Mapping a collaborative cartography of the encounters between the neurosciences and early childhood education practices

The aim of the study is to investigate the effects neuroscientific knowledge may have (or may not have) on kindergarten practices to develop children’s literacy skills. The study also focuses on the benefits of staff taking part in reflection meetings in which they discuss and create open, dynamic maps of how neuroscientific knowledge affects their ways of thinking about their practices. The study compiles challenges that were identified and mapped in these collaborative and reflective meetings.

The results show that it is possible to combine established and dominant ways of thinking with new theories through collaboration between researchers and kindergarten employees, in this case the combination of neuroscience and education. Increased knowledge about the human brain places a renewed spotlight on the individual child and learning, in contrast to the current focus of Swedish kindergartens on the child’s learning as part of a collective environment. The researchers argue that one does not have to choose between the two approaches, but rather can combine them in new ways, in close collaboration with kindergarten employees, children and parents.

One of the researchers observed everyday activities in three different Swedish kindergartens over a period of nine months. In addition, she actively participated in the staff’s weekly evaluation meetings in which the employees planned, evaluated and discussed activities in everyday kindergarten life. In the meetings, both the researcher’s field notes from the observation and excerpts from neuroscience articles relevant to everyday kindergarten life were mapped and discussed. The scientific article excerpts were sometimes used as a contrast to existing literacy practices, but more often it turned out that they could be linked to established practices.

Aronsson, L. & Taguchi, H. L. (2018). “Mapping a collaborative cartography of the encounters between the neurosciences and early childhood education practices”. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 39(2):241-157.