Krav om progresjon: Hvordan beskrives progresjon i arbeidet med fagområdet antall, rom og form i barnehagens årsplaner?

The purpose of the study is to investigate how progression is described in kindergartens’ annual plans, with particular emphasis on the subject area of numbers, space and shape. The study focuses on how kindergartens understand and concretise progression in mathematical topics, especially in relation to children’s work on shapes. This is a concept traditionally associated with school education, but which is also required in kindergartens through the framework plan. The research questions are:

1. How is progression in the subject area of numbers, space, and shape expressed in kindergarten annual plans?
2. How do kindergarten annual plans describe progression in work on the topic of shapes?

The results show a shift from a focus on children’s own actions and exploration of mathematics to a more knowledge- and concept-oriented approach, particularly when learning geometric shapes. The article problematises several aspects of kindergarten annual plans, including that tasks are often formulated according to age groups, which can limit adaptation to children’s individual development. There are also variations in the prioritisation of mathematical topics, with more emphasis on numbers and shapes than on patterns and problem-solving. In addition, there are challenges in highlighting continuity and progression between age groups.

The study used qualitative content analysis of annual plans from Norwegian kindergartens. The annual plans were analysed to identify how progression within the subject area of numbers, space and shape was described. The study focused specifically on how the objectives of mathematical topics, such as the understanding of shapes, were formulated in the plans, and whether there was a focus on process orientation or result orientation. The research material was analysed with a focus on semantic content, where objectives were categorised into different meaningful groups based on how progression was described.

Bøhler, E. (2023). Krav om progresjon: Hvordan beskrives progresjon i arbeidet med fagområdet antall, rom og form i barnehagens årsplaner? Nordisk barnehageforskning, 20(2), 130–150.