Purpose
This study investigates how and why attentive dialogues between children and ECEC teachers are often interrupted, and how these interruptions can be dealt with and the dialogues protected.
Result
The author's field observations illustrate that the teachers' attentive dialogues with the children at the ECEC centre are interrupted by the surroundings and by people from outside (interpersonal interruptions) as well as by the teacher's own psychic apparatus (intrapersonal interruptions). The interpersonal interruptions arise due to external events or other people. For example, when the ECEC teacher interrupts an ongoing conversation with the group of children to welcome a newly arrived child. However, intrapersonal interruptions come from the teacher him/herself: consciously as well as unconsciously. For example, when the teacher, during a conversation, gets up because she feels obliged to clean up or wipe the table, even though she could have waited to do this at some other time. The author assesses that it is important for ECEC teachers to work on minimising the undesirable interruptions and protect attentive dialogue in everyday activities at the ECEC centre.
Design
The study's empirical material was collected through field observations, a few sound recordings, semi-structured, qualitative interviews and reflection conversations with ECEC teachers in one ECEC centre. The article is based on one specific observation of a table situation with an ECEC teacher and a group of children. The observation is used as a "telling case". Through this one detailed observation, the author attempts to categorise different types of interruptions and brings forward suggestions for the challenges faced by ECEC teachers in their endeavours to have attentive dialogues with children at the ECEC centre.
References
Højholt, M. (2017). ”Please do not disturb”: Om at opretholde og skærme nærværende dialoger mellem børn og pædagoger i børnehaver. Tidsskrift for Nordisk Barnehageforskning, 14(4), 1-16.