Interkulturellt förhållningssätt i förskolan : ambitioner och paradoxer

Sammanfattning: Background: Sweden has become a society with a multicultural population. Many children start preschools with different backgrounds and experiences. Teachers today face the task of meet those children in the best way. Södertörn University has a special profile on their teacher education, the intercultural profile. Aims: My report focuses on teachers who have been working in preschools for about one to two years after graduating from the intercultural education at Södertörn University. The report aims at finding out more about their experiences and thoughts about the intercultural approach after having worked in the Swedish preschool with a special focus on the intersectional perspective on cultural phenomena class, gender and ethnicity. Another focus is the self critical attitude that has been taught. Another aim was to study if they had been able to use this intercultural perspective in the work with children. Method: I have preformed interviews with four teachers following an interview guide. The data have been analyzed with a qualitative method. The preschool teachers are chosen for working in preschool and have an exam less than two years ago. Results: The teachers were positive to the intercultural profile and had found it useful in their work and also in the task of applying the curriculum. The teachers wanted to work from a norm critical perspective with focus on gender. They also wanted to challenge the children’s image of family constellations by presenting different alternatives. The teachers were positive to meet the children by their ethnical background but chose girls and boys in the same way. One of the teachers chose another way by trying to treat all children alike. Conclusion: The teachers was positive to the intercultural profile and had applied it their daily work. Differences concerning ethical background and similarities concerning gender were emphasized in the interaction with the children which is a paradox that may be complicated if the cultural background influences gender expectations. By working with respect and from a non ethnocentric intercultural way it is hard to also challenge the children’s conceptions.