Defining an object of learning and the forms it appears in: The intended, enacted and lived object of learning in a learning situation

The aim of this study is to describe in what ways the object of learning changes shape during its way from the intended (planned), enacted (offered) and lived (discerned) object of learning. The study is based on variation theory, and learning study is used as a model. A total of three preschool teachers, 39 children aged 4-5 years and three researchers participated in the study. Three interventions were carried out in three different groups of children (A, B and C) by three preschool teachers. The data consist of video-documented meetings with the preschool teachers and researchers, interviews with the children in the form of pre-, post- and delayed post-tests and video-documented interventions (3). The results show (a) how the teachers' focus on aspects concerning the object of learning and aspects not concerning the object of learning affects learning possibilities. The results also show (b) a discrepancy between the children's possibilities to learn and what the preschool teachers intend to offer them to learn. Finally, the results show (c) how the preschool teachers' understanding of children's learning sometimes makes them use other words than the appropriate ones to make the intervention funnier or more interesting.