Conducting Research with Pedagogues: A Case Study Conceptualizing the Playground as an Informal Learning Environment

Abstract

This feature article explores the extent to which a renewed "spatial" attention within fields like science and education (Latour, 2007; Finnegan, 2008; Fabian, 2016) can yield interesting insights for the interpretation of outdoor spaces in a Danish kindergarten context. The playground emerges as a particularly interesting site for understanding the spatial and material sensibilities in the social practice between children and adults (Gulløv and Højlund, 2005; Garnett-Silven, 1995). Data collection and analysis were both grounded in a theoretical overview of the role and interpretation of the physical environment in everyday life (Wolcott, 1994, Krøijer & Sjørslev, 2018).

Keywords

• case study
• science
• pedagogues
• affordance
• informal learning space