Doing belonging in early childhood settings in Sweden

The study investigates how belonging is enacted in practice in Swedish kindergartens, with a particular focus on how children themselves create, negotiate, and experience belonging in everyday situations. The research questions are: 1) What appear to be important aspects of belonging in children’s everyday interactions in kindergarten? 2) How are positions and boundaries of belonging negotiated, produced, and reproduced among the children?

The results show that belonging among children in kindergarten is a dynamic process that involves constant negotiation of positions and boundaries of belonging. Children use different markers such as language, play ideas, gender, and age to include or exclude others from the community. For example, a shared language was used as a strong boundary marker in some cases, while shared play ideas could create more open and negotiable boundaries. The researchers emphasise that children are constantly working on achieving and maintaining belonging, where the balance of power often changes.

The data material is taken from two Swedish kindergartens. In the first kindergarten, 22 children aged 4-5 participated, 20 of whom did not have Swedish as their first language. In the second kindergarten, 15 children aged 1-5 participated, five of whom had a different first language than Swedish. The researchers use video observations and data were collected from 13 hours of video recording. Situations included group sessions, meals, free play and dressing. The analysis highlighted children’s interactions and positioning in relation to belonging, with an emphasis on linguistic, social and emotional aspects.

Emilson, A., & Eek-Karlsson, L. (2022). Doing belonging in early childhood settings in Sweden. Early child development and care, 192(14), 2234–2245.

Online year: 2021

Issue year: 2022

Review year: 2022