Teknik i förskolan – att motverka traditionella könsroller: En aktionsforskningsstudie

Author
Boström, J.
Source
Akademisk avhandling. Linköpings universitet.
Year
2018

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate how gender roles affect young children’s opportunities to develop interest and skills in technology. This was implemented using action research. The study seeks answers to the following questions:

  1. What kind of didactic reasoning becomes clear in the planning and evaluation of activities related to technology and gender in kindergarten?
  2. What type of challenges and opportunities are found in kindergarten work on gender and technology?

Result

The study shows that the development of gender-conscious technology teaching in kindergarten is a very complex and multifaceted task. Kindergartens, and the kindergarten teachers, should be able to help the children develop technological awareness and interest in technology without being inhibited by traditional gender perspectives. However, as previous research has shown, teachers’ expectations of children’s behaviour and leisure interests are gendered and reflect historically developed gender roles in relation to technology.

As this study shows, there is a real risk that kindergarten teachers on the one hand focus on boys and girls as homogeneous groups, where an individual becomes representative of the whole group. On the other hand, there is a risk of missing out on gender structures if the attitude is that gender does not play a role in the treatment of children at all, and that children can automatically perform gender-neutral roles.

In this study, pedagogical conversations were important for teachers to have the opportunity to reflect on their own preconceptions. But such conversations did not seem to be enough, it was also important for teachers to have the opportunity to see and reflect on how they actually interacted with the children in the technological activities. Only then did teachers begin to really question their preconceptions and discuss new forms of interaction. 

Design

The two kindergartens that participated in the study had expressed that they would like to work on this topic. Through the action research design, the kindergartens and researchers collaborated to investigate the research question. The empirical material consisted of approximately 24 hours of video recording.

References

Boström, J. (2018). "Teknik i förskolan – att motverka traditionella könsroller: En aktionsforskningsstudie". Akademisk avhandling. Linköpings universitet.

Financed by

Not specified