The Workhop Method
The basis of EX-PED-LAB is workshops for co-creation.
In our workshops, we bring together kindergarten staff, managers and researchers – sometimes together with artists, designers, students, children and families – for joint exploration. We meet physically over 1/2-1 day, and work together in different ways and with different themes. Common to the working methods is that co-creation is paramount. The researchers do not conduct research on the kindergarten employees, but with them.
The co-creation model
The model above shows how we view the process of co-creation of understanding and new knowledge. We have created it on the basis of a workshop pilot project, which you can read more about in the report Barnehagelærer som medforsker (norwegian).
The round shape of the model is inspired by the metaphor of a compass; it suggests the direction but must always be seen in the context of the terrain.
The model has three levels. The outermost circle constitutes the premises and central conditions of the EX-PED-LAB methodology: sustainable practices, culture of exploration, systemic leadership, good conditions, mutual trust, personal commitment, negotiation and change practices. The middle circle brings together eight key activities in the implementation of the workshops. The innermost circle speaks to the core of the model - that joint participation should lead to new knowledge.
How do the workshops take place?
Some workshops have an academic approach, involving analysis and feedback on participants’ prepared materials, such as participatory observation, drawings, stories, photos, and videos. Others have a more practical approach, where we imagine and try out different solutions. Project groups from kindergartens are often given a task in advance and bring with them reflections and experiences from everyday life in the kindergarten.
How creative can you be with a piece of paper? Photo is from the project’s very first workshop in spring 2022. Photo: Lene Angelskår (HVL).
In EX-PED-LAB, we study the workshop as a method of working in light of new, shared leadership roles in the sector, as well as how the workshop method can support values for a sustainable future. By creating a forum where kindergarten teachers and leaders share experiences from their pedagogical work with researchers and teacher educators – and by breaking out of this internal circle to invite in expertise from outside the sector – we can explore, challenge, and further develop knowledge and practice.
The development of this workshop methodology aims to meet the need for knowledge about how different actors in the kindergarten sector can collaborate. The methodology has been tested in a pilot project. As we now further develop it, we have the opportunity to test and theorize even more about methods for collaboration between multiple partners with different roles in the kindergarten sector – as well as others interested in creating better conditions for children.
At EX-PED-LAB’s first workshop in 2022, participants were asked to bring an object that symbolized an important value in kindergarten. Photo: Lene Angelskår, HVL.