Jakten på det kompetenta barnet.

The purpose of the study is to examine which areas are given focus in the pedagogical documentation in daycare facilities, and to study what characterises communication between pedagogical staff and the children in situations in which documentation is simultaneously being prepared.

The study shows that four patterns can be identified in pedagogical documentation and the communication between educators and children. The first pattern (1) is when the child is the initiator. Here there is almost no communication between the educator and the child; the educator is a silent observer of the child’s actions and only gives short instructions or asks a few questions. The second pattern (2) relates solely to the educator’s focus on the child’s performance. That is, focus is only on the child’s performance in the documentation. The third pattern (3) relates to how educators see the child as a study object solely to achieve their own learning goals. Communication is steered by strategic objectives to get the children to perform activities that are very abstract. The fourth and last pattern (4) relates to encouraging the children to perform specific and concrete activities, e.g. encouraging the children to play with Lego.

Through video footage, the study examines the pedagogical documentation performed in daycare facilities. The aim is to learn which areas are given focus in the documentation, and what characterises the communication between pedagogical staff and children in pedagogical documentation. The video footage was recorded at two daycare facilities that regularly conduct pedagogical documentation. A total of 30 children aged between one and three and seven early childhood educators were observed. The researchers examine what is documented and whether there are patterns in the communication between the educators and the children. Both the verbal and the non-verbal communication in the form of facial expressions, looks, gesticulation and attitudes are noted, and variations and similarities are recorded.

Emilsson, A. & Samuelsson, I.P. (2012). Jakten på det kompetenta barnet. Nordisk Barnehageforskning 5 (21), 1-16.