معرفی
Anna Palmer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Stockholm University, specializing in Early Childhood Education. She teaches within the Teacher Education Programme in Early Childhood Education and leads multiple research initiatives focused on preschool education and children's learning.
Her research interests span material feminist studies, posthumanist philosophy, and aesthetic learning practices, with particular focus on alternative ways of learning mathematics in preschool settings and ethics in early childhood education. Drawing on new materialist philosophies and Gilles Deleuze's work, she examines how scientific concepts interact with children's bodies and material entities in learning events, challenging traditional constructivist theories of learning.
Palmer's publication record demonstrates a consistent focus on innovative approaches to early childhood education, particularly examining the intersection of materiality, ethics, and learning. Her work often explores how children engage with complex concepts through aesthetic and embodied practices, moving beyond traditional cognitive frameworks to consider the more-than-human dimensions of learning. The research shows a progression from examining specific learning practices toward broader philosophical considerations of ethics and materiality in educational contexts.
She leads the research group 'Preschool children's changing knowledge,' a collaborative effort between Stockholm University and Södertörn University, which investigates effective methods for supporting children's development and learning in daily preschool teaching. Additionally, she is involved with 'The Nordic research network for evidence-based, high-quality preschool for social justice' and 'Practice-based research in and about early childhood education and care - PraFF.'
Palmer supervises doctoral projects including 'Experimenting dance in preschool' (Lovisa Gustafsson), 'Sustainability and Future – Learning Laboratories in Preschools' (Teresa Elkin Postila), and 'Children, film and the preschool' (Maria Olsson). Her collaborative work includes a significant three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial examining pedagogical methodologies in Swedish preschool settings, demonstrating her commitment to evidence-based approaches in early childhood education.
