Danningsbegrepet i barnehagenes årsplaner – en diskursanalytisk tilnærming.

The overall objective is to develop new knowledge about discourses about the concept of formative development/education in the annual plans of a number of selected ECEC centres (barnehage). Specifically, the authors ask: What discourses about the concept of formative development/education can be traced in the centres’ annual plans?

With regard to the posed research question about which discourses about the concept of formative development/education can be found in the annual plans, the study shows that the concept is not explicitly described in several of the annual plans analysed. Moreover, the analysis shows that two discourses about children’s formative development/education dominate in the selected annual plans: 1) a subjectivisation discourse that focuses on the children’s own formation of self, and 2) a community discourse that focuses on the collective values and culture of the community. The results show there is great variation between the annual plans and that they show both an external and internal difference with regard to scope, organisation and form. Moreover, the study shows that the concept of formative development/education is seen as being challenging in the centres’ interpretations and specification in their annual plans. The authors point out that the concept of formative development/education as it is used in the annual plans is influenced by historical currents and traditions from within the field of children’s formative development. They conclude that the subjectivisation discourse is more dominant in all areas than the community discourse.

Based on discourse analytical perspectives, the authors analysed 20 annual plans from different types of ECEC centres located in two large Norwegian municipalities. The annual plans were selected to represent different types of ownership, neighbourhood and size of ECEC centre. The annual plans were available online and were downloaded from the Internet.

Nordvik, G. & Alvestad, M. (2015). Danningsbegrepet i barnehagenes årsplaner – en diskursanalytisk tilnærming. Nordisk Barnehageforskning 11(10), 1-13.