Emphasising Loopholes to Facilitate Early Childhood Education for Sustainability

Abstract

Purpose

Due to ecological changes in the world's oceans, there is an overwhelming need to foster respect for marine ecosystems and raise awareness of their protection. The authors therefore ask: How can emergent ocean literacy be facilitated in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS)? The aim was to identify drivers for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration.

Design/Approach/Method

Ethnographically inspired fieldwork was conducted in two early childhood education institutions on the west coast of Norway. The practices in these institutions revealed collaborative exploration between children and teachers on the seashore. The theoretical framework for the study and the analysis is anchored in Ødegaard's idea of collaborative exploration and based on Bakhtin's concepts of dialogism, polyphony, speech genres, and loopholes.

Findings

The analysis surfaced place, time, and relations as relevant drivers for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration. These drivers opened up for the emergence of loopholes, play as children's preferred speech genre, and dialogical relationships between children and teachers.

Originality/Value

The maritime environment, where various prior experiences and knowledge were connected through ongoing play activities, indicates practices that are relevant and meaningful when facilitating ECEfS.

Introduction

Due to ecological changes, such as rising temperatures (Cheng et al., 2021), extreme weather (Bolan et al., 2024), and limited biological diversity in the world's oceans (van Norren & de Blok, 2025), there is an overwhelming need to foster respect for marine ecosystems and raise awareness of their protection. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) rose to this challenge by designating 2021–2030 as the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (UNESCO, 2021). One of the initiatives of this decade is the One Ocean Exploration project, which is undertaken in the city of Bergen and by the Kindergarten Knowledge Centre for Systematic Research on Diversity and Sustainable Futures (KINDknow). The two early childhood education (ECE) institutions in the present study (Torsvik, 2024) are part of the One Ocean Exploration project.

Early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS), which addresses the overwhelming challenges facing marine ecosystems, calls for sensitivity, humility, and wisdom. We need to build on knowledge of the ocean and young children's ways of learning while seeking solutions beyond established knowledge (Grindheim et al., 2019, p. 375). To conceptualise ECEfS in marine ecosystem contexts, we take departure from Ødegaard et al.'s (2024, p. 5) conceptualisation of emergent ocean literacy as a “whole-body approach” that emphasises a growing capability to both narrate about and manoeuvre in coastal landscapes by embracing sensation, aesthetics, values, and conceptual knowledge regarding the biotopes between land and sea. We structured our study based on the research question: How can emergent ocean literacy be facilitated in ECEfS? To emphasise the possibilities for solutions beyond established knowledge, we drew on Bakhtin's (1984) metaphor of “loopholes” to illustrate the importance of connecting established knowledge with an uncertain future. In line with this approach, we conducted an ethnographically inspired study to investigate children's and teachers’ collaborative exploration in a coastal landscape. By identifying and exploring the drivers for exploration in their activities, we aim to broaden knowledge of both emergent ocean literacy and how to facilitate relevant ECEfS practices.

Literature Review

Emergent Literacy

Until recently, studies on literacy have focused on young children's learning and development, particularly regarding reading and writing skills (c.f. Cooper, 2005), without considering their meaning-making and development from more holistic, whole-body perspectives (Kjørholt et al., 2023). The term “emergent literacy” is relevant for understanding how children in ECE can develop an understanding.

Emergent literacy aligns closely with the traditional Nordic holistic approach to children's development, which emphasises children integrating local, situated, active play and meaning-making with their bodies, emotions, cognitive skills, and available artefacts to facilitate broader or deeper understanding (Myrstad & Sverdrup, 2019, p. 9; Skalstad, 2020, p. 199). However, we found few studies on ways to incorporate this approach into ECEfS beyond oral expression, philosophical conversations (Lynngård, 2015, p. 139; Skalstad, 2020, p. 200), and the naming of species (Lynngård, 2015, p. 145).

Emergent Ocean Literacy

The concept of emergent ocean literacy involves knowledge of the ocean, seashore, and biotopes, and is drawn from the experiences and findings revealed by the One Ocean Exploration project (Ødegaard et al., 2024). The project emphasises the entanglement between humans and the nonhuman world (Ingold, 2010, 2011), as evidenced by children's movements in the sea or on the seashore, as well as in their play, sensing, and exploration (Ødegaard et al., 2024). Regarding emergent ocean literacy and how it can be facilitated in ECE institutions, Santoro et al. (2017) developed a guide (The Ocean Literacy Guide) to highlight the most important ideas and principles concerning the ocean that everybody should learn and understand to ensure a sustainable future. However, integrating this guide into ECEfS practices requires further investigation. We assert that both knowledge about the ocean and insights into how emergent ocean literacy can be facilitated in ECEfS need further investigation.

Emergent Ocean Literacy Through Collaborative Exploration

We view Ødegaard et al.'s (2024) “whole-body approach” involving collaborative exploration (Ødegaard, 2020) as a relevant way to facilitate emergent ocean literacy. Also, Birkeland's (2022) study highlights collaborative exploration as a vital component of kindergarten practices. Emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration aligns closely with scientific methods for educating young children that involve collaborative examination, play, collecting, and ways of organising material (Brostrøm & Frøkjær, 2016; Elfstrøm et al., 2016) to foster relationships with nature and an emerging understanding of science (Siraj-Blatchford, 2006). Ødegaard (2021) and Skalstad and Munkebye (2022) highlight the importance of teachers supporting children in their exploratory activities and play. However, collaborative science methods tend to place greater emphasis on oral language than on the whole-body approach advocated by Ødegaard et al. (2024).

Exploration is highly valued in ECE, and Nordic ECE institutions particularly emphasise and appreciate explorations of nature. Sanderud et al. (2021, p. 1089) and Myrstad et al. (2016) argue that nature serves as a pedagogical arena with special potential for exploration. Ødegaard (2021) proposes collaborative exploration as a signature pedagogy for sustainable development in ECE, and, aligning with Ødegaard et al. (2024), Kjørholt et al. (2023) describe the ways in which young children can interact with nature, specifically the sea and seashore, showing how relationships between places and identities emerge. Cuervo and Wyn (2017) emphasise the importance of strong social relationships based on locality and community for feeling at home in and belonging to a specific place, which depend on first-hand experiences of that place. Thus, facilitating children's emergent ocean literacy demands first-hand experiences of the maritime environment, particularly on the seashore. The physical environment, children's participation, and teachers’ involvement are central drivers for an exploratory practice. However, more knowledge is needed to broaden insights into how collaborative exploration can facilitate emergent ocean literacy, which will depend on identifying the drivers for exploration (Ødegaard, 2020). Thus, we aimed to identify and explore the drivers for exploration through specific activities in two Norwegian ECE institutions.

Theoretical Framework

To identify and explore the drivers for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration in our research material, we draw on Bakhtin's (1984, 1986) theory, which Ødegaard (2020, 2021) further elaborates on in the ECE context as collaborative exploration. Bakhtin (1895–1975) was a literary historian, language philosopher, and cultural theorist. Despite his limited references to teaching or learning, his approach to dialogue is often employed to conceptualise how meaning and new ways of understanding develop (Dysthe, 2001, p. 18). We see children's emergent ocean literacy as a way to construct such meaning and new ways of understanding through meaning-making facilitated by dialogical, collaborative exploration on the seashore. Based on our understanding of Bakhtin (1984, 1986) and Ødegaard (2020, 2021), place influences what kinds of literacy emerge. Therefore, ocean literacy can emerge through collaborative activities on the seashore, embedded in a cultural and historical context where the ocean, sea, and shore have been (and continue to be) a regular part of everyday life.

In Bakhtin's theory, dialogism is an overarching concept. According to Bakhtin (1984, p. 293), “life by its very nature is dialogic.” Thus, any verbal or bodily expression can be seen as a chain of utterances (Bakhtin, 1984, p. 36) that forms a dialogue. Literacy can emerge through ongoing dialogues in specific local contexts, such as on the seashore, with utterances chained to the local cultural and historical traditions, as well as the anticipated futures of specific local communities.

Bakhtin (1984, p. 110) rejects monologism, which he saw as the counterpoint to dialogism and equated with an understanding of knowledge as objective and true, arguing that it is impossible to attain. He states that arguments claiming to have the final answer are not about truth but rather about abuses of power (1984, p. 110). Bakhtin's approach to dialogue challenges established attitudes about what is valued, by whom, how, and where in ECE settings (White, 2011, p. 49). To achieve dialogism, polyphony is necessary. Polyphony recognises diverse expressions (Bakhtin, 1984, p. 6), as outlined by Ødegaard (2020) in the term “collaborative exploration.” In collaborative exploration, polyphony is operationalised as utterances that are chained to culture, context, place, and space, as well as the involved participants’ utterances during activities. To trace polyphony in our research material, we considered how different voices interacted and how the diversity of these voices was accommodated in collaborative activities.

Utterances that form the chain in dialogues are categories of speech genres (Bakhtin, 1984). Speech genres refer to a thematic content, a linguistic style, and a composition. These three aspects of speech genres are inseparable and linked to the sphere in which utterances occur (Bakhtin, 1984, p. 60). According to Sawyer (1997, p. 173), play can be seen as a speech genre. The connection between play and (emergent) literacy is well documented (Smith, 2007). Play provides a context in which peers interact, and such interactions contribute to children's development of narrative skills. The improvisational, creative, and collaborative aspects of play are highlighted (Sawyer, 1997; Sawyer & Dezutters, 2007). The collaborative, improvised constructions that emerge in narratively structured play worlds create ongoing social activities and new insights. Pretend play involves thematic content, a specific linguistic style, and composition. Content is closely connected to children's experiences and the culture in which they are embedded. The specific linguistic style manifests that children are engaged in play. The linguistic style is also evident when they discuss the content and composition of their ongoing play. In our analysis, we identify play as a speech genre by examining the thematic content, linguistic style, and composition in collaborative activities.

Diverse voices in dialogical, polyphonic play (here seen as a speech genre) can result in what Bakhtin (1984, p. 233) describes as loopholes. Loopholes indicate shifts in focus that create ambiguity about ongoing events and how to proceed, affording possibilities for making new meanings (Ødegaard, 2021). To encompass the uncertainty prevalent in explorative practice in ECEfS, Ødegaard (2020, p. 89) presents a model shaped like a hook or question mark to illustrate collaborative exploration. The hook represents Bakhtin's loopholes and the connections between established knowledge, uncertainty, surprise, and improvisation in collaborative, created activities among children and teachers (Torsvik, 2024, p. 12). Such polyphonic, mutually created activities involve children's bodily movement patterns and teachers’ commitment to recognising and supporting children's exploration (Ødegaard, 2020, p. 89). In our analysis, we identified loopholes by tracing incidents in which children and teachers grasped opportunities to connect what was happening to previous activities, established knowledge, and everyday activities.

Several factors provide opportunities for loopholes to emerge, and Ødegaard (2020, p. 89) refers to them as drivers for collaborative exploration, including movements, sensations, artefacts, materiality, symbols, and discourse. Extended knowledge about such drivers is needed for teachers to facilitate children's emergent ocean literacy. We aimed to identify and explore the drivers for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration seen as ECEfS, by closely examining activities in which polyphonic, play activities, and loopholes were evident.

Methods

Ethnographical Fieldwork

We investigated children's and teachers’ collaborative exploration on the seashore on the west coast of Norway through ethnographically inspired fieldwork (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Hammersley & Atkinson, 2019) in two ECE institutions. The two public ECE institutions were involved in the One Ocean Exploration project at KINDknow. The ECE institutions, which applied to be part of the project due to their proximity to the seashore, were situated in local environments with strong cultural and historical connections to seafaring, marine life, fishing, and oil enterprises. Emphasising the local environment and children's connectedness to nature in ECE practices is highlighted in the Framework plan for the content and tasks for kindergartens in Norway (UDIR, Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2017, p.11). There is a strong tradition for ECE institutions to explore the local nature and environment at least once a week (Grindheim, 2021).

For her master's project, the researcher ¹ joined the children and teachers to understand their activities from their own perspectives (Torsvik, 2024). The two ECE institutions included 36 children aged 3–4 years and 7 teachers, as well as 7 children aged 2–3 years and 3 teachers, respectively. The fieldwork lasted 10 weeks from October 2022 until February 2023, and 6 weeks from May to June 2023 (Torsvik, 2024).

Research Methods

The research methods employed were primarily handwritten observations. In addition, field notes, a logbook, photos, and formal and informal conversations were used to capture everyday life in the ECE institutions from the involved people's perspectives. The observations were thick descriptions (Geertz, 2008), which altogether comprise 22 pages. The involvement of marine elements served as the criterion for documenting observations relevant to the project. The researcher's field notes captured thoughts, reflections, and frustrations concerning what was seen and heard, as well as reflections about her own participation in the field. The logbook supplemented the field notes with additional reflections, hypotheses, and preliminary interpretations, as well as notes on what was done in relation to what was planned. The field notes and logbook comprised 12 pages. To supplement the written observations and capture bodily movements, the researcher took 242 photographs of the places and activities.

Informal conversations with children and teachers were conducted throughout the duration of the researcher's time in the field. Aligning with the main principles of ethnography, these conversations typically addressed issues that could not be captured through observations alone (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2019), such as the reasons why certain activities took place at specific times of the day and at specific locations. To provide opportunities for the teachers to share insights beyond those already expressed in informal conversations, formal interviews were conducted at the end of the fieldwork. The interview questions were based on what had already been observed and discussed during the fieldwork, and they therefore differed across the teachers. These formal interviews resulted in three pages of transcribed material. When presenting observations or quotes in this article, all participants are referred to by pseudonyms. Names in capital letters refer to teachers, and names in lowercase refer to children.

Analysis

We analysed the material deductively, guided by the theoretical framework outlined by Bakhtin (1984, 1986) and Ødegaard (2020, 2021). In the first step of our analysis, we identified a range of activities that involved collaborative exploration, characterised as either polyphonic or monophonic. Since polyphony is closely connected to loopholes, which we see as important for ECEfS, we limited the next step of the analysis to material that captured activities characterised as polyphonic. This material represented approximately half of the observations. Consequently, we did not construct a comprehensive picture of all the experiences that occurred during the fieldwork. To reveal how emergent ocean literacy can be facilitated through collaborative exploration among teachers and young children, we focused on the material that captures polyphony, loopholes, and play as a speech genre (outlined in the theoretical section) to identify and explore the drivers for collaborative exploration.

Ethical Approval and Informed Consent

The Norwegian Centre for Research Data approved the ethical standards and consent forms for this project. The teachers and parents of all the participating children were informed about the research, and they signed informed consent forms for themselves or on behalf of their children, respectively. The parents’ informed consent statements gave permission for the children to participate in the study, but Torsvik (2024) also informed the children by providing a picture book to explain the project and their right to withdraw from the project at any time.

Analysis and Findings

Through our analysis, we identified place, time, and relations as the three main drivers for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration. The activities that revealed these drivers were characterised by polyphony, loopholes, and play as a speech genre.

Place

Figure 1 shows the location of the 7–8 m-wide seashore as an open place, situated at the end of a breakwater with the marina in the background. A slipway led into the sea. The ground consisted of a mixture of shells, sand, pebbles, and larger stones that could be turned over to find crabs or other living creatures. Small clusters of seaweed stuck up and were easy to grasp when the tide was low (Figure 2). The teachers and the children experienced both high and low tides, accompanied by the sound of boats and seagulls screaming and the distinct smell of the sea. The seashore presented various areas that could accommodate the children's free movement, allowing several activities to take place simultaneously:

PIA is showing SOFIE and Dennis, who is about 3 years old, a stone with a sea anemone on it. Close by, Lukas, also three years old, walks back and forth along the shore with a feather in his hand, exploring the sea in his own bodily way, while saying, “I’m rowing a boat.” While Lukas is engaging in his bodily exploration of the seashore, HEGE picks up a jellyfish, which Guttorm (three years old) asks to hold. (Torsvik, 2024, p. 34)

Figure 1.

The Seashore, Øygarden, May 2023.

Figure 2.

The Seashore, Øygarden, May 2023.

We interpret the seashore as an open place that would allow polyphony by providing the children with first-hand experiences and opportunities to explore the seashore. The spacious and open area allowed everyone to spread out, and the “high ceiling” accommodated noise. In addition, diverse artefacts (crabs, seaweed, stones, etc.) facilitated several activities that took place simultaneously. There was material for everyone and ample space to avoid interference between different activities. When PIA and HEGE picked up a sea anemone and a jellyfish, respectively, they seized loopholes by connecting established knowledge about these creatures in their natural habitat to ongoing everyday activities. Play as a speech genre is evident in Lukas's exploration, and the thematic content and linguistic style of the play are closely related to marine life (rowing a boat). The composition of his play consisted of repeatedly walking back and forth while exploring the feather and other natural artefacts he found on the seashore.

The seashore is also revealed as a place for polyphonic activities in the following observation about “wading on the seashore.” All the involved children were three years old.

Dennis is wading back and forth, wearing Crocs. He walks into the water and back to the shore, takes off his Crocs, and then returns barefoot to the water. He runs back and forth in the sea but stops near SOFIE, Guttorm, and Lukas to see what they are exploring. “Look,” Dennis says, and then continues to run into the ocean and back to the shore. “Come on, Guttorm,” he calls. Guttorm also takes off his Crocs. SOFIE takes his hand and leads him into the water. “It's cold,” Guttorm says. Dennis runs in a circle around SOFIE and Guttorm in the water, screaming with joy. After a while, he sits down to study crabs in a tub. “There is the dad,” Dennis says. “There is his poo, there is his poo,” he yells. Dennis spots HEGE, who has caught a shrimp and placed it in a tub of water. “There's a shrimp,” she says. “A shrimp,” Lukas repeats. “Yes, there's a shrimp,” HEGE repeats. Dennis walks over to them and puts some shells and sand into the tub. (Torsvik, 2024, pp. 35 and 40)

This observation reveals polyphonic explorations. Dennis explored the water, the ground, some crabs, and a shrimp in relation to Guttorm, SOFIE, Lukas, and HEGE. A range of actors and different voices were involved in the collaborative activities. The seashore, with its diverse artefacts—the water, the crabs, and the shrimp—opened opportunities for polyphony and spatial bodily exploration. We interpret Dennis's play as a speech genre in which the thematic content was related to family relations (“the dad”). The linguistic style signals that this was a play (e.g., “There is the dad”). The composition is evident because he directed the play, identified the daddy-crab, and noticed that the crab was pooing. Both SOFIE and HEGE seized loopholes while exploring with the children—SOFIE when she took Guttorm's hand and led him into the water, and HEGE when she placed a shrimp into the tub for the children to study.

In summary, the seashore emerges as a place and a driver for emergent ocean literacy. The freely available materials on the seashore allowed the teachers to seize loopholes to “hook into” the children's exploration (Ødegaard, 2020). On the shore, natural materials and artefacts were easily incorporated into play as part of the children's exploration, providing ample room for polyphony. Several play sequences could occur simultaneously and in parallel as the different play sequences met and then separated again. Based on these interpretations, we consider the seashore to be a place and a driver of emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration. Overall, play as a speech genre involving polyphonic activities, with easy-to-spot loopholes, indicates that play is a preferred genre for children's collaborative exploration.

Time

From the observations, we identify time as an essential driver for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration. Teachers and children visited the seashore once a week for six weeks, and these repeated visits over time allowed the children to explore at their own pace without any agenda other than to simply be there. This provided opportunities to engage in dialogue with others, interact with their own bodies, connect with artefacts and nature, and draw on past experiences in various ways. An example of this is when HEGE spotted that Eva wanted to hold a crab. Then HEGE referred to an incident from the previous day involving a theatre performance about a crab and a sea anemone. The overall theme for the theatre was the ocean being polluted by plastic. By mentioning the theatre, she connected time—the past and yesterday's event—to the current moment and what was happening in the here and now. The theme of pollution and its future consequences for marine life was also present in the reference to the theatre the day before.

In the researcher's formal conversations with HEGE, she explained that the purpose of these activities was “to trace the children's interests and build upon them—which is easy when their interests align with your own interests.” By regularly visiting the seashore, she capitalised on previous experiences and followed up on the children's interests while they were on the seashore. She said that she “didn’t make specific plans for what to do at the seashore beforehand.” From the log, we see that the researcher interpreted her utterances as prioritising and allocating time without pre-planning specific content related to the seashore. We interpret HEGE's priorities and her references to what happened as seizing a loophole by connecting previous experience with the current activity. The time allocated for repeated visits to the seashore was interpreted as a driver for connecting to prior experiences and emergent ocean literacy, akin to grabbing a loophole to explore problems caused by plastic in the ocean.

The observation below illustrates how allocating time for children's play was a driver for Lukas's collaborative exploration.

Lukas sings “bob bob dædi dædi bob bob suh,” over and over again, while walking along the edge of the sea. He falls into the water but gets up again, walks to the end of the shore (still in the water), turns, and walks back towards the others, still singing, “Bob, bob, dædi dædi bob bob suh.” He pauses for a moment, and the song pauses, but he quickly resumes walking and singing the same tune. “Wow!” he exclaims, hums, and moves towards a slipway. Then he runs down to the edge of the beach, walks 30–40 cm into the water, and continues walking back and forth in the sea, singing, “Bob, bob, dædi dædi bob bob suh.” He walks towards SOFIE, Guttorm, and Dennis, who are playing with a crab. Lukas is still singing the same song. He carefully observes what the other children are doing, wipes his fingers, and continues walking back and forth. (Torsvik, 2024, p. 49)

Lukas had time to walk and run back and forth along the shore in dialogue with the sea, the slipway, the other children, SOFIE, and a crab. Thus, he was constantly bodily exploring. We also notice that previous experiences influenced him, since wading along the shoreline evoked associations with a song about fish. We interpret his repeated bodily movements and verbal utterances (the stanza) as his way of creating meaning through play as a speech genre. The theme was the song (a well-known song about fish), the linguistic style was expressed bodily and sensuously, and the composition was evident in the repetitions. This allowed a chorus of voices from different actors—the sea, the slipway, and the song—to converge. Multiple senses and previous experiences were involved in the polyphony. A loophole is apparent in the way SOFIE attracted Lukas's interest and allocated time for him to explore at his own pace.

In summary, time as a driver of emergent ocean literacy through polyphony is apparent when we take a bird's-eye view of what happened on the seashore. The children and teachers had time to hook previous activities into the present play activities. The abundance of time and the connections between prior experiences and current events provided opportunities for further collective and individual exploration. Setting aside time for play and exploration on the seashore emerges as a significant driver for collaborative exploration and emergent ocean literacy.

Relations

Our analysis reveals that it is insufficient to merely allocate time for engagement in activities at a relevant place; the relationships between children and teachers must also be dialogic. A dialogical relationship highlights the significance of the connections whereby teachers create spaces and cultures to facilitate children's participation in dialogical relations and collaborative exploration with teachers. Such dialogical relationships are exemplified by an observation of SOFIE picking up a hermit crab and telling Guttorm, “There's a crab living inside.” Guttorm wanted to hold the hermit crab, and he brought it over to the researcher while stating, “Look, there's a crab inside.” A dialogue occurred between SOFIE, PIA, and Guttorm:

“Look, it's coming out!” he exclaims eagerly as the hermit crab falls to the ground. Guttorm appears somewhat scared or unsettled. He tries to pick up the crab but pulls his hand back and says, “It crawls with its shell on its back.” He picks it up. “Wow,” he says, “it's big.” More children come over, but Guttorm tries to keep them at a distance. He picks up the hermit crab and shows it to PIA, who takes it from him and states, “Now it's crawling out of its house.” The children are eager and want to help the hermit crab come out of its shell, but PIA protects the hermit crab by enclosing it in her hands to prevent the children from grabbing it. “When it's out of its house, it can easily get hurt,” PIA explains. Guttorm says, “I want to hold it.” PIA responds, “You know what, Guttorm? This one should be allowed to go back into its house.” She tells the children to handle the hermit crab carefully. PIA returns it to the sea, and the children quickly accept her actions and allow the hermit crab to remain undisturbed. (Torsvik, 2024, p. 37)

This dialogue reveals how the children and teachers related to each other. SOFIE seized a loophole by showing Guttorm the hermit crab and how to relate to it. She engaged in a dialogue with Guttorm during his exploration. By addressing his curiosity with understanding and continuing the dialogue, PIA broadened his (and the other children's) perspectives and knowledge. We perceive polyphony when the voices of SOFIE and PIA provided space for Guttorm to explore the hermit crab in its natural habitat. Guttorm's thoughts and utterances about what he wanted the hermit crab to do were accepted, but PIA stopped him from hurting it and explained why. We interpret this as the relationships between PIA, SOFIE, the hermit crab, the ocean, and Guttorm demonstrating respect for and preserving nature. The way they explored and related to nature on the seashore reflects ecological awareness of marine life and ECEfS. Guttorm's exploration of the hermit crab also exemplifies play as a speech genre. The thematic content revolved around the hermit crab (he wanted the hermit crab to come out of its house), and the linguistic style (expressing what he wanted the hermit crab to do) indicate that Guttorm was playing with the hermit crab. In his play, Guttorm expected the hermit crab to act like a human by coming out of its house, and he explored different ways of encouraging it to do so (by asking the researcher to help him and putting it in the water).

In summary, the relationships between the children and teachers are characterised by polyphonic dialogues. They relate to the hermit crab, the sea, the seashore, and each other verbally and bodily. We trace equality in the collaborative exploration that enabled polyphony to emerge through diverse voices during several parallel activities. Once again, we observe that the children's play is their preferred speech genre. We identify loopholes when the teachers seized opportunities to connect ongoing experiences with established knowledge about marine life. We conclude that relationships based on dialogue are a driver for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration.

Summing up the Analysis

Our analysis reveals the seashore as a place rich in polyphonic activities. Several different ongoing play sequences can take place simultaneously and in parallel. The diverse natural artefacts (e.g., crabs) make it easy for the teachers to spot loopholes and offer the children opportunities to explore (e.g., by lifting an anemone). Based on these interpretations, we consider the seashore to be a place and a driver for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration.

Moreover, we find that giving the children time to hook into previous or ongoing activities on the seashore opened up opportunities for exploration on various individual and collective levels (polyphony). The abundance of time became a driver for the teachers to incorporate previous experiences and new knowledge and to seize loopholes. Thus, time emerges as a driver for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration.

However, we find that setting aside time for children on the seashore is not enough. Evidently, the relationships between children, between children and teachers, and between children, teachers, and nature are important. We conclude that relationships based on dialogue during exploration on the seashore are crucial for allocating time for play as children's preferred speech genre. Thus, place, time, and relations emerge as key drivers supporting the development of emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration.

Discussion

Our findings reveal place, time, and relations as drivers for emergent ocean literacy. These drivers are manifested as important for ECEfS as they facilitate polyphony, play, loopholes, and emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration. In the following text, we explore the identified drivers inspired by Bakhtin's (1984, 1986) and Ødegaard's (2020, 2021) outline of the concepts of loopholes, speech genre, and polyphony.

Loopholes

The drivers of place, time, and relations reveal ways to make room for loopholes. These drivers created opportunities for teachers to facilitate ECEfS by grasping and connecting both uncertainty and formal knowledge, connecting earlier experiences with the here and now, and embracing or creating abundant shifts on the seashore. The children's perspectives and experiences were not only encouraged but also expanded through place, time, and relationships during collaborative exploration. The metaphor loopholes—illustrated as a hook and a question mark (Ødegaard, 2020)—captured an overall emphasis on keeping the activities open for actions and knowledge that extended beyond the children's and teachers’ established knowledge. Although several researchers have pointed out uncertainty regarding content and approaches to ECEfS for young children (e.g., Grindheim et al., 2019), this uncertainty and ways to handle it have seldom been conceptualised. Aligning with Ødegaard (2020), we see the metaphor of loopholes as a relevant conceptualisation for meaningful ECEfS practices. The metaphor of loopholes highlights awareness of the drivers for emergent ocean literacy and ECEfS through collaborative exploration. The metaphor provides a conceptualisation of ways to facilitate ECEfS.

Play as Children's Preferred Speech Genre

In aiming for emergent ocean literacy and relevant and meaningful ECEfS through collaborative exploration, an emphasis on play seems relevant. Play involves the whole body and stands in contrast to emergent literacy that often emphasises oral language even in ECE contexts (e.g., through philosophical conversations; Lynngård, 2015; Skalstad, 2020) or when conducting experiments in natural science projects (Brostrøm & Frøkjær, 2016; Elfstrøm et al., 2016; Skalstad & Munkebye, 2022). The diverse bodily play on the seashore provided space for emergent ocean literacy, aligning with the findings of Sanderud et al. (2021, pp. 1089–1090), which highlight the pedagogical potential of play in nature. The coastal environment in Sanderud et al.'s (2021) research facilitated bodily and verbal dialogue through play. Similar to our findings, Sanderud et al. (2021) find that children experienced water as cold when they waded along the shoreline. Play, as a speech genre that emerges through bodily experiences in relation to nature—such as the experience of the cold sea—is consistent with a “whole-body approach,” “literacy of the sea,” and “emergent ocean literacy” (Ødegaard et al., 2024). Children learn about the landscape in an embodied way when playing in and with nature (Kjørholt et al., 2023). According to Cuervo and Wyn (2017) and Kjørholt et al. (2023), interactions at a specific place in nature can make a strong, emotional sense of attachment and belonging. Polyphonic play, as a speech genre on the seashore, involves both verbal and bodily utterances.

Based on our analysis, we realise that the drivers of place and time for children's play provide opportunities for them to delve into, explore, and reflect upon topics that were prompted by the seashore as a place. Playing on the seashore, over time, can facilitate polyphony in relation to the culture children are part of, while simultaneously shaping that culture. Play occurs during encounters with the shore; for instance, when wading in the sea, the sea influences the child (who gets cold), but the child also influences the sea by creating waves. Repeated play necessitates enough time and possibilities to link to previous experiences. In addition, the driver relation, revealed as relations between children, children and teachers, and children, teachers, and nature, facilitated expansion of children's knowledge of the maritime ecosystem, which was again reflected in their play. Thus, the children's first-hand experiences of the sea, their own bodies, and the marine culture they were part of became interconnected and dialogical. The drivers of place, time, and relation facilitated meaning-making in play. Play, as children's preferred speech genre, opened pathways for emergent ocean literacy and ECEfS through collaborative exploration.

Polyphonic Activities

Our findings reveal relations as drivers for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration and polyphonic activities. The driver of relation is evident in dialogical engagement and provides opportunities for the teachers to seize loopholes and open a participatory space for emergent ocean literacy through polyphonic, collaborative exploration. There was room to introduce important ideas and principles about the ocean (Santoro et al., 2017). Aligning with Siraj-Blatchford (2006) and Skalstad (2020), we realise the importance of teachers supporting and participating in children's exploratory activities and play. The teachers assumed the roles of both orchestrators of and participants in the activities, as playing tutors (Ødegaard, 2020, p. 84), and broadened the polyphony in the activities. To assume such a role, we might say, in line with Sanderud et al. (2021, p. 1089), that didactic sensitivity towards children's self-directed play is necessary, and that exploration must also be central (Ødegaard, 2020, p. 93) when aiming to facilitate emergent ocean literacy and ECEfS.

The seashore, as a place and a driver for emergent ocean literacy through collaborative exploration, opened up opportunities for polyphonic activities due to the diverse artefacts and first-hand experiences available in a marine ecosystem. Also, the driver of time is evident. We identify this driver as repeated visits to the seashore, which gave the children time to explore in their own ways and teachers time to connect activities to previous experiences. Thereby, the driver of time facilitates multiple, diverse, and simultaneous polyphonic activities that centralise children's interests. In our study, the drivers of place, time, and relation made room for emergent ocean literacy and ECEfS, through several polyphonic, exploratory activities.

Conclusion

Aligning with Ødegaard (2020, p. 88), we view Bakhtin's metaphor loopholes as a dialogical, dynamic contribution to pedagogy and a relevant conceptualisation for meaningful ECEfS practices. The identified drivers for collaborative exploration can broaden our knowledge of how to facilitate emergent ocean literacy and ECEfS. The identified drivers call for teachers’ awareness of space, time, and relations when facilitating ECEfS.

The driver of space is relevant to diverse cultural contexts, aligning with where and how children are situated in their everyday lives. The specific context and marine nature, as well as the range of children's and teachers’ prior experiences and knowledge, will nevertheless differ across contexts, cultures, and environments.

The drivers of time and relation can be generalised to different places, as can the polyphonic dialogue among children, nature, and teachers. In line with our overall theoretical approach, we emphasise the importance of researchers to take part in polyphonic dialogue to address uncertainty and thereby extend knowledge of how to facilitate meaningful ECEfS.