The Role of the Educational Conversation in Succeeding in Undergraduate Kindergarten Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper investigates an institutional practice of the educational conversation that is a part of the undergraduate kindergarten teacher education program at a Norwegian university. The formal goal connected to this practice is to facilitate students coping with their courses of study. Thus, this paper reconstructs the perspectives of the teacher educators and the students regarding this practice and reconstructs its various supportive qualities. The core of the support derived from the educational conversation stems from transforming the formal, professional, and institutional expectations of the kindergarten teacher education program into the personal motivation of the students. Reflecting on better conditions for the educational conversation is connected to ethical reflections on the power relations and influence that face-to-face meetings with experienced teachers who listen can have on students particularly in the era of mass education.