“Most useful to see these things that you don’t usually see”: Assessing learning and wellbeing of children with multicultural background

• Main Authors: Gústafsdóttir, Agnes, Sigurðardóttir, Ingibjörg Ósk
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2020
• Subjects: preschool; action researcj; multiculture; learning stories; assessment learning; wellbeing; leikskóli; starfendarannsókn; fjölmenning í leikskóla; námssögur; mat; nám; vellíðan; Maður; Reykjavík
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/netla/article/view/3135

This article describes a collaborative action research project carried out in one preschool in a neighboring municipality of Reykjavík, as part of more extensive collaborative research conducted in five preschools. The aim of this study was to support participating preschool teachers and assistant teachers, in developing a method to assess children’s learning and wellbeing. The participants in this study decided to use Learning Stories as a method and focused their documenting on a group of children with multicultural background. They chose this focus since the numbers of preschool children with multicultural background are increasing and the teachers found it challenging to assess their learning and wellbeing. Therefore, they needed new methods to understand children with multicultural background in order to be able to meet their needs and support their learning. Furthermore, emphasis was placed on monitoring and documenting the process of change that took place throughout the action research. The participants were interviewed in the beginning and at the end of the project, to obtain their views on assessment of learning and wellbeing, as well as on assessment methods, and on play and learning in the preschool. Moreover, the participants were asked about their opinions on assessment in multicultural preschool settings. The participants also kept diaries during the action research process.The findings of the study can be divided into three categories. Firstly, the findings show how the learning stories developed during the action research process. Secondly, it was clear that the project influenced the preschool teachers’ and assistant teachers’ views on children with multicultural background. Thirdly, the findings show that the teachers’ ideas on the assessment of learning and wellbeing in general, changed through participation in the action research.The study shows that learning stories can be a useful method to assess children’s learning and wellbeing in a multicultural setting. In addition to reading into ...