Kunnskapsområdene i barnehagelærerutdanningen – en umulig modell? Utfordringer ved faglig integrasjon og profesjonsretting

Abstract

As typical for professional education, early childhood teacher education (ECTE) aims to integrate knowledge from a wide range of disciplinary fields. With the 2013 reform of the Norwegian ECTE national curriculum the 10 disciplinary subjects have been replaced by 6 integrated “knowledge areas”. Research has documented that this shift in curriculum design has been problematic; the old structure seems to prevail in the new model. While acknowledging the essence of integration in professional knowledge, this article critically discusses the rational for the 2013 reform of the ECTE curriculum. Building on recent research on professionalism and a historical analysis of the Norwegian ECTE education curriculum, the article recommends a fundamental rethinking of the design of integration of subject fields in ECTE.