We will study two kindergartens (écoles maternelles) in urban districts in France, and two kindergartens from two different districts in Oslo, Norway. In order to include children/families having diverse class and ethnic backgrounds, one kindergarten in east Oslo and one in west Oslo will be chosen. The participating children will be 2 – 5 years old. In both Norway and France an ethnographic approach will be employed with fieldwork during 6 months (three short periods of 1-2 weeks) in the kindergartens. Situations involving food/meals as well as organized and unorganized physical activities/bodily engagements will be specially targeted. The encounters between children, professionals and parents at the entrances to and leave-takings from the kindergarten are situations saturated with exchanges of practical, cultural and personal information. Field notes, photographs and video recordings will document the observations of these events.
In addition to a direct comparison of the observations of the practices in kindergartens by the researchers, the project will include group interviews conducted in France and Norway. The interviews will follow the polyphonic ethnographic method developed by Joseph Tobin comparing preschool education in three cultures, using video as a tool to stimulate a multi-vocal, inter-cultural dialogue (Tobin, Wu & Davidson, 1989; Tobin & Davidson, 1990). This methodology has also been used in recent research for international comparisons as well as for exploring different kinds of early childhood settings in France (Brougere, Rayna & Guenif-Soulamas, 2008; Garnier, Rayna, Brougere & Rupin, in press). This method involves showing to the participants various images (edited videos) of chosen episodes of the daily lives of children in the settings in the other country, such as meal time, play outside and inside, and guided activities. The participants are then invited to react and to express what they feel about what they have seen and to discuss and to critically reflect on their own practices as well as the practices of others. Participants will include separate groups of professionals, parents and children as well as at least one collective interview in each setting for each of the different groups of participants. These activities will provide considerable information about the diversity of understandings about issues of physical activity, food practices and prevention. Through the mediation of images of ordinary life in kindergarten, these dialogues will contribute to adding clarity to the normative principles and cultural values voiced by each protagonist in their everyday expressions.