The aim with this study is to investigate how educators in preschool experience the phenomenon “present educators” on the preschool playground during outdoor activities. Through our study we want to point out the different forms of “present educators” or the different shapes of presence an educator may experience on the preschool playground in their role as an educator. To better capture the educators' experience of the phenomenon the study is based on a phenomenological research approach with qualitative interviews to gather information and data. We have made an intentional selection of six educators.

The result of our study shows that the respondents use different forms of presence for different occasions. The respondents explain and details different forms of being a present educator in an outdoor playground environment, it can be a physical presence, being mentally present, a chosen absence and a mixture of all above mentioned.  The results stress the importance of being a present educator in ensuring the children receiving adequate education, but also how the respondents sometimes find their presence suffocating and removing the children’s natural and joyful exploration and play whilst outdoors.             

Keywords: preschool, outdoor teaching, present educators, absent educators