Abstract:

Children who come to kindergarten already have different experiences with the world and ideas about it. They have already developed their own theories of diverse phenomena, and these built-in constructs, which have their own logic and meaning, are very strong. Often, they also differ significantly from relevant theories of the adult world. But they are their own interpretations of phenomena and therefore it has value for them. The emergence of these theories depends on everything that happens around the child. People, things, culture, and basically all things with which the child comes into contact form. Therefore, it is necessary to perceive them as real, equivalent theories and to approach them equally. The present study focuses on monitoring the work of a teacher at a kindergarten. The kindergarten is considered to be a place where a typical teacher-pupil model of education does not take place. This would create a space for the use of child preconceptions for the systematic educational activity of teachers. The authors of the study, through qualitatively oriented research, observe and analyse how kindergarten teachers co-ordinate the questions and responses of preschool children, how they use children´s experience and their personal preconceptions in educational activities. The research is based on participant observation of five preschool teachers over the course of half a year and also the interviews conducted with these teachers.

Keywords:

Child preconceptions, kindergarten, educational activities.