Secondary objectives for the pre-project:

• Establish a core research group on place pedagogies in Norway and a good working plan for collaboration with the cooperating partners
• Find participating schools and kindergartens for the main research project
• Establish collaboration with kindergarten and school owners for main research project
• Establish a forum for dialogue and exchange of experiences with participating teachers
• Develop place pedagogies as a new theoretical framework for educational research in Norway
• Develop main research proposal with a thorough description of theoretical and methodical approach

This project aims to investigate how place pedagogies can enable better learning in urban and rural Norway. The project will meet the current need to investigate the relationship between teaching and working methods and learning outcomes in early childhood and primary education. The proposed project will obtain new, scientific knowledge of kindergartens and primary schools as arenas for learning and development of children, and their impact on children's learning and development, by adopting new theoretical and methodical approaches. A pre-project will facilitate the foundations for a main project.

A place pedagogies approach is relevant for:

• Facilitating better learning by identifying the real and
  

  
  contextual factors in early childhood and primary education and its environment which influence teaching and learning
• Facilitating more relevant learning by addressing the role of teaching and learning in the age of globalization so that the new knowledge can have a direct bearing on the health and wellbeing of children and those places where they actually live, and be implemented to improve policy-making for education and regional development, and teacher education.

Research questions

Main research question is:
- How can place pedagogies enable better learning?

Sub-research questions are:
- What does place mean in and for education?
- How can place be applied to enable better and more relevant learning?
- How can place pedagogies meet the goals of the national curriculum and be operationalized through local action plans in schools and kindergartens?
- How can learning outcomes through place pedagogies be assessed for all involved participants?