Uppeldi og menntun - 01.01.2012, Side 71

Uppeldi og menntUn/icelandic JoUrnal of edUcation 21(1) 2012 71
anna magnea hreinsdóttir og sigUrlína davíðsdóttir
uM HÖfunDana
Anna Magnea Hreinsdóttir (annah@gardabaer.is) er leikskólafulltrúi í Garðabæ. Hún
lauk námi í tómstundafræðum frá Göteborgs folkhögskola árið 1980, B.Ed.-gráðu í
leikskólafræðum frá Kennaraháskóla Íslands árið 1999 og meistaraprófi frá sama skóla
árið 2003. Árið 2009 lauk hún doktorsprófi í menntunarfræðum frá Menntavísinda-
sviði Háskóla Íslands. Hún hefur unnið sem leikskólastjóri og rekið leikskóla í tugi
ára.
Sigurlína Davíðsdóttir (linadav@hi.is) er prófessor við Menntavísindasvið Háskóla
Íslands. Hún lauk BA-prófi í sálfræði frá Háskóla Íslands árið 1993, MA-prófi í félags-
sálfræði frá Loyola University Chicago árið 1995 og Ph.D.-prófi í félagssálfræði frá
sama skóla árið 1998. Hún hóf störf við Háskóla Íslands árið 1997 og hefur starfað þar
síðan.
Deliberative democratic evaluation in preschools
aBstraCt
Internal evaluation with expert help was conducted in four Icelandic preschools.
The main factors regarding childcare and preschool services were assessed. A
participatory approach to the evaluation, in particular democratic evaluation, was
adopted. The directors of these four schools were interviewed, and they helped with
the selection of participants for group interviews and focus groups. Group interviews
were conducted with children aged four to five years and focus groups were held with
the representatives of both the children’s parents and preschool personnel. This is a
case of internal evaluation, carried out with the participation of the preschools’ main
stakeholders, i.e. personnel, parents and children, but with the support of an external
agent. The approach to the evaluation was deliberative democratic evaluation, which
consists of three layers: a) inclusion, looking after the interests of all stakeholder
groups and including them in the discussions; b) dialogue, having a dialogue in
the beginning of the evaluation process, where the interests of all stakeholders are
considered in the planning stage; and c) deliberation, where results are discussed
by groups of stakeholders in order to determine the best ways of using those results
as a basis for a development plan. The benefits and limitations of a deliberative
democratic evaluation of preschool operations were considered. The limitations of
a deliberative democratic approach mainly comprise how time consuming it is, as
well as participants’ fear of interest conflicts. The primary benefit of a democratic
evaluation consists in the dialogue between stakeholders on the value of evaluation
and the criteria to be used in the process. The mosaic approach emphasizes the
active participation of children in the evaluation work, listening to their views and
conducting a constant dialogue with them on what goes on in their school. The views