Research-to-practice gap
illness, Thomas
All interviewees mentioned a variety of practical challenges they found important when implementing the new program in their kindergarten, including time use, meeting places, the same information for all teachers and the focus of the tasks. These constitute the third main theme from the interviews. Thomas explained why he and his section wanted to continue to use TIK-KT in the future:Thomas (T2):I think it’s a nice tool to have because now everyone’s familiar with the tool… And then TIK is concrete to the extent that it’s easy to use […], which makes it easy to connect to situations in daily practice […].Karianne, (T1):Therefore, I imagine that it, it depends a little on time, truly […]. That one gets to use A practical challenge many mentioned was how to meet with their colleagues at planned meetings, and Astrid (T1) called it “the main The interviewees suggested that learning to do something new takes time and that practicing TIK-KT means that they have to slow down and stop when emotion coaching. Without stopping, teachers were less likely to implement the TIK-KT ideas. Anne described the research-to-practice gap and reflected on what might be the cause:Anne (T1):[…] I can… have a feeling that I have the understanding, but still I don’t see the change in practice. […] Uhm, change in practice is Anne (T2):Then, it happens what so often happens in kindergarten, with illness and people whom, uhm, we might have to help out at other sections on a day, and then the focus kind of disappears a little, so then we have more of a “make the day go around” kind of activity.Other interviewees had similar experiences of this lack of sufficient personnel. They emphasized that kindergartens have a legal requirement for a minimum number of childcare workers to avoid overloading those present with tasks and responsibilities.