Abstract:

The SARS-COV-2 pandemic situation forced the society to adapt, changing many aspects of the daily life. In early childhood education, both the environment and daily routine had to be reorganized, according to the health authorities’ regulations, towards containing the new coronavirus transmission. This led to enforcing physical distance among all actors, regardless of the impact on the learning and the development of children, as well as ensuring their well-being and right to play. It is well known that the interactions and relationships that children establish with adults, other children and the surrounding physical spaces are the basis for their learning and development. In this context, this study describes the impact on the interactions and in the learning experiences that resulted from the compulsory spatial changes in kindergarten during the pandemic situation. This research also aims to understand the feelings, constraints and opportunities that these changes were experienced by a group of kindergarten teachers’ and their children, as well as the strategies and actions they developed in order to provide opportunities to create enabling environments for children’s well-being and learning. This is a research conducted with kindergarten teachers and children after the first lockdown in Portugal. Methodologically, the study assumes a qualitative approach. For data collection, two phases were considered. The first phase was developed through zoom interviews with kindergarten teachers. In the second phase, fifty interviews were conducted with children between three to five years of old, creating contextual conditions for their application. The children were also asked to draw up a drawing illustrating how they saw space before and after the pandemic situation. A previous meeting was held with the kindergarten teachers, clarifying the main objectives of the children participation in the study. The procedures were defined, and the intervention strategies were drawn collaboratively. Children were asked if they wanted to participate, and only the children that chose to participate freely in the study were involved. Moreover, the parents’ consent was requested. Regarding this, all ethical procedures were considered in study, ensuring the anonymity, confidentiality and informed consent of children, educators and families or institution. Kindergarten teachers and children’s interviews were recorded and, subsequently, transcribed and submitted to content analysis, whose heuristic function increases the propensity of the discovery of the reality experienced by the actors. From the content analysis, categories emerged that allowed the analysis of the discourses. The text produced was analyzed and described in an articulated way, trying to apprehend the specific conditions in which it was conceived, revealing a certain order of reality, from which the narrative was made. The data analysis show that child-materials, child-to-child, and also child-adult interactions become less significant. The spaces limitation by groups and the reductions of materials (number and kind) does not seem to allow the diversity of pedagogical experiences. However, the educational environment, both indoors and outdoors, continued to be appealing and promote learning, but with the particularity of the working in “bubble”.

Keywords:

Early Childhood Education, space, interactions, learning experiences.