«Tissen er haram!» En undersøkelse av hvordan ansatte i barnehager jobber med islam

The study investigates how employees in Norwegian kindergartens work with Islam and manage religious practices among Muslim children. The aim is to uncover the strategies used to incorporate Islamic traditions into everyday kindergarten routines and how employees address challenges related to parents’ expectations. The research question is: How do kindergarten workers work with Islam?

The results show that kindergarten employees work with Islam in various ways, including facilitating religious practices such as halal food and marking holidays such as Eid. Kindergartens face challenges related to parents’ expectations of gender segregation during nappy changes. There is a general tendency to distinguish between religion as doctrines and religious practices/traditions, with the latter being more easily integrated into everyday kindergarten routines. The work involving Islam in kindergartens is characterised by the principles of secularism and a balancing of public and private spheres.

The study is based on five semi-structured interviews with pedagogical leaders and coordinators in municipal kindergartens that have Muslim children. The interviews were conducted in the autumn/winter of 2020. The data were analysed using thematic analysis to identify patterns and general themes related to the research question.

Bratsvedal, I. (2022). «Tissen er haram!» En undersøkelse av hvordan ansatte i barnehager jobber med islam. Nordisk barnehageforskning, 19(3), 59–77.