Med blicken på möten: Martin Bubers pedagogiska idé i dialog med förskolans praktik

The purpose of the thesis is to develop in-depth knowledge about, and an empirically based understanding of, meetings between children and kindergarten teachers in kindergartens. The thesis contains two sub-studies. Based on the importance of meetings in pedagogical practice, the first sub-study focuses on what happens to dialogues in which more children join the situation where the dialogue takes place. The following research questions are answered in sub-study 1:

• How can different types of measures to increase the number of participants in an ongoing dialogue be understood from a perspective of taking turns?
• How can participating children’s content focus be related to the content of the ongoing dialogue?
• How are dialogues between children and educators affected when more children join the dialogue, and how do the educators act in these situations?
• What emerges as being important for how the dialogue is affected by more children joining it?

The second sub-study addresses the prerequisites for pedagogical meetings, which include both relational and knowledge-related dimensions. The following questions are answered:

• What aspects of the educator’s actions can be understood as an expression of Buber’s projection of prerequisites for pedagogical meetings?
• What aspects of kindergarten practice seem to be important for the possibilities of pedagogical meetings?
• How can relational and knowledge-related dimensions be understood as being intertwined in meetings between children and educators in kindergarten?

The results of the first sub-study show that when a new child joins, dialogues can either (1) be interrupted, (2) be interrupted and resumed with a new participant, (3) be interrupted and resumed without a new participant or (4) continue without a new participant. The kindergarten teacher’s actions in these situations seem to have the greatest effect on the outcome.

The results of the second sub-study show that the actions that create the best prerequisites for pedagogical meetings are often everyday actions and spontaneous. Actions related to attention, tolerance, affirmation and extension are essential. These actions often occur at the same time and are influenced by the children’s actions.

Seen in context, these results provide opportunities to express and emphasise how small, everyday actions on the part of the kindergarten teacher can be seen as being fundamental for pedagogical encounters, which create relationships and knowledge, taking place in kindergarten.

Both sub-studies are based on participatory observation and video documentation from a Swedish kindergarten with 52 children between the ages of one and six and ten female kindergarten teachers. Among other things, the researcher observed mealtimes, free play indoors and outdoor activities that were partly led by educators.

Fredriksson, M. (2019). “Med blicken på möten: Martin Bubers pedagogiska idé i dialog med förskolans praktik”. Akademisk avhandling. Högskolan Dalarna.