«Kulturelt mangfald i det fysiske leikemiljøet i barnehagen»

Abstract

In this bachelor thesis, we have chosen to take a closer look at how the physical play-environment in kindergarten is designed, and how the cultural diversity in the group of children is represented in the available play materials. There is an increasing number of multicultural children in Norwegian kindergartens today, and having knowledge about how to best meet these children’s needs when it comes to their ability to interact with each other, is crucial. To investigate how kindergartens meet these needs, we have used a qualitative approach by conducting observations in two units of a kindergarten, in addition to interviewing three pedagogical leaders to gain insight into the extent to which cultural diversity is emphasized when designing the units, and what perspectives they have on the topic. Through our investigations, we found that the units we observed had little play materials that represents a multicultural group of children. A majority of the materials were strongly cultural coded and had a direct link to children`s television shows and other cohesions to the majority culture of the kindergarten. Based on our findings, we can establish that these units were formed based on a monocultural mindset. If the kindergarten is to be an important social play arena, as stated in the Kindergartens Act/framework plan, the staff in the kindergartens must arrange the play environment so that each individual child can experience good interaction situations. Based on relevant theory, our own empiricism, as well as others research in the field, a reflective summary of this thesis raises some thoughts about whether or not Norwegian kindergartens fulfills their social mandate which is imposed on them through the Kindergarten Act.