Greinin fjallar um hvernig staðið er að kynjajafnréttismenntun elstu barna í
leikskólum. Viðtöl voru tekin við sjö leikskólakennara í elstu deildum í sex leikskólum
á höfuðborgarsvæðinu ásamt því að dvelja á vettvangi til að fá innsýn í starf deildar.
Úrtak var valið til að fá sem fjölbreyttastan hóp leikskóla í fleiri en einu sveitarfélagi
með í rannsóknina. Greint er frá helstu niðurstöðum í þremur efnisflokkum:
Samfélagið og leikskólinn, kyngervi og leikefni og undirbúningur og aðstaða leikskólakennara.
Í fyrsta efnisflokknum um samfélagið og leikskólann kom fram hjá viðmælendunum
að hið kynjaða samfélag endurspeglaðist í leikskólastarfinu, til dæmis í kynjaskiptu
búningavali. Leikskólakennararnir voru gagnrýnir á staðalímyndirnar í samfélaginu
og töldu að fjölga þyrfti körlum í starfshópnum, það skapaði meiri fjölbreytni
varðandi fyrirmyndir barnanna. Leikskólakennararnir voru gagnrýnir á mótun
kyngervisins hjá börnunum og töldu það hlutverk sitt að efla gagnrýna hugsun
barnanna. Í öðrum efnisflokknum, sem sneri að kyngervi og leikefni, reyndust
leikskólakennararnir hafa talsvert sterka sýn á að leikefni og leikjaval festi börnin ekki
í staðalímyndum. Þó bar einnig á leikefni sem sýndi hefðbundin kynhlutverk, svo
sem púsl. Í þriðja efnisflokknum um undirbúning og aðstöðu leikskólakennaranna
komu fram einkunnarorð í nafni greinarinnar um að kynjajafnréttismenntunin væri
„kannski alltaf svona á bak við eyrað“; sem markaðist af því að gripin væru tækifæri
í dagsins önn fremur en að fræðslan væri fyrir fram skipulögð. Rannsakendur álykta
að kynjajafnréttismenntunin í leikskólunum sex hafi verið fremur ómarkviss. Hún
virðist hafa verið á ábyrgð einstaklinga og var stundum ekki meðvituð. Hins vegar
er áhugi til staðar, til dæmis í vali á leikefni og að baki þeirri hugmynd að grípa
tækifærin þegar þau gefast. Höfundar telja mikilvægt að efla stofnanalega ábyrgð á
kynjajafnréttismenntun barna og að leikskólarnir þurfi rækilegan stuðning til þess,
ekki síst með fræðslu til starfsfólksins.
The aim of the study was to explore the practice of gender equality education in the
oldest age groups in Icelandic preschools. Seven preschool teachers in six preschools
in the capital city area were interviewed, and the researcher conducted around three
hours of observation in each of the schools to gain insight into classroom practice.
The sample of schools and teachers was determined by employing a stratified
random sampling, from different parts of Reykjavík and its surrounding towns. The
interviews were rich in content and observations insightful into daily operations at
the preschools.
The findings are reported here in three thematic groups. The first group contains four
main themes: How the children dress, role models, stereotypes about sex roles, and
gender division. The interviewees reported on the ways in which the gendered and
gender-divided society tends to be reflected in preschool operations. This appears,
for example, in the gendered dress code of the children which may be influenced
by popular children’s television programs. The preschool teachers were critical of
gender stereotypes in society, and they expressed the view that if more men worked
in preschools, a greater variety of role models would be presented to the children.
The preschool teachers were also critical of how gender was constructed among
the children and argued that they had the role of fostering critical thinking in the
children.
The second group comprises six themes: Books, what appeared on the walls, blocks,
jigsaw puzzles, role play, and rough and tumble play. The interviewees emphasized
the importance of scrutinizing books according to the type of gender images and
stereotypes they present. When posters and wall art in the schools were examined,
examples of stereotypes were not typical. The blocks were considered to be gender
divided-toys in spite of being “unbelievably ungendered phenomena”, as one of the
teachers put it. In their experience, boys played more with blocks than girls did. The
teachers are conscious of gendered toys, such as Barbie or “princess jigsaw puzzles” or
“car jigsaw puzzles” and tried to encourage children to cross boundaries that assign
certain toys to one gender.
In the third group, there are three themes that concern the preparation and situation of
preschool teachers; gender equality policy, and the call for gender equality education
for teachers, and for other staff. It was under this umbrella that the title of the article appeared: that gender equality education is “always somehow in the back of the mind;
that is, opportunities were taken when they arose. We asked about gender equality
policy documents which apparently exist in the municipalities. Teachers and other
staff do not seem have been informed about the content of such policies. One of
the teachers suggested that educational material, “packages”, should be prepared
for the preschools to apply in their practice, and other teachers reported that staff
development seemed to focus on issues unrelated to gender.
Although we witnessed positive examples in relation to gender equality work, the
overall conclusion is that work promoting gender equality education in the six
preschools was scarce and coincidental, and most often not preplanned. But we noted
a keen interest, among teachers, and in some of the schools, in selecting appropriate
play materials. We believe it is vital that municipal and other authorities assume
institutional responsibility for gender equality education. Furthermore, the preschools
need a high level of support for enhancing this area of practice. This does not only
apply to preschool teachers but also to other staff in the preschools who do not have
professional education. And although this an educational responsibility, we also argue
that it is a feminist project to identify what is of value in the current activities and to
enhance this important aspect of Icelandic society, currently and for the future.
