Barnehagen som arena for sosial utvikling - en pilotstudie In FoU i praksis (pp. 275-284).

This pilot study is part of a longitudinal development study of children’s social development, launched by Atferdssenteret, The
Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development. The goal of the pilot study is to identify potential indicators in kindergarten which can be significant for the social development of the youngest children (one-four years). The potential indicators were identified using recent research into toddlers and kindergartens, and the following areas turned out to be potentially relevant: Social environment of the kindergarten, staff’s understanding of quality, physical environment of the kindergarten, the kindergarten’s organisation and time management, organisation of the child group, competences of the kindergarten staff and organisation climate of the kindergarten.

The study concludes that it was difficult to find potential meaningful indicators with adequate statistical dispersion. Only 20 out of 89 questions in the pilot form met the dispersion criterion set for the study. Nevertheless the pilot study generated valuable experience in relation to the preparation of indicators and methodological assessments. To a large extent, results support the theoretical perspectives, which form the basis for the choice of indicator. The study has identified indicators of structural qualities, children's possibilities for action and the staff’s qualifications and skills. These include: noise, composition of the group of children, the age composition of the children in the group, the number of children in the group, pedagogical child-adult ratio, the size and organisation of the kindergarten, the kindergarten structure (the daily routines and weekly schedule), the children's access to different rooms, play environments, toys and materials, the staff’s view on children, the institution's use of substitute child carers, staff turnover and staff competences. The largest spread emerged in connection with
structural qualities, such as the size of the kindergarten, age composition of the child group, number of children, number of employees and the kindergarten’s organisation of time and space. Conditions such as children’s access to different types of rooms, games and material also showed some variation between the kindergartens. More specifically results were: Regarding the physical environment of the kindergarten, the games listed in the questionnaire were only available in 10 kindergartens at all times. Regarding the kindergarten’s organisation and time management, in half of the institutions the social pedagogues alone decided the time for mealtimes.

The study uses mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative data collection) consisting of questionnaire surveys, in-depth interviews and vignette/case methodology. 

Martinsen, M. T.; Moser, T.; Janson, H.; Nærde, A. (2009). Barnehagen som arena for sosial utvikling - en pilotstudie In FoU i praksis (pp. 275-284) Oslo: Tapir Akademisk Forlag.