Normalised diversity: educators’ beliefs about children’s belonging in Swedish early childhood education.

The study investigates kindergarten teachers' perceptions of children's sense of belonging in kindergarten. The main goal is to uncover the kindergarten teachers' view of belonging and the challenges they face in every day kindergarten life. The research questions are: 1) What perceptions of children's sense of belonging can be identified in the teachers' descriptions of daily practice in kindergarten? 2) What challenges are highlighted in the kindergarten teachers' descriptions?

The kindergarten teachers worked to create a sense of community and security for all the children, while at the same time taking into account the diversity among the children. Challenges arose when parents' perceptions of belonging clashed with the views of the kindergarten teachers. The study shows the complexity in work to promote children's sense of belonging in kindergartens, which involves breaking down and maintaining boundaries, as well as managing diversity among children.

The data material consists of group interviews with 40 kindergarten teachers from four different kindergartens in southern Sweden. Two of the kindergartens were located in cities, while the other two were in small villages. In the urban kindergartens, approximately 90% of the children had a mother tongue other than Swedish, compared to 20% in the village kindergartens.

Eek-Karlsson, L., & Emilson, A. (2021). "Normalised diversity: educators’ beliefs about children’s belonging in Swedish early childhood education". Early Years, DOI: 10.1080/09575146.2021.1951677