”Hverdagssamtalene – barnehagens glemte læringsarena?”

The purpose of this study is to examine how child carers invite the child to take part actively in everyday conversations and through words formulate what the child thinks and believes. Moreover, the author aims at examining how such conversations contribute to the child’s learning. Focus is specifically on everyday conversations, spontaneous conversations during non-planned interaction between children and adults in connection with play activities, during meals, in the cloakroom and in the toilet.

The study shows that the everyday conversations at daycare centres between child carers/student child carers and children are often characterised by questions that can be answered with a yes or a no. Not many questions are asked which challenge the children’s mental processes. The children are not challenged enough to formulate long sentences or to express thoughts and opinions or to talk about feelings. The study also shows that the children that speak loudest are given more room to speak in the conversations, whereas quiet and shy children are often overlooked. On the basis of this study, the author concludes that it is important that child carers possess knowledge about how to invite children into linguistic activity. Child carers have to ask open questions and questions which challenge the children in a cognitive manner in connection with conversations about intangible subjects. Finally, the study concludes that quiet children must be supported by the adults so they are heard in the everyday conversations

Eight hours of video footage over a period of four months were recorded by the author to establish the character of a daycare centre’s everyday conversations between child carers and children at the ages of three-six years old. This data collection was followed up by sound recordings of everyday conversations in small groups with children and 46 student child carers. The sound recordings were recorded by the students themselves. The transcribed recordings were sorted into the categories open and closed questions to analyse what ways of communicating the student child carers used to involve the children in the conversations.

Gjems, L. (2011). ”Hverdagssamtalene – barnehagens glemte læringsarena?” I: Gjems, L. & Løkken, G. (red.): Barns læring om språk og gjennom språk. Samtaler i barnehagen. Oslo: Cappelen Damm. Gjems, L. (2011). “Why explanations matter: a study of co-construction of explanations between teachers and children in everyday conversations in kindergarten”. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 19(4), 501–513.