The ECEC well-being monitor [www.barnehagetrivsel.no] is a tool that has been developed by me and Monica Seland.  The basis for the tool’s development was a research project (Bratterud, Sandseter & Seland, 2012) in which a method for collecting quantitative data about children’s perspectives on their own well-being and participation in ECEC was developed and used. The researchers conducted conversations with 171 children and recorded the children’s answers in an electronic questionnaire/database. The data collection in this project was very successful in terms of both the data material that it generated and the children’s expression of how highly they appreciated the opportunity to express their personal views and experiences. This inspired Monica and me to further develop the method into a tool that would be available for all Norwegian ECEC s to use to conduct conversations with the children (4- to 6-year-olds). The monitor includes questions about how children experience their daily life in ECEC and focuses on several issues such as friendship and play, relationships with the staff, experiences in the physical environment, the activities they engage in, their experience of participation and being seen/listened to and their feeling of overall well-being in ECEC.

The monitor was launched in January 2014, and it is available to all Norwegian ECECs free of charge. The total data material from all of the institutions using the monitor is also accessible for Monica and me for research purposes, and it will provide quantitative longitudinal data on children’s well-being.

Read about the project and access the ECEC well-being monitor HERE