Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how educators reason and stimulate children's learning in relation to the children's own interests. Focus is on (1) how preschool teachers guide children's participation as a process towards stimulating children's learning, (2) how educators confirm and safeguard children's interests for the benefit of the children's development, and (3) how educators handle challenges concerning respect for the children's interests and participation in relation to policy-objective management of preschool content.
Result
The analyses in the study show that the educators reason and stimulate children's learning on the basis of two didactic principles: Subsequent guidance and enticing modification. The principle of subsequent guidance means that educators are flexible and attentive to children's interests and questions, as they capture children's interests and continue with what the children have turned their own attention towards. However, the principle of enticing modification entails that the educators entice the children towards the type of knowledge that they believe the children need, and this is based on their conception of the children’s interests. By doing this, the educators modify what the children are interested in, and adapt this to the learning objectives of the preschool. According to the author, among other things this means that the educators are less flexible with regard to the children and their interests. The author finds both principles to be part of the everyday life of preschool, as the educators' ways of guiding the children in everyday life overlap.
The study shows that children are governed by the educators, but they can also influence everyday activities in preschool. According to the author, the results of the study reveal that the educators try to balance between prioritised content in everyday activities governed by pedagogical learning objectives, and the children's own interests. The educators' focus shifts between the individual child and policy-objective management of preschool content. The study also shows that educators handle the different challenges that arise in their endeavours to confirm the children's interests in relation to the learning objectives by trying to create a meeting between children and learning objectives. According to the author, this happens in different ways, for example by overcoming culturally entrenched structural barriers, by forming serious but joyful learning environments, by guiding the children using fiction and uniting and separating different kinds of knowledge. The challenges here are about the educators having to balance between the children's many different interests.
Design
The empirical foundation of the study consists of 54 days of field work in two preschools (förskolor) with children aged 2½-5 years. A total of 47 children and 15 educators (förskollärare, barnskötare, grundlärare and förskolechef) took part in the study. The author observed different everyday activities and interactions between children and educators about language, mathematics, natural science and technology. The empirical material consists of observations and field notes, video observations as well as conversations and interviews with the participating educators. The analysis is based on socio-cultural perspectives and Barbara Rogoff's system of concepts on guided participation.
References
Thörner, A. (2017). ”Vi kan inte bara utgå från barnens intresse”: Pedagogers guidning av barns intresse i förhållande till förskolans målstyrning. Licentiatuppsats. Borås: Högskolan i Borås.