Kindergarten practitioners’ perspectives on intergenerational programs in Norwegian kindergartens during the COVID-19 pandemic: exploring transitions and transformations in institutional practices

The study explores changes related to transitions and transformations in societal, material and physical conditions that enable generational meetings between young children and the elderly in Norwegian kindergartens, especially during times of crisis. The research question is: 1) Which factors can be considered facilitating or impeding the implementation of intergenerational meetings in kindergartens, and how can these meetings be implemented despite the COVID-19 pandemic and after the pandemic?

The study identifies both challenges that prevent generational meetings during times of crisis, and conditions that facilitate the implementation of such meetings. The use of digital technology and better-adapted physical environments are among the latter. The implications of the study indicate a need to think differently and more creatively if one wants to be able to offer children generational meetings in times of crisis and in the time that follows.

Through an online questionnaire and discussions in focus groups, a total of 64 kindergarten employees shared their perspectives on generational meetings between young children and the elderly in kindergartens in Norway. Data collection took place between November 2020 and May 2021.

Thematic content analysis and Hedegaard’s principles of interpretation of research protocols were used to analyse the generated data.

Oropilla, C. T., Ødegaard, E. E., & Quinones, G. (2022). Kindergarten practitioners’ perspectives on intergenerational programs in Norwegian kindergartens during the COVID-19 pandemic: exploring transitions and transformations in institutional practices. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 30(6), 883–898.