”Play in the kindergarten: The case of Norway, Sweden, New Zealand and Japan”.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether and to which extent 'pedagogy of play' is included in the pre-school curricula for kindergartens in Norway, Sweden, Japan and New Zealand because curricula reflect the respective governments' expectations for play in kindergarten. The countries have been chosen because they all have a tradition for play in kindergarten and have signed the UN convention on children's right to play. Additionally, the researcher finds that it is relevant to conduct a comparison across geography and culture. According to the author, pedagogy of play entails that play and pedagogy appear as a linked phenomenon and that the idea of playing and learning as dichotomous concepts is dispelled.

The author finds that the Swedish curriculum sees play as an integral part of everyday life in kindergarten and thus takes a holistic view of play. In the Norwegian curriculum, free play has a good basis since it states that child carers should encourage play that is based on the needs and wishes of the children. Both the Norwegian and the New Zealand curricula include all three approaches to play, i.e. free play, play organised by the child carer and co-initiated play, and the author therefore concludes that the curricula contain pedagogy of play. However, in Japan, play is linked to learning and the author concludes that the conditions for pedagogy of play are not present.

The data material consists of curricula for kindergartens in Norway, Sweden, Japan and New Zealand. The author reviews curricula from the four countries which include passages about child carers' work with play and learning, and compares the emphasis rendered by each country on pedagogy of play in the scope of the respective curricula. The analysis is based on the categories: free play (where the children take the initiative), play organised by child carers (where the child carer is in control and links play to the curriculum), and finally mutually-initiated play (where the initiative is divided between children and child carers and the child carers focus on the learning of children without changing the game).

Synodi, E. (2010). ”Play in the kindergarten: The case of Norway, Sweden, New Zealand and Japan”. International Journal of Early Years Education, 18(3), 185-200.