The Socialization Process in Pre-School

This document describes Swedish preschool "insight and partnership programmes" designed to develop social and moral values concomitant with a democratic society. The programs were tried out in six preschool groups of 18 to 20 6-year-old children, The "insight programme" was made up of suggestions and instructions concerning games, activities, reading, and conversation. The teachers were instructed to relate the content to the children's own experiences. Three main areas were involved: knowledge of self, knowledge of others, and experiences in the family. Children were interviewed before and after the program. The "partnership programme" offered suggestions and methodological instructions for the teacher to use in encouraging 3 or 4 children to role play with puppets in conflict situations. The teacher induced the children to reflect on partnership activities and improve them through puppet drama. Systematic observations were made before and after the partnership exercises. Generally, the results showed that although the children increased their knowledge in all sectors, they gave more answers suggestive of greater insight into such questions as the motives, feelings, and causes of handicaps. A subsequent project has focused on the attitude structure and role apprehension of the preschool teacher. (CS)