Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how young children construct their very first relations with peers in preschool, and how they master the introduction period and the transition period between the home and the preschool. The study focuses in particular on the children's use of artefacts (such as bicycles and toys) in their interaction with peers and with the preschool environment.
Result
Overall, the study shows that the new children are active and competent agents in their transition from home to preschool. They establish contact and create relations to peers right from the beginning. Moreover, the study indicates that artefacts are an important tool in the children's interaction with peers, as the children use the artefacts in a variety of complex ways in order to manage the challenges of everyday life in the preschool. For example, the children use the artefacts for negotiating places, creating relationships and learning norms in their interactions with peers in the preschool.
Design
Data was collected over a period of about one month in a preschool. A criterion for selection for the study was that the preschool had multiple introductions at the same time. The data material consists of video footage of two children (one boy aged 1.6 years and one girl aged 3 years). Both children were observed for two weeks during the introduction period. Moreover, the author took field notes and had informal talks with the staff. The author conducted what she refers to as microanalyses of video sequences in order to illustrate how the new children use artefacts to interact with peers and when they participate in ongoing activities. In addition, the author conducted a discourse analysis on the basis of the concepts of knowledge, power and subjectivity.
References
Simonsson, M. (2015). The role of artefacts during transition into the peer group: 1-to 3-year-old children’s perspective on transition between the home and the pre-school in Sweden. International Journal of Transitions in Childhood 8, 14-24.