Summer in kindergarten

V otroških vrtcih je koncept participacije otrok pri načrtovanju in izvedbi dejavnosti še vedno pogosto odsoten iz vsakodnevne prakse ali pa ne zaživi v tolikšnem obsegu, kot bi bilo zaželeno. Postavlja se utemeljeno vprašanje, zakaj takšen razkorak med prioritetami in praksami. Menim, da je delno to pripisati tudi dejstvu, da se vzgojitelji na področju načrtovanja dejavnosti pogosto srečujemo z direktivami s strani vodstva, ki nam odvzemajo manevrski prostor za usklajevanje dejavnosti s pobudami, idejami in željami otrok. Pogosto izvajamo dejavnosti, ki jih nismo izbrali niti vzgojitelji niti otroci, ampak vodstvo vrtca. Kot opozicija neprestanim od zgoraj organiziranim projektom in kot primer dobre prakse smo zato v vrtcu Najdihojca v skupinah Aeternia 1 in 2 izvedli odprti tip projekta otroške participacije z naslovom Poletje v vrtcu. V okviru projekta smo vzgojiteljice otrokom poskusile omogočiti kar največjo participacijo v življenju v vrtcu. Otroške ideje sem zabeležila na plakatu. Otroci pa so svoje ideje na plakat tudi narisali. Med poletjem smo zabeležene ideje uresničili na način, ki so ga predlagali pobudniki. Nekaj novih idej smo dobili tudi med izvajanjem projekta. Prav tako smo jih uvrstili na plakat in izvedli tudi te dejavnosti. Otrokom se je zdelo zelo pomembno, da so lahko sami odločali o poteku dejavnosti, hkrati pa jim je to predstavljalo izziv, ki so ga z malce negotovosti vseeno zelo navdušeno sprejeli. Ker sta Aeternia 1 in 2 heterogena oddelka, smo se srečali z različnimi idejami. Tudi zamisli o izvedbi so bile zelo različne. Mlajši otroci so predlagali dejavnosti, ki so jih starejši na nek način že prerasli, vendar je tu še bolj prišlo v ospredje sprejemanje drugačnosti. Starejši otroci so ideje mlajših zelo spoštljivo sprejeli in se pokroviteljsko vključili v takšne dejavnosti. V diplomski nalogi z deskriptivno metodo predstavljam potek in evalvacijo omenjenega projekta, s tem pa skušam odgovoriti na vprašanja, kako zagotoviti večjo participacijo, kje otroci želijo participirati in kako se pri tem izkaže uporaba projektov odprtega tipa.The concept of child participation in kindergarten in planning and implementing activities remains rather rare in everyday practice or fails to be implemented to the desired level. It is reasonable to question the discrepancy between priorities and practices. I believe that this may be due to the fact that teachers are often limited by instructions from their superiors in terms of activity planning, which reduces their options to harmonise their activities with initiatives, ideas and wishes of their children. A number of kindergarten activities were not selected neither by teachers nor by children, but by kindergarten principals. To provide an alternative to constant projects organised at the top, we present an example of good practice in the Najdihojca kindergarten, groups Aeternia 1 and 2, where we carried out an open-ended project of child participation entitled Summer in kindergarten. The teachers attempted to enable the children the most participation in their kindergarten life. The ideas of the children were noted on a poster and the children drew them on the poster as well. During summer, their ideas were put into practice the way they suggested. A couple of new ideas evolved throughout the project and they were included on the poster and also implemented. The children found it important that they could decide on the course of the activities. They also felt challenged and slightly uncertain, but they embarked on the project with joy. Groups Aeternia 1 and 2 are heterogeneous, which is why they dreamed up different ideas. Their ideas on the implementation were also different. Although younger children proposed activities that their older peers had already outgrown, the sense of accepting difference became very strong. Older children were respectful towards the ideas and patronising while taking part. The descriptive research method used in the thesis presents the implementation and evaluation of the project in order to determine how to increase participation, where children want to participate and how can open-ended projects be helpful in this respect