Purpose
The purpose of the study is to analyse how the distinction between the kindergarten’s legal and pedagogical responsibilities is reflected in local policy plans for preventing and managing offensive behaviour. The research question is: Do legal and/or pedagogical discourses appear in local policy plans addressing the prevention and management of offensive behaviour, and if so, how?
Result
The study showed a distinct difference between legal and pedagogical discourses in local policy plans for kindergartens. These discourses exist side by side without being integrated effectively. When the tasks are described, a legal discourse is used, while questions about how kindergartens should prevent and manage offensive behaviour are explored using a pedagogical discourse, without linking it to legal concepts. This difference creates uncertainty in how offensive behaviour should be managed in practice. Local policy plans often lack the integration of both perspectives, which may weaken the effectiveness of measures against offensive behaviour.
Design
The study used a qualitative approach to analyse 89 local policy plans from Swedish kindergartens to identify whether and how legal and pedagogical discourses emerge in efforts to prevent and address offensive behaviour. The documents were analysed to understand the discursive difference between the legal and pedagogical responsibilities described in national policy documents and how these are reflected locally. The selected kindergartens were representative of different regions and types of kindergartens to ensure breadth and variation in the source data. The document analysis focused on mapping how kindergartens formulated and implemented guidelines and procedures related to offensive behaviour.
References
Rantala, A., & Heikkilä, M. (2023). The gap between juridical and pedagogical discourses concerning preventing and countering abusive treatment in preschool policy documents. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 31(5), 811–825.