Conversations in the crèche: Interaction patterns between children and preschool teachers in nine Danish crèches

Author
Hansen, O. H.
Year
2020

Purpose

The study investigates patterns in the interaction between kindergarten teachers and children between the ages of 10 and 24 months in Danish kindergartens, The aim is to understand more about the relationship between interaction patterns and kindergarten teachers’ pedagogical decisions.

Result

Interaction patterns varied noticeably between the nine toddler departments. The factor that had the most positive or negative effect was the number of children per kindergarten teacher. The fewer children per adult, the longer the duration and the higher the quality of interactions. This highlights the importance of decisions made in kindergarten with regard to the organisation of activities and group sizes. If the kindergarten teacher has fewer children to take care of, this provides the possibility of more and better interaction between child and adult.

Design

The study is based on one-year observations in toddler departments at nine different but homogeneous Danish kindergartens. A total of 26 children (12 girls and 14 boys) from homogeneous childhood environments and their kindergarten teachers were involved in the study. The researcher spent 182 hours observing (1561 observations) and used a checklist to document relevant interactions (8040 documented interaction targets).

References

Hansen, O. H. (2020). “Conversations in the crèche: Interaction patterns between children and preschool teachers in nine Danish crèches”. International Research in Early Childhood Education, 10(2):43-60.