HOW CHILDREN LIVE THEIR AGENCY IN FOREST PRESCHOOL ENVIRONMENT (An exploratory case study on children's agency in forest preschool settings in the Czech Republic)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore and depict how children exercise their agency in everyday life of a forest preschool in the Czech Republic and what perspectives they have on their own agency. The studied theme, children’s agency is approached through theoretical perspectives of the sociology of childhood. The study is designed as an exploratory single case study, employing participant observation and open-ended interviews in the form of focus groups as methods. The collected data are examined by qualitative content analysis. The study attempted to enrich the research arena with exploring agency from the perspective of children. The findings of the study demonstrate that the children’s agency is multifaceted concept that is dynamic, oscillating on the continuum of events of everyday life. The constant flow of reduction and expansion of the space for agency due to socially constructed characteristics of the preschool brings forth different manifestation of agency. In this way, children exercise their agency in complying to or challenging the rules of the preschool as well as in negotiating. The findings also indicate that children perceived the outdoor environment as a place where they can exercise their agency most freely and do their childhood due to the wide opportunities for free and unattended play that the outdoor environment offers. Also, the agency manifested greatly in childinitiated activities within their free play and when children were given time and space by teachers to lead and develop the activities. As the forest preschool environment and the realm of ECEC are rather rarely subjects of research in the Czech Republic, the conducted study shows that these arenas are worth studying as it can shed lights on important themes such as the process of exercising children’s agency, building their own identity and well-being, together with the sense of belonging to the place, community, and connection to nature.