Knowing-with-snow in an outdoor kindergarten

• Published in: Journal for Research in Arts and Sports Education Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 76 - 91
• Main Authors: Bartnæs, Pernille, Myrstad, Anne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Danish; English; Ndebele
• Published: Nordic Open Access Scholarly Publishing 01.01.2022; Cappelen Damm Akademisk NOASP
• Subjects: children; correspondance; kindergarten; outdoor learning
• ISSN: 2535-2857; 2535-2857
• DOI: 10.23865/jased.v6.3012

This article highlights how reciprocal relationships between children and the environment can contribute to exploring understanding of children’s learning in the outdoor environment. We draw on data from a kindergarten in the northern part of Norway, where we have carried out fieldwork three hours a week from October to mid-May. During this period, the outdoor area was covered with snow of varying qualities. Snow and weather conditions are included as elements in a relational understanding, in which the environment is understood as open and dynamic – an interaction between past and present, between geography, materiality, people and the ‘more-than-human’. The learner and the environment are understood as an indivisible process, where different elements exercise a reciprocal influence on each other. Using Ingold’s concept of correspondence, we explore how children learn by being within and with the world. The article is a contribution to creating a nuanced understanding of children’s learning and the educator’s role within an outdoor environment in kindergarten practice.