Purpose
The study investigates how Norway’s Minister of Education and Research, supported by the Ministry of Education and Research, attempts to change the public discourse on mathematics education in kindergartens from an educational welfare tradition to a tradition that prepares children for school. The author analyses how the minister, using media strategies, constructs an audience that is concerned about mathematics and science teaching in Norwegian kindergartens.
Result
The author claims that the Minister of Education and Research’s press releases promote a discourse in which a shift from an educational welfare tradition to a school-preparation tradition in kindergarten mathematics teaching is seen as common sense and as a necessary development. The author claims that in doing so, the minister offers a political solution to a constructed problem. These political solutions will in turn change Norwegian kindergarten ideology.
Design
The investigation is part of a larger research project that studies the mediation of Norwegian policymaking in the field of kindergarten mathematics. This study analyses press releases concerning kindergartens and mathematics published on the Ministry of Education and Research’s website on 18 March 2016. After a search was conducted using the keywords ‘mathematics’, ‘kindergarten’ and ‘science’, 12 press releases were analysed.
References
Lange, T. (2019). “Unpacking the Emperor’s New Policies: How More Mathematics in Early Childhood Will Save Norway”. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education,19(1):8–20.