Í þessari grein er fjallað um samstarfsrannsókn sem fram fór í einum leikskóla á
höfuðborgarsvæðinu. Þátttakendur í leikskólanum voru fimm ásamt meistaranema
og kennara frá Menntavísindaviði Háskóla Íslands. Rannsóknin er hluti af
samstarfsverkefni RannUng (Rannsóknarstofu í menntunarfræðum ungra barna)
og fimm leikskóla víðs vegar um höfuðborgarsvæðið. Rannsóknin bar vinnuheitið
Mat á námi og vellíðan barna en samkvæmt Aðalnámskrá leikskóla (Mennta- og
menningarmálaráðuneytið, 2012) ber starfsfólki leikskóla að meta nám og vellíðan
barna og var markmiðið með rannsókninni að þróa matsaðferðir í leikskólastarfi
í þeim tilgangi. Þátttakendur hvers leikskóla höfðu frjálsar hendur varðandi val á
áherslum og aðferðum. Í öllum leikskólunum var unnið með námssöguskráningar en
þátttakendur í umræddum leikskóla völdu þá leið að þróa mat á námi og vellíðan barna
með rafrænum námssöguskráningum. Fyrir valinu varð forritið Book Creator þar sem
þátttakendur þekktu það og höfðu unnið með það í spjaldtölvum. Leikskólinn er
heilsuleikskóli og er skráning í Heilsubók barnsins helsta matsaðferð hans. Þátttakendur
völdu að kanna hvort rafræn námssöguskráning myndi henta vel með Heilsubók barnsins
og styðja við skráningar í hana. Gagnaöflun fór fram með viðtölum bæði við upphaf
og lok rannsóknarinnar, skráningu í rannsóknardagbók, vettvangsathugunum og
fundargerðum ásamt rafrænum námssöguskráningum. Niðurstöður benda til þess að
þátttakendur í leikskólanum hafi öðlast aukna færni í rafrænum námssöguskráningum.
Þó nokkrar hindranir urðu á vegi þátttakenda en tæknileg atriði og tímaskortur
léku þar stórt hlutverk. Leikskólastjórinn benti á að námssöguskráningarnar væru
viðbót við það sem fyrir væri og að hann sæi ekki fram á, miðað við tímaskort og
fáa undirbúningstíma leikskólakennara, að námssöguskráningarnar myndu festa sig
í sessi. Hann sagðist þó vera viss um að eitthvað af starfsfólkinu myndi halda áfram
að skrá rafrænar námssögur en var ekki viss um hversu markvisst það yrði. Aðrir
þátttakendur lýstu yfir áhuga á að halda áfram skráningu á rafrænum námssögum
eftir að verkefninu lyki og þá sérstaklega til að nota í foreldraviðtölum. Því er ekki
hægt að tala um að innleiðing hafi átt sér stað nema að fremur afmörkuðu leyti.
The article describes a collaborative action research project performed in one
preschool in the greater Reykjavík area. The study is part of a larger collaborative
project between RannUng (Centre for Research in Early Childhood Education)
and five preschools in the neighboring municipalities of Reykjavík. The title of the
collaborative action research is: Assessing children’s learning and wellbeing. The overall
aim of the study in the five preschools was to find a way to develop methods to assess
children’s learning and wellbeing in the preschools. This article describes the processes
of the study in a preschool where the participants were preschool teachers and assistant
teachers in two out of six departments, or classrooms, in the preschool. Those having
an active role in the research were three preschool teachers and one assistant teacher,
together with the preschool manager. The participating children were the oldest in
these two departments and were soon becoming four years old. The groups from
the two departments met once a week and jointly chose a common activity. The
participants in the preschool had a partnership with a university teacher from the
School of Education and a master’s student who acted as a contact person between the
preschool and the university. The student’s role was to support the preschool team in
developing assessment methods and assume responsibility for generating data in the
preschool, such as taking interviews, writing a research diary, compiling documents
and writing notes from meetings. The interviews took place in the beginning and
the end of a school year and had the aim of following up on the process of change
during the research.
The master’s student registered sources such as the school curriculum guide,
electronic Learning Stories and Heilsubók barnsins (Children’s Health book) which is a
scale to assess quality as aspects of children’s development and skills are documented
in the Heilsubók barnsins. Participants in the preschool were introduced to the
Learning Story approach and later they discovered a tablet application called Book
Creator which makes it possible to document Learning Stories electronically. The
participants became interested in developing the documentation of Learning Stories
by using Book Creator and wanted to find a way to support the preschool’s main
assessment method, Heilsubók barnsins. The methods provided in the Heilsubók barnsins
offered a limited documenting technique, but with the tablet the participants were
able to take photos, videos, audios and write text, and, at the same time, start their
reflection and even finish the Learning Stories for publication. In the study discussed
here, the main research question was: What are the benefits and challenges we face
while documenting Learning Stories electronically in one preschool in the greater
Reykjavík area? Also, how can these documentations support the Heilsubók barnsins?
The results show that after the participants had started to document children’s
Learning Stories and reflect on those, they saw the children in another light. The
preschool teachers and assistant teacher began to notice in more detail what happened
when children were playing. This resulted in a practice where the teachers gave
each child more attention. The focus of teaching and learning shifted towards the
children’s strengths and abilities rather than what they could not do. The preschool
manager pointed out that documenting Learning Stories had become an addition to
what they already had. However, due to lack of time for developing Learning Stories,
reflecting on those and preparing for publication, they would not adopt the Learning
Story approach in the near future. In spite of this view, the preschool teachers were
expected to continue to document Learning Stories up to a point, but it was hard
to determine how effective these documentations would be. The other participants
in the preschool also shared a similar opinion, even though they showed interest in
continuing with documenting electronic Learning Stories for use in teachers’ meetings with parents. These preschool teachers see the Learning Stories as helpful and well
suited to explain what was behind their documentations in the Heilsubók barnsins.
The preschool participants believed this project was helpful for their professional
development and they felt they had gained increased skills in documenting electronic
Learning Stories, technically and pedagogically. The one who seemed to gain the
most from participating was the assistant teacher. The new learning she acquired
manifested itself in closer insight into children’s play, through conversations with
the preschool teachers and taking part in their reflections on the Learning Stories.
The obstacles in the study were mostly relating to technical reasons and lack of time.
Nevertheless, the technology was shown to be well suited to facilitate the Learning
Story documentation and it even became an interesting challenge for some. For some,
however, the problems participants face when handling the technology can reduce
motivation, as was the case here. Therefore, it is important when teachers use new
technology that they have access to support from more technically skilled personnel.
