments instead of waiting for the activity to start.

The first action in this preschool is to explore how the morning meeting activity could be improved. Over time, the preschool teachers observed and noted that transitioning from a move that would include going to the toilet and washing hands created anxiety as the children gradually gathered for the meeting. There was a waiting time before the activity morning meeting could start, and the staff wanted to change this to avoid stress for the children. The waiting time could mean chaos, high noise levels and children sitting and waiting for the meeting. It could also mean that an adult read a book to a child and that other children flipped through books, but the educators saw it as an opportunity that needed to be improved and changed. They decided to have a “warm-up time” before the meeting. The name was created by the middle leader that drew comparisons to sports. “Before we start with the traditional morning meeting, we must warm up!” (Middle leader, 2). The activity represents the time and activities when the children came from washing hands and visiting toilets, one by one, and participating in the warm-up. The movement was observed, and the children were getting into the action smoothly. Two preschool teachers were present in addition to the one leading the activity and one of them took field notes. The training aims to contain pulse-raising activities with movements and rest to contribute to the recovery. The staff tried this activity by removing perceived stressful moments for the children and replacing them with a warm-up exercise.

After action one, a reflective conversation was held between staff and researchers, where the action was evaluated. The preschool teachers decided to try this type of action about once a week, and all the preschool staff should be holding the warm-up and the morning meeting before a new evaluation. It was decided that each preschool teacher should be allowed to put their imprint on the activity; “We “must be given the freedom to carry out the activity based on our planning and what we want to do during the activity.” (Teacher, 4). During the evaluation, the staff expressed that time to analyse and talk to the researcher and each other was necessary and valuable.

The following action, which was action number two, a new warm-up and morning meeting, was observed and documented by one preschool teacher. Three educators were present, and one was responsible for planning and implementing the warm-up time arrangement. Another preschool teacher took field notes. The observation notes, including the researcher and staff, were analysed during reflective conversations. The analysis could distinguish essential parts: (1) The meeting needs to contain movement, including pulse raising and rest. (2) To maintain attention, the preschool teacher must give the warm-up within a limited interval. (3) The meeting leader must be responsive to the group’s daily form and flexible to change structure and content if required. (4) Other participating educators must not remove their focus from the group because the observer noticed that the children were disturbed if the adults spoke to each other, even if they whispered. It became clear that the meeting needed structure from start to end. Participants at the reflection meeting decided they must dare to review each other and give constructive criticism to achieve a collegial development that can promote the project’s goal.“ We must dare to talk to each other and ask questions when we see that something is not going as we thought and how the preschool teacher can change his actions for the children’s good!” (Teacher, 6) The preschool teachers also argue that they need to cooperate in the meeting and that the leader should not feel that somebody else should take over the meeting if we notice that we have to act to complete the leader to help depending on the situation with the children. “We know that everything can happen in the child group, and we must help each other and don’t see it as criticism. We must work with constructive criticism!”(Teacher, 7).

Action number three was a morning meeting observed by a preschool teacher and documented by digital observation. The preschool teachers analysed the film and noticed that after only three morning sessions with warm-up activities, the children connected to the action as they finished after going to the toilet. The educators draw attention to the fact that there is less stress and a calmer environment than before. The team decided that the following action would mean that the educators have a similar arrangement and refrain from it having to be arranged based on their interests and instead focus on what the children feel good about and safe with.

The reflections from the participants at Oak Tree Preschool point out that the warm-up activity must have structure, both in time and content. They also discussed the possibility of working more collegially and collaboratively to improve their work in an environment that can create well-being.

8.4 A narrative from the Cherry Tree Preschool

The Cherry Tree preschool has twenty-two children and consists of a parent cooperative with staff and guardians on the board. Three preschool teachers, two childminders, one cook and a principal work here. The preschool’s theme is the learning environment, which should stimulate discovery and learning with other children and adults. Outdoor activities with different physical movements are in focus. The staff and children felt it became messy and stressful when they came in before lunch, took off their clothes and washed their hands close to lunch. The time before all the children were ready for lunch meant that children had to wait if they wanted help, and it often got loud as the children did not know how to behave. Therefore, the staff wanted to change and improve the situation for the children when they would go in after being outdoors to create a calm environment and minimise stress for the children. They wanted this temporal gap to become an educational situation where the children would have the opportunity to gain experience and rest before lunch. The preschool teachers started thinking about which children (ages) should go in first, what the environment would look like, what to meet the children when they came in, and what activities they could do. During a planning day, possibilities were discussed for developing this element to become less stressful for the children and become educational, not just an interval between two activities.“ We were all stressed over the situation, even the staff. Still, the activity going inside, have been done in that way since I started to work here” (Preschool teacher nr 8).

Action number one in this preschool consists of improvement when children come in for lunch. Before the action, the preschool teachers talked to the children about how they experienced the time before lunch and what they thought could improve the waiting time. Half of the children thought it was a little bit noisy, and half of the children meant that it was good enough. They suggested, “If we think it is noisy, we can be quiet or ask our friend to be quiet.”(Child, 10). “We can wait outside on the bench so the smaller children can go in first, and we can read a book until everyone is ready for lunch” (Child, 8). (There is a bench near the door under the roof, with books available.)

The preschool teachers have divided up and entered in rounds, and they divide up once we enter; there are different sofas for the children to sit on and look at a book, and the educator who enters with the children is responsible for taking his group to “its place”. The younger children have a play box with, for example, Duplo, books, toys, and different building materials, which are taken out when everyone has had a new diaper. This creates a quiet moment before the meal, even though the children are both hungry and tired. There are tables to train fine motor skills in the hall for the younger ones. There is a TV monitor in the lobby where the children can look at slide shows before the food while they wait. There are books—and the preschool only has a small number of books available to create a community to look at together. The preschool teachers have placed a sofa in one of the rooms where the children who enter as a group sit together.

After the first action, the preschool teachers evaluated the activity and talked with the children. They noticed the action improved the situation before lunch; it was calmer and not so noisy, but they wanted to do more. In connection to the hall, there became a stressful situation when the children were going to visit the toilet before lunch. The doors to the bathroom were sometimes open, and the children felt that they did not have privacy, and it was noisy and messy. Sometimes, other children knocked on the door while others visited the toilet.

Action number two. The preschool teachers created footprints outside the toilets to facilitate queuing, reduce jostling, and create calm. They put numbers 1–10 at the large toilet to signal the children where to stand and wait before entering the bathroom. The children did receive any information on how to use these markings. They reflected on the new things and discussed and explained what they thought the footprints were and how to use them. The preschool teachers notice that the prints have worked very well, and without explaining to the children what the idea was, “You saw how the children took to the new thing and explained to each other what they thought the footprints were and how to use them” (Middle leader, 3).

During reflection after these actions, the preschool teachers noticed that the children could give their opinion and that the thoughts from them and the staff was similar in many ways. They decided to continue with the activities before lunch and keep the numbers outside the toilet to evaluate this further with the children. They wanted to go on with action number three: create calm after lunch. They have moved the children’s after-lunch rest so that the group stays in each room to reduce jostling and give them a more peaceful environment. After lunch, every child goes to the toilet, and then the preschool teachers arrange them in their age group for after-lunch sleep. This moment often becomes messy and loud, and they continue to work on finding effective strategies to calm down together with the children. The action consists of an activity with three preschool teachers participating in the lobby to help with toilet visiting and support those children waiting to rest. The toddlers sleep in prams, and one staff arranges that. Another preschool teacher takes care of the 2–3-year-olds in one room and sets their rest on the floor. The third preschool teacher participates with the 4–5-year-old children, and they usually look at books, rest on the floor with music or whisper to each other.

After these actions, the preschool teachers notice that there must be one preschool teacher for each group; it becomes disturbing and stressful when they depart. They discussed the following action around the after-lunch rest and decided to try if it could be more smoothie if the children’s rest accessories, such as stuffed animals and pillows, could be placed in the room where they should rest. At the time, all these things were in the lobby on the children’s storage shelf.

8.5 A narrative from the Pear Tree Preschool

This preschool has 18 children and is a parent cooperative, with five children participating as informants. The preschool runs as a non-profit association with two preschool teachers, three childminders and a principal working at the preschool. The preschool has movement and outdoor activities, a health-promoting approach as a profile. Before the first action, they talked with the children about what rest was, both pulse rate activities and activities for rest and all the children were familiar with the words and what they represent. The preschool teachers started to observe the children and what they chose to do (play) outside, the activities each child was occupied with. They talked about what they saw, what each of the children was playing outside, heart rate-raising and recuperative. “We observe when we are out with the children and make notes by digital or handwritten field notes and take photos. We want to establish a routine so that the observations can take place in everyday life Teacher, 12). The middle leader reflects on the observations done so far; The decision to observe was taken together, but absence or forgetfulness in the daily work affects the numbers of observations” (Middle leader, 4) During the time when they intend to collect data they had some sickness in the staff group. The Middle leader meant that it affected the process, but they had observations with field notes and photos as a starting point for discussion and analysis. During this first observation, they could conclude that children (12) play pulse-raising and restorative games outside. Children (13) play wholesome, calm games outside and inside—children (14) play both recovery and pulse-raising activities. We have a child (15) who finds it easy to get active with pulse-raising activities but hard to find restorative exercises outside. The following action will involve discussing the children’s mind map with the group of children. After that, in the third action, the children individually will take photos of the environment or activities they often do and like. They are going to use digital cameras. The middle leader (4) says that we think that Photo Voice is an excellent method to discover their perception of activities as pulsating or restful. It will be interesting to have more input from the children!”(Teacher 15).

The actions that have been done at this preschool have a strong touch of the child’s participation in the project, and they focus on getting the children’s opinions in from the start by using photo voice and discussing with them. It also shows that it could be challenging to create a base to do research on the daily.

9. Narrative from a practical architecture viewpoint

The intention of the project, to create knowledge about activities that make recovery, means that all preschools have the same goal but that the needs and, thus, the content of the actions in the study differ between the units. The dialogical meetings with the middle leader and researcher showed a desire for intersubjectivity to create knowledge about their development processes, understand others, and contribute with an increased understanding of the phenomenon within the group.

9.1 The semantic space; realised through language

The culturally discursive arrangements that emerge in the analysis are perceptions of phenomena and knowledge. The preschool teachers believe that the concepts and words to be used in the study should be the same for the adults and the children included in the study the concept of recovery, heart rate increase and rest. These concepts have been discussed among preschool teachers. It has also been clarified for the children who, according to statements and observations, show that they understand the meaning of the phenomena. Investigating how the children perceive activities concerning these concepts will be explored in detail during the project’s process. This may mean that the educators can offer what the Swedish National Agency for Education [11] mandates, to offer the children varied activities that can contribute to health and well-being. All participating preschool teachers express an interest and a willingness to participate and implement the project’s intentions. However, there is uncertainty about action research and its role in the research process. “We do as it says in the action research manual and according to the teaching we have received, but it is difficult sometimes. We are not so sure about it. But it is fascinating, and we think we are doing it right!” (Teacher, 6). In the collective conversations conducted with researchers, it became clear that the participants put words to the experience and brought it together with the knowledge they had gained about action research. They believed that although it was difficult, it provided professional development opportunities. The preschool staff discussed the difficulties of daring to give each other constructive criticism, which can hinder the process. All four middle leaders stated that they used a lot of time to implement the concepts in their preschool and allowed both children and adults to reflect on how recovery can be perceived. Statements show that the preschool staff developed a common view of linguistic understanding of well-being. This intersubjective communication created through what is thought and said can contribute to the team developing a common pedagogical language and thus have the same frame of reference for how concepts should be understood [50]. Having a common language can be interpreted as the employees being socialised into a common practice [51]. The result also shows that the preschool children had an opinion of how recovery environments could be shaped and that it is important to listen to their voices [11].

9.2 The physical space and time: realised through activity

The material-economic arrangements identified were time, participation and structure. To have time to do this project with quality was something that all four preschools discussed, and they compared how the conditions were at the four preschools. They are all small units. “When someone in the staff is sick or absent for another reason, it can be difficult to find a replacement, and even if we get a substitute, it is difficult to run the project because it requires knowledge and to be involved in our process” (preschool teacher nr 2). Another of the preschools can have staff that works during days and weeks when there is a need to replace some teacher who is out of work for some reason. “Our preschool has an experienced retired substitute who can come and work when we have an illness or absent staff. We have had the opportunity to involve her in the work with the action research, which is very positive. (Middle leader, 1) The preschool teachers mentioned that knowledge is required to participate in a project like this, but they point out that all staff participate and that they have interested principals. Material-economic arrangements made it possible for all staff to join at the start of the project to share experiences and expectations of the project and take part in an introduction to action research that the researcher arranged. The preschool staff had varying conditions regarding time and opportunities to analyse and plan new steps.

In contrast, the actual action research procedure took different lengths of time for the preschools to start up. The activities presented to the preschool children can be seen as didactic choices (actions) where the staff tries to achieve the curriculum’s requirements regarding offering good care with a balance between activity and rest [11]. The experience from one preschool to giving more structured warm-up exercises to create calm was also a knowledge that was important for them.

9.3 The social space realised through power and meetings

The identified socio-political arrangement was a common goal and relations. All staff at the four preschools participated in a joint meeting for about 4 h, where they were given an introduction to action research by the researcher and had the opportunity to share their experiences and discuss the upcoming project work. On this occasion, the participants worked in cross-groups and defined and discussed what feedback in the form of pulse-raising activities and rest for the children was for them. After this activity, they expressed how valuable it was to discuss the project, present their preschool to other professionals, and participate in how they wanted to go further with the action research activities. The following quote expresses several participants at the meeting: “It was very inspiring to discuss how we perceive recovery and how others carry out pieces of training. We were divided into groups, enabling us to participate in the other preschools’ planned arrangements. It became clear that we have premises and activities that differ, but it is also a strength that we are small preschools and work towards the same vision. We wish for more occasions when we can meet “(preschool teacher 5). The municipal schools have networks that the municipality arranges. We want to create something similar with the staff of these preschools who are here today. The preschool teachers have a relational focus by attending to the children’s opinions and experiences. How children should be treated in the preschool is described in the curriculum’s goals, which means that the staff in the preschool must show care for each child and create positive relationships between child and adult and between children. The team must also attend to the children’s opinions, which is done in the action research project where children’s experiences and experiences of recovery in preschool are considered. The national framework in the form of the curriculum’s intentions was essential for developing the project. These studies assess the curriculum as a social-political arrangement that affects the relational aspects of preschools.

10. Discussion

With the support of practice architecture [46], arrangements have been made visible to understand preschool staff and children’s experiences of activities that provide well-being in preschool. It also shows what promotes or hinders the work towards creating learning environments and activities that contribute to children’s inner sense of well-being. The project is in an initial phase, but the narrative points to common and different experiences from staff and children from the four preschool units. The practice is shaped by the cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political arrangements that frame the practice and constrain or enable how it is shaped. By illuminating the semantic space, it was identified that knowledge was essential and that the concepts used in the actions should be perceived similarly to create a common platform for children and adults. Regarding the physical space, time for improvement work and participation with reflection were identified as necessary for the processes, and previous results support this [25, 31]. One preschool team concluded that structure was influential in implementing activities, a design based more on the children’s needs than on the pedagogues being allowed to implement activities based on their interests, a goal in the Swedish preschool curriculum [11].

The study shows that preschool children could give valuable insights about their opinion of their inner well being, which confirms earlier studies [8]. All four preschools worked in line with the curriculum [11], and involved the children in the project and listened to them, and their voices and perceptions provided insight into their experiences of what recovery might be. It follows challenges for the preschool to make use of the children’s views to create recovery for all children, for example, considering that rest can also be stressful. The middle leaders discussed in a common meeting that children’s participation in the project can strengthen their social value, as Wigfield et al. [17] point out. The children’s opportunities to participate in a project like this make visible a meeting between staff and students that is framed by the social space according to the practice architecture. The pedagogues in the study experienced action research as a possible way to gain knowledge about a phenomenon and contribute to collegial discussions. They also stated that documenting and observing is something they do, but doing it systematically and taking a research approach was difficult. Finally, relations between the actors in four preschool, and a common goal were identified as appreciative and developing in the actions carried out and analysed regarding the social space. There were limitations in this study that have to be mentioned. It is a small study with few participants, and it is not possible for generalising. The study’s analysis tools are the three arrangements that practice architecture consists of in order to refine the analysis. They are tools and are limited even if they enable a way of understanding the practice and the experiences around a phenomenon. At the same time, the three arrangements can provide an understanding of the action research project that is carried out at the four preschools and contribute to continued development work.