Studier har visat att förskolans personal ofta bemöter flickor och pojkar utifrån stereotypa föreställningar om kön. Fokus i seminariet är därför att visa några olika positioner hos flickor och pojkar som accepteras och/eller möter motstånd i några vanligt förekommandesituationer, det vill säga på vilka olika sätt det är möjligt att vara flicka eller pojke. Dessa situationer är även underlag för en diskussion kring begrepp som "kvinnligt" och "manligt" samt hur dessa kattegorier styr vad som ses som möjligt att genomföra i exempelvis förändringsarbeten, men även hur dessa föreställningar kan utmanas.

Within the context of the Swedish curriculum calling for an active intervention from teachers to enforce gender equality in preschools, the aim of this particular research is to critically analyze how girls and boys (aged 4-5) position themselves and are positioned by each other and the teachers in activities of “free play”. The data, from two different preschools in Sweden, consists of video-observations as well as focus-groups with teachers, using the video-observation as a point of departure for the discussions. Within the frame-work of feminist poststructuralist theory/methodology, multiple readings of the video-observations and focus-groups are done. The analysis shows that the children are subjected to several different dominant discourses that intersect and co-operate with the discourses about masculine dominant and aggressive behavior and feminine passiveness and reflexive consideration, during “free play” activities, such as for example; strong preschool discourses of the importance of learning how to become “thoughtful and considerate. The children’s positions shift in different ways depending on their perceived sex. Different theoretical and discursive readings of the expectations from the teachers and their interventions in the “free play” situations are made. The multiple readings strive to transgress the prevailing asymmetrical power-producing binary of feminine – masculine, with the aim of making new/other positions for girls and boys possible.

Previous research studies have shown that in their address and behaviour towards girls and boys, pre-school staff apply stereotyped gender concepts, thus reinforcing rather than challenging stereotypes. The present thesis therefore focuses on which of children’s positions that are accepted or that face resistance from the staff. In this way, children’s gender-based "identity-formation" can be critically analyzed based on different possible descriptions of how it is to be a girl or a boy, and what unaware assumptions about gender representations that in this way may be made in different ways by both children and adults.

The theoretical point of departure is feminist poststructuralism; and the analysis focuses on variations found between the groups of girls and boys, as well as within these groups, and within individuals. The empirical data consists of video-taped sessions from two teams working with children aged 3-5, and focus groups interviews with the adult. Then different "readings" of the empirical material have been conducted based on different assumptions (discourses); i.e. assuming that girls and boys "really" are different or equal, different behaviours will appear as more or less obvious and natural. By showing that several different discourses are present at the same time, gender-based "identity-formation" is described as a very complex process. The analyzed situations show that girls and boys in pre-school are defined and treated in stereotyped ways, however, there is a large hidden variation of how different girls and different boys positions themselves in different contexts. Pre-school teachers thus work actively to distinguish between girls and boys based on how they are being perceived as either girls or boys. Teachers’ expectations then become decisive of how different children are addressed and treated in different situations. To conclude, the pedagogical consequences of this are discussed with regard to gender equality work in which also alternative discourses are formulated.

Several pre-schools in Sweden claim to be working in a gender equal pedagogical direction [genuspedagogik – “gender pedagogy”]. When asked to describe what this means, in relation to other pedagogical directions, very few can give specific examples, except that it means “to show respect”, and to work on the basis of each individual. However, such starting points can be viewed as valid for all pedagogical directions.

This presentation draws upon an questionnaire study among teachers at Swedish pre-schools that actively work, or have been working, with gender equality/equity projects with the aim to analyze what can be understood as a gender equality pedagogical direction. The pre-schools in this study have all been provided funding from the Commission for Equality in Preschool during 2003 and/or 2004 – either the whole pre-school, or, one or several of the school’s employees have been involved.

To obtain funding, applicants had to describe how they wanted to work with equality. One criteria to obtain funding was sustainability; how well the project was considered to be able to continue its’ work after the funding period. The assumption in this study is that these pre-schools can be seen as typical for pre-schools working consciously with gender issues. The questionnaire was delivered to 96 pre-schools and 89 of them answered = 93 percent. An assumption made is that these pre-school can be viewed as typical for pre-schools that work in a gender equality pedagogical direction in Sweden.

The results from this study show that several different theoretical assumptions are being made by the teachers simultaneously within this work. I will at the end of this presentation suggest an alternative direction that emanates from a different point of departure as criteria to perform a different gender equality pedagogical direction, than those directions described as available alternatives by the teachers in this study.

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the complexities that are embedded within gender formations and in so doing I try to shift understandings away from current polarities that exist within contemporary Swedish early years provision. By drawing on poststructuralist theories in general and in particular Foucault’s (1977) work concerned with discourse I draw attention to certain pedagogical practices which in my view offer young children an impoverished way of ‘being’ in terms of their gender identities. Additionally I strive to show why these practices have such a profound grip on Swedish practitioners by exposing some of the underpinning presumptions upon which they are predicated including biological theories and development psychology.

The paper describes some of the assumptions that both nourish and sustain one polarity – essentialist notions concerned with sex and gender – before moving to discuss its polar opposite - social constructivism. In part three I describe how data that informs the work, an example of “free play”, was collected before moving on to offer multiple stories that emerge from untangling these. Such deconstructions emerge from feminist appropriations of post-structuralism and queer theories. Finally the paper considers what some of the repercussions are in terms of pedagogical practices when children’s gender identities are considered in terms of being ‘fluid’. It is argued that by making such a shift young people are not only able to ‘perform’ (Butler, 2006) gender in diverse ways but importantly they can become increasingly critical of why certain performances both work at subjugating and oppressing.

Research topic/aim:

This presentation draws upon a critical ongoing questionnaire study among Swedish pre-schools who actively work, or have been working, with "gender equality projects".

Theoretical framework:

The theoretical assumptions draws from feministic post-structuralism and focus upon how language, rather than objectively describing objects, repli­cates attitudes.

Methodology/research design:

The aim with this questionnaire study is to present common methods in pre-schools practical and daily work, partly by analyzing the methods stated to be in use, as well as how methods are described and justified these. Different methods and approaches give different naturally and obvious “truths” about what “gender pedagogy” is, or should be. The study also focuses on pre-schools from different pedagogical traditions (for instance “Reggio Emilia”), with the aim of analyzing and challenging theoretical/practical underpinnings.

Expected conclusions/findings:

Some pre-schools express an ambition of “sex-neutral” environments and pedagogy, while other pre-schools express a wish for an environment and pedagogy where children are encouraged to cross traditional sex stereotyped behaviors. In the latter cases materials and activities normally connected to one of the two sexes are employed, so that girls and boys are given the opportunity to choose “non-traditionally”.

Relevance for Nordic Educational reserach:

These different visions will create problems in the strategic “gender equality work”, as they have entirely different starting points and aims. Children are also being described as passive receivers of a pedagogical activity.  The study suggests that the responsibility for gender equality work resides with the adults. This paper aims at setting establishing theoretical starting-points for a pedagogy where children instead are seen as active and responsible co-constructors.

This study aims to shows that children are subjected to several different and dominating discourses intersecting during so-called “free play” activities in preschool. The Swedish preschool discourse entails dominant gendered notions about how children are supposed to behave and therefore make available specific positions regarding femininity and masculinity. Even when girls and boys act in similar ways, they are strictly positioned and treated differently by their teachers. This is most likely caused by gendered expectations in relation to what teachers consider being normal behavior amongst girls and boys in terms of, for example, activity/aggression or passivity/submission (among other expectations). The male – female binary is thereby actively sustained. In spite of the fact that girls and boys take up a variety of positionings during free play, they are still described as two separate and homogeneous groups by their teachers. Girls are outlined and positioned as “passive” whereas boys are outlined and positioned as “active”. The possibilities of superseding the normalizing and gender-production are discussed.

Den senaste tiden har Christian arbetat med en studie vid genuspedagogiska gruppen i Stockholms universitet kring vilka metoder förskolor som arbetar med jämställdhet använder sig av. Eftersom flera olika metoder samtidigt används riskerar arbetet att bli rörigt och ibland motverka varandras syften. Föreläsningen pressenterar dels vilka olika metoder som kan användas samt diskuterar kring vad dessa kan ge för, många gånger omedvetna, konsekvenser. Tanken är att både ge tips på arbetssätt, men även att kritiskt granska dessa.

Previous research studies have shown that in their address and behaviour towards girls and boys, pre-school staff applies stereotyped gender concepts, thus reinforcing rather than challenging stereotypes. This presentation therefore focuses on which of children’s positions that are accepted or that face resistance from the staff, particularly by study when girls and boys are being reprimanded. In this way, children’s gender-based ”identity-formation” can be critically analyzed based on different possible descriptions of how it is to be a girl or a boy, and what unaware assumptions about gender representations that in this way may be made in different ways by both children and adults.

The theoretical point of departure is feminist poststructuralism; and the analysis focuses on variations found between the groups of girls and boys, as well as within these groups, and within individuals. The empirical data consists of video-taped sessions from two teams working with children aged 3-5, and focus groups interviews with the adults. Then different ”readings” of the empirical material have been conducted based on different assumptions (discourses); i.e. assuming that girls and boys ”really” are different or equal, different behaviours will appear as more or less obvious and natural. By showing that several different discourses are applied at the same time, gender-based “identity-formation” is described as a very complex process. The analyzed situations show that girls and boys in pre-school are defined and treated in stereotyped ways, however, there is a large hidden variation of how different girls and different boys positions themselves in different contexts. Pre-school teachers thus work actively to distinguish between girls and boys based on how they are being perceived as either girls or boys. Teachers’ expectations then become decisive of how different children are addressed and treated in different situations. To conclude, the pedagogical consequences of this are discussed with regard to gender equality work in which also alternative discourses emerge and are formulated.

Research topic/aim:

Previous research studies have shown that in their address and behaviour towards girls and boys, pre-school staff applies stereotyped gender concepts, thus reinforcing rather than challenging stereotypes. This presentation therefore focuses on which of children’s positions that are accepted or that face resistance from the staff, particularly by study when girls and boys are being reprimanded. In this way, children’s gender-based ”identity-formation” can be critically analyzed based on different possible descriptions of how it is to be a girl or a boy, and what unaware assumptions about gender representations that in this way may be made in different ways by both children and adults.

Theoretical framework:

The theoretical point of departure is feminist poststructuralism; and the analysis focuses on variations found between the groups of girls and boys, as well as within these groups, and within individuals.

Methodology/research design:

The empirical data consists of video-taped sessions from two teams working with children aged 3-5, and focus groups interviews with the adults. Then different ”readings” of the empirical material have been conducted based on different assumptions (discourses); i.e. assuming that girls and boys ”really” are different or equal, different behaviours will appear as more or less obvious and natural.

Expected conclusions/findings:

The analyzed situations show that girls and boys in pre-school are defined and treated in stereotyped ways, however, there is a large hidden variation of how different girls and different boys positions themselves in different contexts. Pre-school teachers thus work actively to distinguish between girls and boys based on how they are being perceived as either girls or boys. Teachers’ expectations then become decisive of how different children are addressed and treated in different situations.

Relevance for Nordic Educational reserach:

By showing that several different discourses are applied at the same time, gender-based “identity-formation” is described as a very complex process. The pedagogical consequences of this are discussed with regard to gender equality work in which also alternative discourses emerge and are formulated.

The focus in this presentation will be an critically ongoing study of Swedish “gender equality projects’” where theoretically statements and practically methods will be questioned and challenged. Its purpose is to portray theoretically starting-points where children are described as active co-constructers with responsibility, rather than passive receivers of pedagogically activity.

Frågan om män i förskolan är en känslig fråga och berör feministiska ideologiska ambitioner såväl som jämställdhetspolitiska målsättningar. Sammanställningar visar att det inte finns någon större samverkan mellan utbildningsanordnare för att delge erfarenheter kring hur vi inom högskolor och universitet kan rekrytera, behålla och förbereda män (och till viss del även kvinnor?) till förskolläraryrket. Statliga utredningar, och krav på fler män i förskolan i medier, utgår från flera olika (disparata) argument. Jämställdhetsinsatser har framförallt handlat om att få fler kvinnor till mansdominerade utbildningar, vilket gett goda resultat. Kvinnor gör idag gör otraditionella yrkesval, men inte män. Ett förhållanden som kan ge konsekvenser då det framförallt är inom vård och omsorg som framtida arbetstillfällen beräknas finnas, inte inom traditionella manliga yrken. En allmän föreställning är att utbildning är relativt könsneutral, men forskning visar att dolda förväntningar relaterade till könstillhörighet är starka. På ett fåtal lärosäten finns nätverk som arbetar med frågan om män i utbildningen (och i förskolläraryrket) och som lyfter några av de "problem" som män (och även vissa kvinnor) upplever – både i utbildningen och senare i yrket. Presentationen inleds med en genomgång av insatser som gjorts för att sedan diskutera problemområden och tänkbara åtgärder utifrån erfarenheter på olika lärosäten.