Lucia eller tomte? : om våra stereotypa tankar och handlingar kring genus

Sammanfattning: The purpose of my study is to highlight how children at preschool are affected by adult’s awareness of norms and interpretations of masculinity and femininity. The essay shows examples of boys’ and girls´ expectations of each other and the preconceived notions of what boys and girls should or can do, and how we pedagogues relate to this matter. One example is about an encounter with a mother, where we have different opinions about her son´s wishes to be Lucia instead of Santa Claus. I had to reconsider my pre-understanding and I realize that we can create opportunities to receive and give, without preconceived notions of what is "right" or "wrong". Main issues are: What is controlling our thoughts and actions and hence causes us to act stereotypically? How can we pedagogues give children the opportunity to establish their identity beyond taken for granted notions of gender? Is it possible to be a conscious and sensitive gender pedagogue all the time, and what does it mean? My study is based on hermeneutics as a method. This means that I interpret and show various perspectives from my horizon of understanding. I look into different situations from other´s perspectives, theories and literature together with the experience I posses as a pedagogue. Related to this experience, the essay shows that pedagogues often believe that they meet and treat each child as individuals, and that the children are given the same opportunities and rights. I also study power theory based on the philosopher Michel Foucault´s works and I find that it is a difficult balance between the beliefs of pedagogues and some parents have. I refer to the pre-revised curriculum that emphasizes that we must counteract traditional gender patterns and gender roles (Lpfö 98, revised 2010). But despite the wording of the curriculum, I find that we establish gender patterns and reproduce its many times stereotypical way of considering what is male or female. The essay also discusses ideas about how gender affects the various ways in which children are allowed to play and, in turn, affect how pedagogues relate to and challenge the children’s play and learning.