Legeværksteder i overgangen fra børnehave til skole: Børn som medskabere af ´passende´ deltagelse

Abstract

Succeskriteriet for en vellykket skolestart er, at alle børn oplever trivsel i skolen og finder motivation for at deltage engageret i skolens aktiviteter. Med afsæt i et empirisk studie af 95 kommende skolebørns og 12 dagtilbudspædagogers deltagelse i fem legeværksteder på den lokale skole viser artiklen, hvordan børn i deres møde med skolens forventninger handler, udveksler og tager del i de rammesatte konstruktionslege – og derigennem aktivt skaber relationer og trivsel. Artiklen argumenterer gennem deltagelsesteori og klassisk antropologisk teori om social udveksling for, at børn kan mødes som aktører og skolestart anskues som en bestyrkende begivenhed. Indsigterne viser nødvendigheden af, at professionelle har blik for børns sociale udvekslings- og deltagelsesstrategier med henblik på at støtte dem i skiftet fra børnehave til skole ud fra en bred forståelse af ’passende’ deltagelse.

English abstract

Play workshops in transition from kindergarten to school: Children as co-producers of ‘appropriate’ participation

A criterion for a successful school start is that children are motivated to join and participate in school activities and that they experience a sense well-being at school. An empirical study was performed including 95 future school children and 12 ECEC pedagogues, who participated in five play workshops at their local school. The workshops were followed by participant observation. The article shows how children exchange and engage in pedagogically framed play with construction materials in a variety of ways, thus actively creating relationships and well-being. With reference to theory on participation, as well as classical anthropological theory of social exchange, we argue that children are agents and that starting school is an empowering event. We call for professionals to keep an eye on children’s strategies for social exchange and participation so that they may better support children`s transitions from ECEC to school on the basis of a broad understanding of ‘appropriate’ participation.