| The purpose of the study was to investigate the working methods of Helga and Kristin, two Icelandic preschool teachers, their beliefs about early childhood education, and the goals of their programs. An emphasis was placed on exploring the connection between the context of the preschool teachers and their pedagogical work. Qualitative research methods were employed. The two preschool teachers were studied in great detail over a period of 16 months. Data gathering included intensive observation, interviews with the preschool teachers and the preschool directors, and collection of documents.;Analysis revealed that different overlapping contexts shape the preschool teachers' work and influence the content of their curriculum, the way they teach, and their goals, values, and beliefs. The contexts influence each other, and there is an interrelation among them. These contexts are: the culture of their preschools; the educational context, which overlaps the preschool context; and the cultural context of Iceland, which encircles and influences the values manifested in the other contexts.;The study reveals that in their pedagogical work, the two participating teachers, both depend heavily on their experience and the theories that they have developed in their pedagogical experience.;The study shows that, in general, Helga and Kristin's methods, goals, and beliefs are in many ways similar. They emphasize social skills, play, child-initiated activities, happiness, body-contact, nourishment, well-being, and environmental awareness. This reflects a romantic view of children and child rearing, a view that the traditional Icelandic view of raising children shares. Their pedagogical work differs in other ways, with Helga underscoring more content oriented goals, focusing on preparation for school, on language, and on literacy development. Her methods and goals are more in line with the ideology presented in the contemporary literature on early childhood education, especially coming from the United States. Kristin's goals, on the other hand, are more global and related to the Scandinavian and Icelandic preschool tradition, focusing on freedom and creativity, and on less structured and more informal methods. |
