“Docent lecture: Robert Lecusay”

On Friday 29 May, Robert Lecusay (School of Education and Communication, Jönköping University), held his docent lecture “The formal/informal Relation in Early Childhood Education Insights from Swedish Preschools Educare Research.

“My lecture explored questions regarding how we develop and study informal environments, after school and preschools in particular”, says Robert Lecusay.

Informal learning environments, like preschool and after school activities, are often defined in relation to compulsory school, framing them as sites for helping learners improve the learning they experience in school.

“A growing corpus of research in the development sciences shows that children’s creativity and cognitive flexibility are best supported by ensuring that early childhood education environments afford collaborative and self-directed forms of social affiliation, play and exploration. Based on my studies, I discuss how Swedish preschool is currently at risk of becoming too school-like and argue for retaining a focus on child-driven play and exploration as the core activities of preschool”, says Robert Lecusay.

Robert Lecusay researches how culture, human development and the mind mutually constitute one another and does this by using participatory and ethnographic methods to study how children learn in informal environments. His grounding in these methods and area of research, was set at the University of California, where he pursued an interdisciplinary PhD in Communication and Cognitive Science.

“This work should be of interest to anyone concerned with education policy, practice and research in general, continues Robert Lecusay.

In the near future he will focus on writing up and publish the results of research and continue with international collaborations within in his area.

“Among other projects, I’m currently collaborating with international colleagues on a study comparing the early childhood curricula in our respective countries. All through the lens of the concepts of participation and engagement”, concludes Robert Lecusay.

Robert Lecusay is an Associated Professor of Early Childhood Education at Jönköping University’s School of Education and .

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