Undervisning i barnehagen?

The study has the following two purposes: 1) to gain knowledge about how early childhood educators organise learning in practice within the subjects science, the environment and technology, and 2) to gain an understanding of the reasoning behind the early childhood educators’ practice.

The study identifies a number of discourses in the data material which to greater or lesser degrees were identified by the early childhood educators in relation to the subjects science, the environment and technology at the daycare centre. The following discourses were dominant: 1) outdoor discourse, in which the natural world is highlighted as an important space for working with the subjects. 2) experience and exploration discourse, in which it is considered important that children experience and discover nature, use their senses when they are in the natural world, as well as question and explore nature. 3) activity discourse, containing two types of activities; one type in which the children are free to play, e.g. climb trees, and one type with activities controlled by adults with a more clear natural science content such as studying earthworms digging corridors in the soil. 4) a discourse on planning and support, in which the pedagogical staff meet and support the child’s wonder and curiosity in an appreciative manner and ask new questions that make the child wonder even more. 5) a discourse focusing on the interests of the child/the child’s right to exert influence, and in which the curiosity and interests of the child form the basis for learning processes at the daycare centre. 6) a discourse on the curious child, in which the curious and competent child develops on its own and learns through direct experiences with its surroundings. 7) a discourse on the intrinsic value of childhood, in which childhood is viewed as a stage valuable in itself and not as a preliminary stage to school life. Discourses 1-7 can be gathered under an eighth discourse named 8) discourse on the good Norwegian childhood, which involves the idea that the child is entitled to develop and play in nature without too much management and control from adults. The less dominant discourses were: 9) a subject discourse, i.e. specific learning within the subject, e.g. teaching the children the names of animals and plants, and 10) an education discourse, in which the children’s positive experiences in nature at daycare age will form a good basis for developing their interest for natural sciences and which later will motivate the children to learn more.

This study is a qualitative study, in which data was collected from a Norwegian daycare centre. The daycare centre consists of four departments with children aged one to six years. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with six early childhood educators aged 25 to 45 years, with varying work experience. Both genders and all four departments are represented in the respondent group. The interviews were based on various video footage of pedagogical practices with a science focus. The video footage was either produced by the researchers or by the respondents, who filmed different activities with a science theme over a period of five months. Data was analysed using discourse analysis.

Hammer, A.S.E. (2012). Undervisning i barnehagen? I: Ødegaard, E.E. (red.). Barnehagen som danningsarena (s. 223-244) Oslo: Fagbokforlaget.