FIGURED WORLDS AS AN ANALYTIC AND METHODOLOGICAL TOOL IN PROFESSIONAL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT: How to understand learning processes of pre-school teachers and teachers?

We raise a methodological discussion drawing upon Holland et. al.´s. theoretical term Figured Worlds. Our interest is to investigate the potentials of the term in relation to development and research focused on how pre-school teachers and teachers can be supported to change their own practice.
Hasse 2015 and Holland 1998, inspires our study, i.e. learning is conceptualized as a social phenomenon, implying that contexts of learning are decisive for learner identity. The concept Figured worlds is used to understand the development and the social constitution of emergent interactions in intervention projects from the pre-school teachers and teachers´ perspectives.
Figured worlds is ‘‘socially and culturally constructed realm[s] of interpretation in which particular characters and actors are recognized, significance is assigned to certain acts, and particular outcomes are valued over others.’(Holland et al. 1998, p. 52), and gives a framework for understanding meaning making in particular pedagogical settings.
We exemplify our use of the term Figured Worlds, both as an analytic and methodological tool in empirical studies in kindergarten and schools. Based on data sources, such as field notes, photos and transcripts of teachers interactions, we sketch results that help us to understand the importance of teachers´ and pre-school teachers´ identifications with specific and new worlds, and how ´blendings´ of worlds can change their practices.