Using an intersectional analysis, this article critically analyses implied and expressed norms to identify perceptions of appropriate behaviour in children’s play, and to explore how social communicative arenas such as Internet forums construct knowledge and values. Adults’ responses to an incident that occurred amongst a group of children in Swedish early childhood education as part of free play during the preschool day were analysed. The incident was described in a thread posted on the Familjeliv (Family Life) internet forum. The research questions were: what images of children are prominent in discourse on appropriate behaviour as part of free play; what discursive categorisations of children related to age, gender and sexuality can be identified within this discourse; and how do these categorisations intersect? Netnography provided the method used together with thematic content analysis. Findings reveal two contrasting views: first, the view that four-year-olds cannot commit sexual assault on another person; and second, the view that they can. Young children were constructed either as non-sexual, innocent, curious and playful, or as perpetrators who lack consequentialist thinking. Age was the dominant discursive category utilised in relation to sexuality and appropriate behaviour, followed by gender. 

Research topic/aim This article critically analyses implied and expressed norms to identify perceptions of appropriate behaviour in children’s play, and to explore how social communicative arenas such as Internet forums construct knowledge and values. Adults’ responses to an incident that occurred amongst a group of children in Swedish early childhood education as part of free play during the preschool day were analysed. The incident was described in a thread posted on the Familjeliv (Family Life) internet forum. The research questions were: what images of children are prominent in discourse on appropriate behaviour as part of free play; what discursive categorisations of children related to age, gender and sexuality can be identified within this discourse; and how do these categorisations intersect? Netnography provided the method used together with thematic content analysis. Theoretical framework The thematic content analysis we conducted was qualitative in focus and adopted a poststructural feminist approach. Using this approach, the researcher’s gaze is directed not only towards expressions in the text, but also key linguistic formulations and discursive meanings. In this study, the focus was not only on discursively constructed identity-creating categories such as gender and ethnicity, but also on age, functionality and nationality. The intention when using an intersectional analysis is to shed light on issues that are taken for granted, such as assumptions about children’s ‘normal’ development or, as in this study, appropriate behaviour. In pursuit of such a goal it becomes central to visualise and examine unspoken and stated norms, such as constructed differences between something (a child’s behaviour) or someone (a child) that is perceived as normal or deviant in different situations or relationships. Methodological design The study involved the use of netnographic method. Instead of studying a situation using responses to questions from a researcher, we focused on the replies in Familjeliv forum thread. Expected conclusions/findings Findings reveal two contrasting views: first, the view that four-year-olds cannot commit sexual assault on another person; and second, the view that they can. Young children were constructed either as non-sexual, innocent, curious and playful, or as perpetrators who lack consequentialist thinking. Age was the dominant discursive category utilised in relation to sexuality and appropriate behaviour, followed by gender. Relevance to Nordic educational research In Sweden, preschool is a non-compulsory part of the education system. Early childhood education in Sweden is aligned with the Nordic tradition. It involves close contact between staff such as care givers, preschool teachers and special educators, and parents. Play is considered integral to education and central to learning. The Swedish national curriculum emphasises the central aspect of play for children’s development. Play can be viewed as a key part of preschool experience in which children are free to explore their surroundings, express themselves, and learn together. However, different types of governance linked to play in the preschool context have been identified in the literature related to gender, age and functionality. There is a lack of critical research that brings these discursive categories to bear on free play. The present study aims to fill this gap.

Recurring in discussions with professionals, as well as in media and research (cg. Palla, 2021), are concerns regarding the portrayal of children in need of special support in relation to the struggle for resources in Swedish preschools. Perhaps the expressive constructions of children in need of special support can serve as a means to acquire additional resources. A consequence of such an approach may be that the more "special and expressive needs" are constructed and documented, the greater the opportunities for resource enhancement (cf. Persson & Tallberg Broman, 2019). This prerogativ of interpretation opens up possibilities for what can be articulated in other arenas, such as in application forms for additional resource allocation. Multiple issues arise, relating to values, perceptions of children, and the formation of children's identities in connection with the preschool's role and mission regarding quality education, making this project particularly urgent. The aim is therefore to create knowledge about how children in need of special support are described in preschool special educational resource application forms. The analysis focuses on the preschool's compensatory mission as a differentiering practice (Foucault, 2000), examining how children are described in resource application forms from an intersectional perspective. In this way, it illuminates notions of normality and deviation within the constructed categories of function, gender, and age. The project is conducted through text analysis of collected authentic documents comprising 169 pages concerning 20 children. Using qualitative thematic text analysis (Atkinson & Coffey, 2011; Silverman, 2006) from an intersectional perspective, the content is grouped according to the categories of function, gender, and age, while also revealing any potential intersections among these categories. The project is expected to contribute to both theoretical development and practice-relevant knowledge.

References 

Atkinson, P. & A. Coffey, A. (2011). Analysing Documentary Realities. In Qualitative Research: Issues of Theory, Method and Practice, edited by D. Silverman, 77–92. SAGE. 

Foucault, M. (2000). The subject and power. I J.D. Faubion (Red.). Power: Essential works of Foucault 1054-1984. Volume 3. Penguin books. 

Palla, L. (2021). När barn blir till problem och belastning i svensk förskola: Om behov av särskilt stöd och resurser i ett pressat läge. Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 26(4), 7–29.

Persson, S. & Tallberg Broman, I. (2019). Hög sjukfrånvaro och ökad psykisk ohälsa. Malmö stad.

Silverman, D. (2006). Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analyzing Talk, Text and Interaction. Sage. 

Utifrån ett intersektionellt perspektiv har vi analyserat vuxnas uttryck på nätet gällande en beskriven gränsöverskridande lek i förskolemiljö mellan två pojkar och en flicka. Studien är intresserad av hur de på ett internetforum förhandlar situationen med utgångpunkt i kategorierna kön och ålder. Vissa menar att barns lek är nyfiken och utforskande medan andra argumenterar för att barn kan begå övergrepp även om de är unga. Denna debatt är av relevans då det under de senaste åren blivit mer fokus på att skydda barn med en ökad oro gällande nakenhet och barns kroppar.

This study aims to develop knowledge about how ‘the Deviant’ is produced through identificatory mapping materials that operate in Swedish preschools. This is achieved by identifying and critically reviewing a base of mapping materials commonly used in Swedish ECEC today, focusing on how the documents per se, and the formulations therein, risk pointing both the writer and the recipient in certain directions. This includes analysing the pre-existing structure and content as well as the proposed purpose of the mapping material. Drawing on Foucault, I consider documentation as a productive discursive element in a larger apparatus, where the mapping materials operate as a governing technology for making normalising judgments. The analysis contributes to an understanding of the documentality governing ECEC professionals, which affects how they resonate, and act in aiming to fulfil their mission in identifying certain children. In line with this reasoning, I also point out the specific status the documents have gained in the global ECEC quality discourse. The analysis shows how mapping documents named Pedagogical Mapping operate as a discursive element of the apparatus of early childhood special education identification processes and become fruitful for visibilising, comparing, and assessing the child and for further governing.

Documentation as a technology of power in early childhood education and care

Chair(s): Noora Heiskanen (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)

Discussant(s): Kaisa Pihlainen (University of Eastern Finland), Terese Wilhelmsen (University of South-Eastern Norway)

The extent of documentation is increasing in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the Nordics and plays a key role in its quality work. In addition, documentation has special importance when it comes to early childhood special education as it is seen to safeguard the child's right to support, to raise the quality of ECEC and to create obligations for professionals. Despite its prevalence, the centrality of documentation is a new feature in Nordic ECEC (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2022), reflecting the trend of data-based governance in Global North. This increased focus on data-based governance has been called the governance turn of education (Ball, 2009). During the governance turn, demand for documenting practices, including the production of either written or numerical data, has become a dominant technique of governing (Ozga et al., 2011; Piattoeva, 2018). However, the values hightlighted in Nordic ECEC such as democracy, emphasis on play and the absense of child assessment as a measure of quality are not easily combined with this governance turn (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2022).

In research, traditionally, documentation is often approached as a process of neutral recording of facts, consequently, framing documentation as passive, objective, and innocent (Dahlberg et al., 2007). In addition to its function of recording practices and agreements, documents can also be seen as institutional actors (Ferraris, 2013). This means that documentation is understood having consequences. However, only a little is known about what documentalization actually does in ECEC.

In this symposium, documentation is discussed as a technology of power, possessing multiple possible consequences to children, professionals, and institutions (Miller & Rose, 2008). With theoretical and empirical investigations, we crically examine the predominant understandings of documentation in Nordic ECEC. First, Noora Heiskanen and Maiju Paananen discuss theoretical and methodological approaches used in research about documentation using the two ongoing research projects as a starting point. Second, Linda Palla’s presentation illustrates an empirical research from Swedish ECEC documentation about mapping materials. Third, Karianne Franck’s presentation will investigate the barriers for listening to young children’s views and opinions in expert assessment documents with the help of a study conducted in Norway. Finally, discussants Kaisa Pihlainen and Terese Willhelmsen lead the discussion on documentation as a technology of power in research and ECEC practices.

References

Ball, S. (2009). The governance turn! Journal of Education Policy. 24(5), 537–538.

Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., & Pence, A. (2007). Beyond quality in early childhood education and care: Languages of evaluation. Routledge.

Ferraris, M. (2013). Documentality: why it is necessary to leave traces. New York: Fordham University Press.

Miller, P., & N. Rose. (2008). Governing the present: Administering economic, social and personal life. Polity.

Nordic Council of Ministers (2022). Nordic Approaches to Evaluation and Assessment in Early Childhood Education and Care. Final report.

Ozga, J., Dahler-Larsen, P., Segerholm, C., & Simola, H. (Eds.). (2011). Fabricating quality in education: Data and governance in Europe. Routledge.

Piattoeva, N. (2018). Elastic numbers: National examinations data as a technology of government. In Governing by Numbers (pp. 18–36). Routledge.

In times of democratic decline, unanimous choices and approaches and the idea of a singular best practice may be less conducive to democracy and sustainability. Therefore, the aim of this study is to suggest a multivocal approach to education and teaching by studying the question of what may characterise teaching in preschool for a sustainable future. The knowledge contribution and originality of the article is evident in the introduction, method, and results. In abductive analyses, models can summarize what we need to know and teach in pursuit of the creation of open life chances for every child. The results show that didaktik models are open and can provide support for teachers and leaders to consider and base informed decisions on, as well as to motivate their didaktik choices based on scientific foundations and proven experiences. Multivocal didaktik mo-delling intends to open up teaching—cultivating collaboration in preschool for a sustainable future in a world of change. In conclusion, we recommend cultivating an orientation (1) between knowledges, values and didaktik/education/special education in the pursuit of the creation of conditions for good education for all children; (2) between teaching realities and scientific foundations, which are founded in a critical–reflective didaktik, with a choice of direction in relation to an uncertain future; and (3) between continuity, progression and teaching adventures—which can include consolidating, deepening, broadening, raising, and cultivating knowledge and values for multivocality, democracy and sustainability in teaching realities. In the future the concept of multivocal didaktik modelling can be studied in relation to complex teaching realities as in a teaching universe or a teaching multiverse.

Sammanfattning

Syftet är öka kunskapen om hur yrkesverksamma i förskolan säger sig använda TAKK, tecken som alternativ kompletterande kommunikation, i förskolans undervisning. Vidare syftar studien till att belysa hur TAKK kan förstås i ljuset av specialpedagogisk didaktik. Didaktiska frågor har väglett analysen: Var och när uttrycker yrkesverksamma i förskolan att TAKK används? För och med vem/vilka uttrycker yrkesverksamma i förskolan att TAKK kan användas? Hur och varför uttrycker yrkesverksamma i förskolan att TAKK kan användas? Studien har avgränsats till att omfatta 30 yrkesverksammas utsagor i ett inlägg i internetforumet Facebooks grupp ”Förskolan.se”. Vald metod är netnografi och analysen är kvalitativ med specialpedagogisk didaktisk modellering som teoretiskt angreppssätt. Resultatet visar att beskrivningar av användandet av TAKK kan liknas vid ett flerstämmigt förhållningssätt då TAKK beskrivs användas i undervisning på flera olika vis, i flera olika situationer och i flera olika miljöer – med alla och för alla. Slutsatsen dras att med specialpedagogisk didaktisk modellering kan TAKK bli ett verktyg brett nog att utgöra stöd på inkluderande vis.

Nyckelord: Didaktisk modellering; förskola; netnografi; specialpedagogisk didaktik; TAKK (tecken som alternativ kompletterande kommunikation); undervisning 

AbstractSAAC as a special education didactic tool in preschool education

The purpose is to increase knowledge about how SAAC, signing as augmentative and alternative communication, is said to be used by professionals in preschool education. Furthermore, the study aims to shed light on how SAAC can be understood in the light of special education didactics. Didactic questions have guided the analysis: Where and when is SAAC said to be used? Who is/are SAAC said to be used with and for? How and why is SAAC said to be used? The study has been limited to the statements of 30 professionals in a post in the internet forum Facebook’s group “Förskolan.se”. The chosen method is netnography and the analysis is qualitative with special education didactic modelling as theoretical approach.

The results show that descriptions of the use of SAAC can be likened to a multi-voiced approach as SAAC is described as being used in the education in several different ways, in several different situations and in several different environments – with everyone and for everyone. The conclusion is drawn that with special education didactic modeling, SAAC can become a tool broad enough to constitute support in an inclusive way.

Keywords: Didactic modeling; early childhood; netnography; preschool education; special education didactics; Signing as Augmentative and Alternative Communication (SAAC); teaching