Første-fots-erfaringer gjennom vandring – de yngste barnas samspill med omgivelsene i barnehagen

The purpose of this study is to examine differences in walking between the youngest children and how these differences reflect different conditions in the physical and social environment of the ECEC setting. Walking deals with how children under the age of 2 move about and "explore" the ECEC setting.

The authors present two examples of walking showing how a child's walking reflects different conditions in the physical and social environment of the ECEC setting.

The first example of walking takes place over a relatively large area in the ECEC setting. The authors find that open doors in the ECEC setting allow the child to move away from her own base. This free mobility enables the child to explore and find new options. Through walking, the child meets humans as well as objects. The child approaches the adults, and the adults approach the child. The study shows that the child explores some of the objects that she meets on her way, for example a walker. During the walking, the authors observed no conflicts between the child and the other children or adults in the ECEC setting. According to the authors, the child generally seems happy and content.

The other example of walking takes place in a limited area in the ECEC setting. The child is in her own base and cannot move freely between the different bases in the ECEC setting. The authors observe that relatively few toys are available compared to the number of children in the base. Many of the toy shelves within the children's reach are empty. The authors observe many conflicts during this walking – conflicts primarily about being part or not being part of a game. The authors stress that the child lacks support to be included in the games, and that ECEC teachers and assistants are not available to the child. The authors conclude that the ECEC teachers tend to put out fires in conflicts in the base rather than prevent them. According to the authors, the child does not express happiness and contentment, but appears "emotionally flat".

The researchers carried out ethnographic field work in three ECEC centres using a walking-along method. This means that the researchers observed and walked along with the youngest children (under 2 years) in the ECEC centre to obtain a sense of closeness to the individual child's own world. The data material consists of field notes and video recordings that were coded and analysed focussing on the child's contact and activities with other children and adults in the ECEC setting, the child's activity with material objects and the child's shift between activities and change of direction.

Myrstad, A., & Sverdrup, T. (2016). Første-fots-erfaringer gjennom vandring – de yngste barnas samspill med omgivelsene i barnehagen. I: Gulpinar, T., Hernes, L., & Winger, N. (red.). Blikk fra barnehagen, s.97-118. Oslo: Fagboksforlaget.