Det finns inga tjejbestämmare: Att förstå kön som position i förskolans vardagsrutiner och lek. There are no girl decision-makers: Understanding gender as a position in pre-school practices.

With the premise that previous studies have shown that kindergarten staff approach girls and boys on the basis of gender-stereotype preconceptions, this dissertation focuses on identifying what are the accepted gender positions for girls and boys, and what positions meet resistance in the kindergarten. Gender and identity-forming processes as well as the stereotype assumptions about gender and genus made by both adults and children at the daycare centre are analysed from a critical post-structuralist perspective. The dissertation distinguishes itself from previous research in this area by focusing on the individual child and this child’s options as well as variations between different groups of children. The author analyses four everyday scenarios at the kindergarten: Free play, circle time, getting ready to go out and lunchtime, focusing on how the adults address the children.   

The study shows that the adults in the kindergarten approach girls and boys on the basis of stereotypical preconceptions about gender, and thereby help cement gender differences rather than evening them out. The situations analysed show that girls and boys are approached on the basis of stereotypes, and that this conceals a significant variation in the ways girls and boys actually position themselves. Finally, the pedagogical consequences for equal opportunities in the kindergarten are discussed, and the author describes alternative discourses and response patterns for social pedagogues.

The study has a qualitative design and data collection was carried out through video footage and focus group interviews.

Eidevald, C. (2009). Det finns inga tjejbestämmare: Att förstå kön som position i förskolans vardagsrutiner och lek. There are no girl decision-makers: Understanding gender as a position in pre-school practices. Jönköping: Högskolan i Jönköping.