Kindergartens: inclusive spaces for all children?

Norwegian Kindergartens are seen as one of the most important social infrastructures for all children below five years. Kindergarten attendance is a legal right for children from the age of one year in Norway, and consequently 97 per cent of children aged four to five years attend these institutions. However, we still have little knowledge to what extent children regardless of abilities can develop social capital and experience inclusion in Kindergarten. Our point of departure is a human rights perspective on children and a relational perspective on disability and materiality. Through a cross sectional multi-method study design, based on qualitative methods, we, in collaboration with children with and without disabilities identified which places indoors and outdoors these children defined to be comfortable and inclusive spaces, and what characterise them. All children preferred stable organisational structure, physically small places equipped with different types of construction materials and available and reliable staff. Children showed that (dis)abilities are a spatial phenomenon and thereby guide inclusive pedagogy closer to the dynamic between children, place, and space. Children’s preferences and meaning-making contrasts the pedagogical epistemology which manifests itself as fluid and flexible organisation, based on children’s ‘free choice’.publishedVersio

MODIFIKASI PERMAINAN UNO SEBAGAI ALTERNATIF BAHAN PEMBELAJARAN PENJUMLAHAN DAN PENGURANGAN BAGI SISWA KELAS I SEKOLAH DASAR

Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh 3 hal, yaitu pentingnya ilmu matematika dalam kehidupan, pandangan siswa mengenai pelajaran matematika yang sulit dan tidak disukai, dan adanya keinginan peneliti untuk mengahsilkan bahan pembelajaran yang menarik. Tak dapat dipungkiri bahwa dunia anak tak bisa dipisahkan dari permainan. Permainan uno merupakan permainan kartu yang sering dijumpai di kalangan pelajar ataupun mahasiswa. Permainan cocok dijadikan sumber belajar bagi siswa. Pemilihan dan pengadaan bahan ajar sangat perlu dilakukan oleh seorang pendidik agar proses belajar mengajar dapat berjalan dengan baik. Bahan ajar berfungsi sebagai alat dan sarana dalam penyampaian materi ajar, sehingga bahan ajar merupakan faktor penting dalam keberhasilan pencapaian indikator pada proses pembelajaran. Permainan uno dapat dijadikan sebagai alternatif bahan pembelajaran penjumlahan dan pengurangan pada siswa kelas 1 Sekolah Dasar. Permainan kartu uno tersebut dimodifikasi sesuai dengan standar kompetensi, kompetensi dasar, dan tujuan pembelajaran. Permainan ini bernama “Uno Math”. Uno Math dapat melatih siswa dalam melakukan penjumlahan dan pengurangan, namun sebelumnya guru harus memberikan pemahaman konsep mengenai penjumlahan dan pengurangan terlebih dahulu. Pemahaman konsep dapat diberikan dengan benda-benda konkret, seperti kartu kancing, pensil, lidi, atau kelereng

Feeling Valued and Adding Value : A Participatory Action Research Project on Co-creating Practices of Social Inclusion in Kindergartens and Communities

Background: Contemporary public health problems connect to the social determinants of health, with a growing recognition of social inclusion as imperative to sustainable development. In this quest for social inclusion, early childhood and families are of particular interest. Although co-creation is suggested as viable path to support well-being, less is known how social inclusion might be co-created in practice. The aim of this study was to explore how Participatory Action Research (PAR) can be a tool for transformative practices in a local community, pointing to kindergartens as meeting places for recognizing social inclusion as a common value in early childhood. Methods: A qualitative PAR study was embedded in a Norwegian municipality as an integrated part of their local public health work. The study involved a wide range of participants and stakeholders in three kindergartens and the wider community. Together, we explored potentials for co-creating social inclusion to achieve well-being through cycles of transformative actions and reflections. Reflexive thematic analysis was applied to generate patterns and themes in the data. Results: The participants formulated and took on ownership to an inclusive agenda through the PAR-process. Acts of inclusion was framed by an intersection between political aims of achieving health and well-being for all and public value co-creation unfolding at the level of the place, in the context of the Norwegian welfare regime. To feel valued and adding value was seen as important aspects for social inclusion. Four themes were generated from analysis; (1) Co-creating a shared vision of inclusive communities, (2) Becoming aware and empowered through caring, sharing and collaboration, (3) Places and spaces of inclusiveness in kindergartens and beyond, and (4) Valuing and practicing inclusion, and signs of transformative change. Conclusions: Through the PAR process, parents, kindergartens employees, community members and policy makers appear to have opened a creative toolbox for inclusive and transformational change through formulating and co-creating inclusion and well-being as public values. The results suggest that local actors might support adaptive social systems to taking on relational responsibility for inclusive processes and outcomes in the pursuit of well-being for all.publishedVersio

«If you give them your little finger, they’ll tear off your entire arm» : losing trust in biobank research

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Development and change in disabled children's social participation assessed by parents in Norwegian daycare centres: 1999 - 2009

The aim of the article was to explore if htere was any alteration in social participation with peers assessed by parents amongst children with disabilities from 1999 - 2009 and discuss the results in light of the education/welfare policies during the last decades, and internal developments in education/welfare policies regarding children under compulsory school age. The main finding is that disabled children have increased their social participation with peers in the period from 1999 - 2009. Gender, age and being in a segregated daycare setting, all had significant impact on participation with peers in 1999, but had lost their significance in 2009. The current study found that Norwegian daycare centres still have to be considered as social integrating institutions, even though in the period from 1999 to 2009, they have changed from being a care- and familily-supportive service to become a pedagogical service preparing children for school.submittedVersio

Health promotion and Identity Construction in Norwegian Kindergartens - A qualitiative Study in Children with and without Disabilities

This article focuses on how children, independent of abilities, create healthy identities and spaces in kindergarten, and is based on a qualitative CGT-study carried out in Norwegian Kindergartens. Data sources include Life-form interviews with 24 children, with and without disabilities. Children placed health in the context of their daily-life experiences. They underlined the importance of aspiring to social well-being and creating healthy spaces through internally driven physical exertion and child-controlled activities. Children described how they relate to the staff’s restrictions and legal requirements as “the staff” versus “we, the children”. They advocate for the staff’s engagement in play and activities.Health promotion and Identity Construction in Norwegian Kindergartens - A qualitiative Study in Children with and without DisabilitiespublishedVersio

Whose voices matter? Use, misuse and non-use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) among severely disabled children living in small group homes.

The article explores whether and how severely disabled children living in small group homes are supported in their communicative efforts to participate and have a voice in their everyday lives. The study, framed within a human right’s perspective, is inspired by Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of the body. The empirical data material has been collected through a multi-method approach, including participant observation of everyday interactions between the children and staff in the group homes and semi-structured interviews with staff and parents. Our findings reveal that children and adolescents are communicative subjects who initiate different means to convey their messages and opinions. However, the staff appear to have little awareness and competence in communicative interactions and use of AAC, which have left the young residents marginalised and ignored. The discussion focuses on how the institutional context can support as well as impede on the children’s abilities to develop and employ their full range of communicative capabilities and exercise their human rights

The pandemic as a trigger for decolonizing classroom teaching in qualitative health research?

Teaching qualitative methods for health science students, we have previously focused on the importance of physical presence in data collection and interaction between researcher and study participants. Such presence has also been vital in our pedagogy where we have urged students to be present at lectures and doing practical assignments for qualitative methods in order to be able to reflect upon interaction and construction of knowledge that happens within qualitative research. Due to the pandemic, our teaching had to move to digital platforms. The change in teaching format has shown promise for decolonizing classrooms through providing an opportunity for students at satellite campuses or those living in remote areas. In a country like Norway with scattered population this is an important contribution when we know that especially boys growing up in rural areas to a lesser degree graduate from universities, while girls go to the cities and graduates and never return to the rural areas. Digital teaching also promote knowledge on qualitative health research in these areas. Prior to the pandemic, our on-campus teaching was streamed to two other campuses across Norway. During the pandemic, all students were given the opportunity to follow digital teaching from their home, and we started to record lectures so they could be seen independent of time and space, which was of particular importance for students working in health services during the pandemic. Students who had previously followed streamed lectures at the satellite campuses increased their satisfaction due to a more equal offer where all students could ask questions through the chat or microphone, which tells us they might have felt marginalized before the pandemic. Moreover, international students attending global health programs has not been able to move physically to Norway, and by offering digital teaching we avoid delay in their study-progress but missed out the possibility to meet them and observe non-verbal communication. When teaching qualitative health research, we aim to make students reflect upon diverse knowledge and perspectives. In our course, we are gathering students from different health professions, which provides experiences from different fields of knowledge. Our course reading list includes articles with empirical examples from different professional fields. However, during the sudden need to convert our teaching to digital platforms, we have left out the attention to more diverse ways of knowing/doing qualitative research. Rather, we have focused on a multitude of technological solutions – which may allow for diverse ways of knowing (YouTube videos with international colleagues, including interactive activities as  Mentimeter, Kahoote, or Padlet). The new practices we have developed will impact our future teaching through new evaluations on which subjects that are suitable for flipped-classroom or fully developed e-learning, and which subjects gain the best learning outcomes through physical meetings with technology assisted activities. However, at present, we have lost some of the spontaneity and the creative process when interacting physically. This specifically concerns losing the informal interaction with students during a break, including questions students ask that they feel too shy to ask within the larger group. One important challenge lies in the teaching staff’s working conditions since there is not much time for creative pedagogy through new technologies. The competencies in technology seem to be inversely proportional to age/year of research which may make us loose important research experience and critical thinking

Kindergartens: inclusive spaces for all children?

Norwegian Kindergartens are seen as one of the most important social infrastructures for all children below five years. Kindergarten attendance is a legal right for children from the age of one year in Norway, and consequently 97 per cent of children aged four to five years attend these institutions. However, we still have little knowledge to what extent children regardless of abilities can develop social capital and experience inclusion in Kindergarten. Our point of departure is a human rights perspective on children and a relational perspective on disability and materiality. Through a cross sectional multi-method study design, based on qualitative methods, we, in collaboration with children with and without disabilities identified which places indoors and outdoors these children defined to be comfortable and inclusive spaces, and what characterise them. All children preferred stable organisational structure, physically small places equipped with different types of construction materials and available and reliable staff. Children showed that (dis)abilities are a spatial phenomenon and thereby guide inclusive pedagogy closer to the dynamic between children, place, and space. Children’s preferences and meaning-making contrasts the pedagogical epistemology which manifests itself as fluid and flexible organisation, based on children’s ‘free choice’