Improvisation – om pædagogens møde med barnet i æstetiske processer.

The purpose of this study is to examine how preschool teachers meet children in aesthetical processes – activities through which the children acquire new perspectives in their encounter with materials and are able to form personal expressions. The article examines the following question: How can improvisation be linked with the preschool teacher's role in an aesthetic pedagogical practice, and how can a concept like improvisation help qualify the preschool teacher's practice in order to promote children's own expressions? This is examined on the basis of the fundamental premise that improvisation can be learned, and the purpose is to project an understanding of the phenomenon of improvisation as a contribution to qualifying aesthetic pedagogical practices. The article defines improvisation as a phenomenon that builds on a complex interplay between planning and planlessness.

Like jazz musicians, preschool teachers should master their craft to perfection and intuitively open their senses to the moment as it unfolds. During the action research project, the preschool and nursery school teachers become increasingly aware of their own role as participants in the aesthetic processes, both as those who set the framework and as performers. There are many indications that the teachers' interaction with the children in aesthetic processes has many similarities with jazz musicians' interplay on stage. Interplay that is based on fundamental frameworks and on the ability to listen and sense other people's ideas and input.

Preschool teachers are challenged when their role in the aesthetic process changes character. When setting a framework recedes into the background, and the preschool teachers enter a more open and expectant state, the teachers have to relate to the situation in a different manner and be present in the moment. The preschool teachers are challenged when "planlessness" and insecurity arise within the planned setting of their framework. However, this is the moment when the children can come with input and express themselves in aesthetic processes. This is particularly challenging when preschool teachers focus their attention on the goals they have set for the process. In such cases, they lose focus on the children's expressions and input. On the other hand, the study clearly shows that when the preschool teachers focus their attention towards the importance of their own full presence and consciously enter the process with an open mind, their perspective shifts from reaching a specific goal towards another way of being present. The preschool teachers experience a state of peace and joy by being present in the moment. The study interprets this as an expression of consciousness and acceptance of the fact that the unknown and unpredictable can add energy to the process and the interplay.

The author indicates that when the preschool teachers can identify and become aware of the dynamic relationship between their planning and their improvisation, they can establish a resonance in an aesthetic pedagogical practice which can qualify the children to develop their own expression.

The empirical data material in the article is part of a larger two-year action research project. Ten preschool and nursery school teachers from the municipalities of Aarhus, Randers and Herning in Denmark worked together with four researchers from the Danish VIA University College based in Aarhus. About 20 meetings were held in the action research team, and the project was conducted in three action research groups within each of the three participating municipalities.

The article uses data material from one action research group. The group of children consisted of children from both preschool (3-6 years) and nursery school (0-3 years). Four preschool and nursery school teachers took part in the study together with the author. The study was conducted through four sub-projects with about 15 meetings. Each sub-project lasted for about three to four weeks, and the author took part in the process and made observations as part of the process (about 40 hours). The data material is based on observations, narratives about practices, photo and video documentation as well as notes and sound recordings from joint reflective interviews in the planning and evaluation processes. Moreover, the material includes notes from analysis seminars across the three action research groups.

On the basis of the project, the author has identified a number of pedagogical approaches that seem to have clear similarities in the way in which musicians are part of the improvisatory interplay on stage. The study therefore examines how the concept of improvisation can be used to describe and qualify a special aesthetic pedagogical practice at preschool.

Svendsen S. (2014). ”Improvisation – om pædagogens møde med barnet i æstetiske processer”. Tidsskrift for nordisk barnehageforskning, 8(7), 1-14.