Rules and agreements — And becoming a preschool community of learners

SUMMARY The study presented here discusses rules and agreements in a preschool group from the viewpoint of the development of a community of learners. What kinds of rules and agreements exist in the preschool group, how they are articulated and how they are adopted at the beginning of the preschool year were the questions addressed in this small-scale ethnographic study. Three types of rules, often called agreements in preschools, were found in the group: conventional, moral and prudential rules. Conventional rules were mentioned and referred to most frequently, by both teachers and children. The most typical way of articulating a rule was stating the rule or reminding others of it. Many rules referred to by teachers had to do with formal measures for maintaining group cohesion, thus directly contributing to the feeling of togetherness in the group and aiming at the development of a learners' community. However, from the standpoint of adherence to rules and agreements only, the data suggested that during the first preschool term the group had not yet developed into a genuine community of learners. The children still had to learn that “everyone must have peace in which to play, learn and work”: in the target preschool the adoption of this rule was articulated as an important criterion for a true learners' community.