This paper reports on an ethnographic study conducted with two Year 1 classes in two different Norwegian schools. In total, 35 five- and six-year-old children were involved in the study and were observed over a two-month period as they engaged in learning activities that involved drawing. Building on Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (1996) theory of a visual ‘grammar’, this study draws attention to the ways that visual features in drawings made by the children in their first year in school can be found to carry ideational, interpersonal and textual meaning. This paper discusses the similarities and variations in the types of meaning the children make and the interests that seem to have motivated the children. It argues that a focus on drawing can help practitioners support and promote children’s visual literacy, and suggests pedagogical implications in light of the study. To begin, the research topic is related to a definition of literacy that encompasses multiple semiotic systems.

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This article presents studies of 5—6-year-old children in year one in a Norwegian primary school as they develop and engage in drawing-related play within teacher-initiated drawing sessions. The author discusses the quality of the children's play from a semiotic point of view and reflects on play as a possible learning context for drawing. Elevating drawing and play to the same prominent position as images in contemporary texts, she demonstrates how they can be used to support children's competence in interpreting the visual mode as well as using it to convey meaning.

SummaryNorway s population was in April 2016 estimated to be 5 223 300 persons (SSB, 2016b). The Norwegian Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDI), estimated that in 2015, 13% of the entire Norwegian population were people with a migration background (IMDI, 2016); many of these being preschool aged children. With 90.4% of all children between the ages of 1 and 5 participating in day care (SSB, 2016a); many migrant children are represented among the day care population. Even though the body of research in relation to diasporic, migrant and mobile childhoods is growing, there are reasons to be critical as much of it fails to capture the situated and contextualised nature of newcomer migrant children s negotiations of identity, home and belonging .In Norway, early childhood day care is promoted as one of the best integrational arenas in which migrant children (including those seeking asylum and refugees) can receive early intervention aimed at easing their transition into future school and society. However, with an intervention focus on future integration, entering an ethnic and culturally diverse early childhood environment, such as day care, can be cha llenging for many reasons. Accessing peer group interaction, whether play or other forms of social interaction, and becoming socially included, presupposes competencies that exceed the basic linguistic ability of saying hello .At an overall level, this thesis positions itself within the tradition of social work, addressing day care as an integrational and environment for newcomer migrant girls. The research approach is anchored within the interpretivist/constructionist research paradigm and in line with the underlying principles of the sociology of childhood. The theoretical background draws on but is not limited to sociology, cultu ral studies and social With particular interest on how, in everyday life, newcomer children s personal problems are interlaced with structural issues , the thesis highlights the complexity of in particular ii these two girls everyday social struggles, adapting to a highly dynamic and evolving environment. This thesis reveals the girls as being active participants in their multilayered and complex transition s characterised by continuous negotiations of identity, home and belonging.The overarching aim of this thesis is to contribute to the early childhood migration discourse, using its findings as a means to strengthen the care environment for newcomer migrant children and building respect for childhood diversity. Through detailed qualitative analysis of small sample sizes of selected empirical data, the data are used to illustrate aspects of the two newcomer girls everyday worlds. The four articles written for and presented within the thesis address the intersection between what facilitated the girls integration and inclusion in everyday social reality by highlighting how equal opportunities for integration and inclusion depended on not only the girls ability to negotiate identity, home and belonging with both peers and practiti...

Although research in health care suggests that one of the most important factors for efficient medical delivery is the child's willingness to cooperate, little is known about how caregivers facilitate cooperation with young children during medical treatment. In this article, we explore interactions between parents, nurses, and young children during pediatric nebulizer treatment in terms of tact as a pedagogical concept. Based on our analysis, which followed a hermeneutic approach and included video observations of five hospitalized children aged between 15 and 30 months, we present four themes related to pedagogical tact of caregivers and children's willingness to cooperate, and discuss the role that medical products can play in this cooperation. The results benefit pediatric health personnel, as well as product designers.