Lekens lange linjer: En historisk analyse av lekbegrepet i læreplandokumenter for norske barnehager og skoler fra 1996 til 2020

This article is based on a content analysis of the concept of play in the national curriculum for Norwegian kindergartens and schools from 1996 until 2020. The results show how play’s place in the curriculum has changed in a period characterized by changing knowledge discourses. The results also illuminate how perspectives on play, either as a goal in itself or a means for other purposes, have been written and have developed within and between the documents in line with these discourses. The study contributes knowledge on how national curricula frame the conditions for play in children’s institutional lives.