Jeg er en sånn hverdagspedagog! Barnehagestyreres profesjonelle handlingsrom for å styrke barnehagelæreres anvendelse av fagspråk

The purpose of this study is to examine the reasons why ECEC teachers use only few professional terms and theories (professional language) in their pedagogical work seen from the perspective of ECEC directors (barnehagestyrere). In addition, the study examines what ECEC directors do to advance the use of professional language, and what ECEC directors believe that they can do to advance ECEC teachers' use of professional language.

The results show that the ECEC directors find that the ECEC teachers generally use too little professional language. The ECEC directors believe that the reasons are (1) that the ECEC teachers have not obtained adequate competences in their training, (2) the existence of a flat structure, in which the tasks carried out by teachers and assistants are too similar, and (3) that the ECEC centre culture is characterised by equality, where new employees are quickly socialised into the existing culture.

Several ECEC directors express that they are responsible for the ECEC teachers' use of professional language, although they have not reflected much on their responsibility. The ECEC directors have several suggestions for what they can do to advance the use of professional language, for example by changing the flat structure and increasing the ECEC teachers' knowledge through guidance, continuing training and further education. The results also show that two ECEC directors experienced that the ECEC teachers used professional language, and that the ECEC directors were aware of their own roles in advancing the use of professional language.

The study is based on data from both individual interviews and group interviews. The researchers conducted two group interviews with five or four informants, respectively, all of whom had worked as ECEC directors for a minimum of two years, as well as eight individual interviews with ECEC directors who had been working as directors between 3.5 and 32 years. The group interviews lasted about 45 minutes each, whereas the individual interviews lasted between 30 and 40 minutes. The same interview guide was used in both types of interview. All interviews were transcribed, and subsequently classified and coded using a professional sociological theoretical framework with Basil Bernstein's concepts of knowledge discourses, classification and framing as central for the study's focus and interpretation space.

Larsen, A. K., & Slåtten, M. V. (2017). Jeg er en sånn hverdagspedagog! Barnehagestyreres profesjonelle handlingsrom for å styrke barnehagelæreres anvendelse av fagspråk. Tidsskrift for Nordisk Barnehageforskning, 14(8), 1-18.