Purpose
The study explores aesthetic encounters in Danish kindergartens and how materiality and interaction support children’s aesthetic actions. The study challenges traditional understandings of aesthetics such as formal, tangible learning, and it promotes a vision in which materials and objects interact with children and adults in creative and informal processes. The research question is: How can aesthetic encounters be investigated in Danish kindergartens, and in what ways can these encounters, along with materiality, support children’s aesthetic agency?
Result
The study found that materials such as instruments, wooden frames and cups play an active role in children’s aesthetic development by acting as ‘co-players’ in play and creative processes. These objects help develop children’s aesthetic involvement by facilitating interactions that stimulate imagination and participation. Aesthetics in this context becomes a subtle and dynamic process, where children and materials create new ways of experiencing and understanding the world.
Design
The study uses ethnographic methods, including video recordings, images, fieldwork and interviews with artists and educators. The fieldwork was carried out in two Danish kindergartens – one with children aged 0-2 years and one with children aged 3-5 years. The study focuses on informal aesthetic processes that arise through children’s interaction with objects, nature and artists. The analysis investigates the role of materiality in children’s aesthetic encounters, focusing on how materials such as drums and gold frames can support children’s aesthetic agency.
References
Blomgren, H. (2023). Aesthetic encounters and agency in ECEC: Materiality, intra-action, and sensitive entanglements. Journal of Pedagogy, 14(1), 117–136.