Læreroppfatninger om endring. En studie av barnehagelæreres perspektiver på språkdidaktisk utviklingsarbeid

The study investigates and discusses kindergarten teachers’ perspectives on language didactic development work in kindergartens. The research questions are: 1) What type of perceptions do kindergarten teachers have about changes in language didactic practices? 2) What relevance can the perceptions have for language didactic development work in kindergartens?

The results show that three perspectives in particular seem to be important in kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of change work. One perspective that is highlighted is that there can be large variations in the staff’s understanding of and knowledge about language and language work. Secondly, the kindergarten teachers point to the importance of building professional communities linked to language didactic practices. The third perspective is linked to the fact that change work is time-consuming and resource-intensive. The researchers believe there is scope for the development of language didactic practices when perceptions are made explicit and professional teacher communities are built.

The article presents findings from a qualitative case study of three experienced kindergarten teachers. The kindergarten teachers participated in a further education programme in pedagogical development work in kindergartens with a focus on linguistic diversity. The researchers behind the study were the people running the course.The three kindergarten teachers were the project managers for each of their own development projects in their own kindergartens. The data material consists of individual interviews with the kindergarten teachers at the start, middle and end of the project. In addition, group interviews were conducted with the three kindergarten teachers and other employees from the kindergartens they worked in. Written reports from the development work and audio recordings from the kindergarten teachers’ oral presentations of the development work for teachers in other kindergartens were also collected.

Alstad, G. T., Randen, G. T. & Aasen, S. F. (2020). «Læreroppfatninger om endring. En studie av barnehagelæreres perspektiver på språkdidaktisk utviklingsarbeid». NOA - norsk som andrespråk, 36(2):43–64.