Arkitektur og pedagogikk i samspill eller motspill? – om betydning av koherens mellom planlegging og etablering av nye typer barnehagebygg.

The overall purpose of this study is to examine the interaction between pedagogical content and architecture and the physical environment at ECEC centres seen in relation to the developments in Norway over the past 10 years towards a higher percentage of ECEC centres organised in clusters and zones. Organisation in clusters and zones provides a more open and flexible design of the ECEC centre with more common areas and more variation in space and areas. The study focuses on the intentions of the architects and decision-makers when planning the buildings and on the subsequent use of the buildings. The authors of the study raise questions such as: What were the intentions of architects and decision-makers when they designed the buildings, and how were the buildings used? How were ECEC centre leaders and ECEC staff involved in, and informed about, the process as they took over the new buildings, and how were daily routines established in the new ECEC centres?

The results reveal that staff who worked in the new buildings had very little knowledge about the intentions of the design of the new ECEC centres. Moreover, the staff only received limited support regarding establishing the pedagogical work in the new physical frameworks. According to the authors, the results indicate that the aim of the architects and decision makers to reform the ECEC centre design seemed to be more pronounced than their ability to explain to the staff the structure and context of the building, even though the staff was to use the building in practice. This illustrates that physical changes alone do not result in change of practice. How different types of ECEC centre buildings are used depends on the experience, perception and skills of the ECEC staff.

The authors conclude that the results of the study stress the importance of involving staff in changes that include the physical frameworks of the ECEC centre.

The researchers interviewed two architects, one district representative (enhetsleder) and four ECEC centre leaders (fagledere/styrer) from three different ECEC centres (barnehage). The three ECEC centres serve as cases. In addition, the empirical material consists of observations and documents that were key for the planning process and the construction of the new ECEC centres, as well as of data from focus group meetings and observations from another district. The data collected from another district was used as a frame of reference which can reflect and confirm the findings from the three case ECEC centres.

Evenstad, R. & Becher, A.A. (2015). Arkitektur og pedagogikk i samspill eller motspill? – om betydning av koherens mellom planlegging og etablering av nye typer barnehagebygg. Nordisk Barnehageforskning 10(2), 1-20.