Dialogue about “learning” across the Northern Norway-Russia border - An analysis of textbooks in kindergarten teacher education

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk

This paper presents a first-in-a-series study examining the pedagogy used in Norwegian and Russian early childhood settings through textbooks that form part of two kindergarten teacher education syllabi with student international exchanges. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s dialogism, it analyzes how authoritative discourses on “learning” shape student engagement across Northern Norway and Northern Russia, conceptualizing centripetal forces as constructivist learning, and centrifugal forces as activities, tools, and adult roles.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Reading Time55 min

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Abstract

Introduction

Aim and border-spanning dialogue

ISSN: 2325-3290 (online) Dialogue about “learning” across the Northern NorwayRussia border: An analysis of textbooks in kindergarten teacher education Elena Merzliakova UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, Norway Elin Eriksen Ødegaard KINDknow Research Centre, Western Norway University Mikhail Gradovski University of Stavanger, Norway Abstract This paper is the first in a series of three studies that explore the pedagogy used in the Norwegian and Russian early childhood settings by examining texts that are part of the syllabus in two early childhood teacher education programs that participated in our project with student international exchanges. The study explores how Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of dialogue relates to the concept of ‘learning’ in the context of early childhood teacher educations in Northern Norway and Northern Russia. The data sources are textbooks used as syllabi for kindergarten teacher education in those countries. These national dialogues are understood as authoritative discourses on the concepts of learning to which the students in both countries have to relate. By being inspired by Bakhtin ’s notion of dialogue, we consider that the ideas in textbooks areas are in a dialogic relationship as they are parts of a regulating battle between centrifugal and centripetal forces. A constructivist perspective on learning and the division of the learning process into subject, knowledge and education areas are identified as the centripetal forces in the dialogue on learning. Activities, tools, and the role of adults are identified as centrifugal forces. Based on the hypothetical premise that textbooks influence practices and that practice may unfold as textbooks describe, we have created hypothetical discussions between educators and students in these countries. The study provides better insight on the premises for the dialogue about learning across international borders which can be useful in internalization and exchange programs in kindergarten teacher educations in different countries. Keywords: Learning, textbooks, early childhood teacher education, internalization, dialogism. Elena Merzliakova was born in Nikel, RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic) . Where she first graduated from the Herzen State Pedagogic University of Russia in Saint-Petersburg with a diploma in early childhood teacher education. Afterward, she moved to Tromsø Norway. To work as a kindergarten teacher and at the same time work on her master's at the University of Tromsø . She graduated with her master's from the University of Tromsø in pedagogy in 2000. Now she works as a lecturer in pedagogy at this university on campus Alta. Where she is currently pursuing her first Ph. D. in Internationalization in higher education. Her other research interest is found in understanding the different teaching concepts that Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Online Journal | [http://dpj.pitt.edu](http://dpj.pitt.edu) DOI: 10.5195/dpj.2022.416 | Vol. 10 (2022) A43 Dialogue about “learning” across the Northern Norway-Russia border Elena Merzliakova, Mikhail Gradovski, Elin Erikson Ødegaard are used in the world today and finding ways to create a dialogue between them, to find the best practices to teach children. [https://uit.no/ansatte/elena.merzliakova](https://uit.no/ansatte/elena.merzliakova) Dr. Mikhail Gradovski is born in Minsk, Belarus. After graduation from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim as a doctor rerum politicarum in 2008 with the thesis devoted to the Norwegian Dialogue Pedagogy, Gradovski has participated in both national and international research projects on doctoral supervision, professional supervision, use of dialogue in education, and mental skill development. Currently, he is the main coordinator of an international EU Horizon2020 project that focuses on the development of Ph. D. candidates’ skills. He has supervised both postgraduate, graduate, and undergra

FAQs

What is the paper’s main focus?

It analyzes how textbooks used in Norwegian and Russian kindergarten teacher education programs shape students’ understanding of “learning,” using Bakhtin’s concept of dialogue.

Which data sources are used in the study?

The study uses textbooks that function as syllabi in two early childhood teacher education programs in Norway and Russia.

How does the paper explain the relationship between learning concepts and classroom practice?

It frames textbook ideas as dialogically related to regulating tensions between centripetal forces (e.g., constructivist learning) and centrifugal forces (e.g., activities, tools, and adult roles), with hypothetical discussions grounded in the premise that textbooks influence practice.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk