Social Sustainability through Children’s Expressions of Belonging in Peer Communities.

The purpose of the study is to explore the social dimension of sustainable development through children's expression of belonging in kindergarten groups. The research questions are: (1) How do children create and express communities of friends in free play? (2) What do children gather around in such communities of friends? (3) How do these communities of friends define themselves and what prerequisites do they set for children's sense of belonging?

Based on the children's interests, stories, positions, identifications and work with group definitions, the researchers identified three types of communities of friends, as well as criteria for belonging to the different communities. The researchers categorised children's play into three main types: (1) emotionally dense communities, (2) communities based on norms and power struggles, and (3) communities based on openness and enjoyment. The communities are characterised by varying degrees of stability, power negotiation, belonging and exclusion. The researchers conclude that not all children feel a sense of belonging or feel at home at all times, but that being part of different communities of friends gives the children important experiences of exclusion, inclusion and community building, as long as they experience kindergarten as a safe and good place to be.

This study is part of a larger study (NordForsk). The current study analyses 134 observed interactions between children (four and five years old) in communities of friends (two to ten children) in a Norwegian kindergarten. The analyses were hermeneutic and the identification of communities of friends and possibilities of belonging was rooted in Yuval-Davis' concepts of intersectionality.

Johansson, E. & Rosell, Y. (2021). "Social Sustainability through Children’s Expressions of Belonging in Peer Communities". Sustainability, 13:3839.