De yngste barna som vegfarere i barnehagen

The article studies how learning processes are based on the youngest kindergarten children’s walking and physical movement. The authors investigate how the reciprocal dynamics between the environment and children can affect the way in which children’s learning processes can be understood. The aim is to contribute to clarifying the content of holistic learning in pedagogical practices in kindergarten. The research question is: How can the youngest kindergarten children’s walking and movements be understood as learning?

The authors believe that by moving through the world, children will gain bodily, sensory and emotional experiences in different ways that can be further transformed into knowledge and skills. The kindergarten teacher’s task is to be a fellow walker, fellow perceiver and fellow learner, who participates actively in joint wonder and exploration, with openness and vigilance for the surroundings. It is about leading others’ attention and exchanging information as a precursor to further knowledge development. The authors emphasise that such a learning approach can be a reminder of how learning in kindergarten can be understood and practiced beyond the dissemination of predefined knowledge.

The researchers used empirical data from the project ‘Eye for Walking’, where the youngest children’s walking in kindergarten was the focus, and where micro-ethnography was carried out in three Norwegian kindergartens. The researcher followed a group of four children (2-3 years old) from a toddler department and their pedagogical leader on a trip around the kindergarten’s outdoor environment. The project was inspired by the ‘walking alongside’ method, where the researcher was present as a participating observer in the same environment as the children. The walking trips were recorded with a video camera and the analysis focuses on situations that show different aspects of the children’s interest in and involvement with their surroundings.

Myrstad, A. & Sverdrup, T. (2019). «De yngste barna som vegfarere i barnehagen». Tidsskrift for Nordisk barnehageforskning, 18(1):1-12.