The Åpen Barnehage as Research and Practice Arena

The goal of this chapter is to provide my perspective as a kindergarten teacher working in an Open kindergarten/day care (Åpen Barnehage) on some of the studies in this volume. First, I want to give some background information about kindergarten and open kindergarten, its purpose and history. Then I deal with each individual chapter. Here I highlight what I found interesting, and then give my perspective as a professional in open day care. I will highlight the terms anerkjennende kommunikasjon, hereby translated to “appreciative communication”. As people and teachers are different, we also have different views. On the other hand, what brings us together and what unites us is our Framework and the Kindergarten Act. Through this we think of children as competent people who create meaning by being themselves in their world, learning as they go along by themselves and with others, both children and adults. Finally, I want to talk about the experience of welcoming students and how that affected and still affects our work.