Barnehagens vegger som danningsagenter – en komparativ analyse.

On the basis of two daycare facilities, one in Norway and one in China, the purpose of this study is to examine and compare ideals about the child’s formative years, as these are expressed by the artifacts that the respective daycare facilities have chosen to display on their walls, e.g. pictures and posters.

The study shows that the Chinese and Norwegian educators have difficulties understanding each other’s choices with regard to the artefacts they have chosen to display. For example, the Chinese teachers have difficulties understanding why the teachers at the Norwegian daycare facility choose to display all of the children's’ drawings. In contrast, the Norwegian teachers have difficulties understanding why the Chinese facility chooses only to display the best of the children’s drawings. The study concludes that the Chinese daycare, through its choice of artefacts, aims to train the children to develop good and considerate habits, perfection and a feeling of responsibility towards each other. According to Chinese formative ideals, a child is expected to live up to the expectations of two parents and four grandparents, and furthermore must abide by key virtues such as charity, fairness, good behaviour, wisdom and honesty. In contrast, in the Norwegian daycare facility the aim is to allow children to express themselves, to be seen and heard with view to allowing them to realise themselves and develop an identity and an affinity to the daycare facility. According to Western formative ideals, in addition to acquiring skills and knowledge, a child is also expected to develop a “self”. The study reveals great differences between the way in which the two facilities use and understand artefacts. In the Chinese daycare facility, where the adult-child ratio is 1-15, the many signs on the walls serve as instructions for how to do things, e.g. how to use scissors when cutting, how to tidy up and how to wash hands. The signs are meant to help the children incorporate good habits. Every centimetre of the walls is used, and the teachers spend a great deal of time on designing clear signs. When the teachers decorate the walls, they do so with a view to gaining recognition from both parents and from other external parties, e.g. in connection with an evaluation of the facility. According to the teachers, an aesthetic presentation of the facility can contribute to a positive evaluation. In the Norwegian daycare facility, where the adult-child ratio is 1-6, the artefacts on display consist of the children’s own drawings and paintings as well as collages from theme days where both children and adults work together. In addition to this, there are a number of photographs of the children in the facility on the walls.

The study is based on two daycare facilities, one in Norway and one in China. The data material consists of photographs of the walls in the two facilities, i.e. pictures, symbols, signs, writing and other artefacts. These photographs were used to prepare two semi-structured focus-group interviews with five early childhood educators from the daycare facilities. During the first interview, focus was on the artefacts from the educators’ own daycare facility. During the second interview, the educators were asked to consider photos from the other daycare facility. When analysing the data, “organisational theory” was used as a tool with which to understand the artefacts as an expression of historical and cultural traditions, routines, norms and valuation.

Birkeland, Å. (2012). Barnehagens vegger som danningsagenter – en komparativ analyse. I: Ødegaard, E.E. (red.). Barnehagen som danningsarena (s. 157-180). Oslo: Fagbokforlaget.