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SUMMARYAIMThe aim of this study "Pre-school teachers - notions and pratices. A study ofkey-concepts in pre-school pedagogy", is to acquire greater knowledge of some ofthe conditions of the educational activities of pre-school as well as of what isactually going on in pre-school.The study deals with Swedish pre-school teachers' notions of some central preschoolconcepts and with how pre-school teachers act in groups of children withrespect to these concepts.It is the pre-school teacher who is expected to interpret the official guidelinesfor pre-schooling and ultimately put them into practice. This study examines agroup of active pre-school teachers' notions and views of pre-school and of theconcepts work, play and learning and how they act together with children withrespect to these concepts. In order to acquire further knowledge of the formationand establishment of concepts, the notions of a group of trainee teachers have alsobeen studied at the beginning and at the end of these trainees' education.BACKGROUNDIn 1981 the National Swedish Board of Health and Welfare presented a new planfor pre-schooling. This plan was intended to replace the guidelines for public preschoolingintroduced in 1975, giving all 6-year-olds the right to pre-schooleducation one year before compulsory scool. This plan replaced the guidelines forpre-school education presented in the so-called Commision on Nursery Provision.This commission had recommended a particulary work method, "dialoguepedagogy", which was now rejected with the motivation that this method had beentoo individually-referenced and unstructured, and that the adults had taken up a fartoo passive attitude in pre-school. Instead of focusing on the needs anddevelopment of the individual child, the work should now be based on the groupof children. Work, play and learning were the central concepts in the plan,providing pre-school education with structure and content. The new plan can beregarded as an attempt at solving various problems in pre-scool, which had arisenduring a period of less than ten years,In connection with the resolution of a public pre-school, it was also stipulatedthat day nurseries and part-time pre-school should be regarded as two different waysto organize the same pre-schooling. The same goals and guidelines should apply toboth kinds of groups as from July 1st, 1975. However, shortly after theparlamentary resolution of a public pre-scool, the conditions for the work in daynurseries changed. The tightening of economy in various social sectors in the1970s also affected pre-school education. At many levels it was demanded that182