Revelations in bodily play : a study among children in an after-school programme

Abstract

This dissertation is based on a project that investigates children‟s bodily play in a Norwegian After-School Programme (ASP). The project uses a life-world approach and the theoretical perspective is phenomenological. The dissertation focuses on the children‟s own experiences of bodily play and discusses the role such activity plays in their understanding of the world. Qualitative material was gathered from close observation and qualitative research interviews of eight- and nine-year-old children participating in an ASP in Oslo. The dissertation consists of four articles that should be read as independent in-depth studies in the ASP children‟s lifeworlds. Each article focuses on particular parts of the gathered material and aims to answer an attached research question.

Paper I: Løndal, K. (Submitted). Bodily play in the after-school programme: Fulfilment of motor intentionality in interaction between body and place.

Paper II: Løndal, K. (Resubmitted). The after-school programme: An arena for interaction with others through body movements in play.

Paper III: Løndal, K. (2010). Barrier-breaking body movements in the after-school programme: Children‟s imitation through play. Nordic studies in education, 30(1), 1-17.

Paper IV: Løndal, K. (Accepted). Children‟s lived experience and their sense of coherence: Bodily play in a Norwegian after-school programme.