Research project What do the children do in the archives? Child Observations, Documentations and Knowledge Production

The research project: What are children doing in the archives? Child observations, documentation and knowledge production in preschool, 1930–2018.

The project locates child observations and documentation from the archives of various preschools to increase insights into how preschool has been a social arena for upbringing, socialization and knowledge production over a relatively long period of time, from the first scientific child observations in the early 1930s until the most recent curriculum reform for preschool in 2018.

To answer this purpose, four research questions are asked that guide the analysis throughout the entire period:

1) How has the way in which child observations and documentation have been made changed from the 1930s onwards and what consequences has this had for how children's and adults' agency and participation have been described?

2) How has the scientifically based practice of making child observations and documentation spread and become part of both preschool and preschool teacher education?

3) How have teaching and play been practiced and conditioned in preschool observations and documentation?

4) What professional ideals and what childhood ideals have taken shape?