Preschool children’s assessment of participating in a case study

• Main Authors: Hreiðarsdóttir, Anna Elísa, Dýrfjörð, Kristín
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2020
• Subjects: participatory research; young children; the voices of children; þátttökurannsóknir; leikskólabörn; rödd barna; Fuller; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/netla/article/view/3109

This article explores children’s assessment of participating in research on makerspaces in preschool in Iceland. The study is based on data gathered during the spring and summer of 2018. Nine five-year-old children participated in temporary makerspace set up in their preschool. Six workshops were conducted where the children were given opportunities to play with digital toys, Lego and other creative materials. During the workshop, researchers gathered data through different methods, such as using a video camera on tripod and a camera controlled by the researchers, as well as a GoPro camera and iPad which the children controlled. Field notes and research diaries were written and interviews conducted. The children’s teacher led the makerspace workshops. The members of the children’s group, four girls and five boys, were elected by the teacher. The group was supposed to reflect the diversity of both the whole class and their preschool, in gender, social status and learning dispositions. Informed consent was gathered form all concerned, children included. After each workshop the children filled out an evaluation form, first alone and then with their teacher who wrote down comments. The evaluation form contained three emoji; smiling, neutral and downcast faces as well as a space to give comments. Ten weeks after the workshops were concluded a focus group interview with all the children was conducted with support materials, such as photos to revisit the children’s time in the makerspace. In between the workshops and the focus group interview the whole class had access to the digital toys. The study was based on the view that children are powerful and enabled persons with their own voices who can and do have something to say about their learning, participation and experiences. In this article the data from the focus group and the evaluation forms from the children were analysed and the field notes used to give a fuller account of the data.The main findings indicate that children are both able and have something to say ...