Technology is a field with strong connections to the female/male dichotomy. Children start to stereotype everyday life regarding this dichotomy as early as the age of two. The preschool, through its activities--among them reading aloud from picture books--is an arena where societal norms can be either preserved or challenged. Books about different…

We investigate the importance of spatial, material, and organisational factors to gendered peer relations on the school football pitch. The study is part of an ethnographic research project exploring the relations between school bullying and the institutional context of schooling, focusing on the perspectives of teachers and pupils from preschool…

Access to early childhood education has increased over the last two decades, with global enrolment rates showing gender parity in access among boys and girls. Despite this gender parity in access, the pre-primary education system does not always deliver on its potential to tackle gender inequities and address harmful gender stereotypes while they…

Caring for children and teaching the youngest students have a strong historical connection to women and femininity. The few men working within early childhood education and care occupy an ambivalent position. On the one hand, they often receive a positive reception in preschools; on the other, they are also met with mistrust and suspicion. The…

Many countries call for more men to be teachers in early childhood education and care (ECEC). In Sweden, the issue has been discussed since the early 1970s, but despite these discussions there is little Swedish research that examines the notions and expectations associated with male teachers. International research has found that perceptions of…

The aim of this article is to acquire knowledge regarding children's influence and the construction of gender during free play situations in preschools in different local contexts. Attention is focused on both children's choices and pedagogical practices in which free play takes place. The research draws on ethnographic studies based on…

The focus of this study has been to examine a number of municipalities that work to recruit more men to work in preschools. The aim of the study has been to identify ways of working conducted by municipalities aiming to recruit more men to work in preschools. The study includes seven municipalities, all included in one network specifically aiming…

This is a small-scale qualitative study of gender equality discourses as constructed and employed by pedagogues in three Swedish preschools. The aim of the study is to describe and analyse the preschool pedagogues' constructions of work on children's gender equality, while also examining local variations and the influence of societal discourses…