“One may not be as one wants to be” : A study about how a number of children in grade 3 discusses norms and norm breaking

The aim of this study is to investigate how 20 children discusses norm breaking based on a children’s book with a focus on following questions: How do the children discuss norms based on the children’s book? Are there differences in opinions and comments between children with Swedish as their first language and children with Swedish as a second language, and if so, which ones? The investigation is based on four discussions of children’s literature, which are a method Chambers (2004) means enable the children to put their thoughts and feelings about the book into words. The theoretical frame of the study is founded on post-structuralism feminism and particularly Butler (Ambjörnsson, 2010) and Davies (2003) theories about gender and gender roles. The investigation shows, among other things, that the children are basing their discussions on the norms accepted by the society. But it also shows that there are differences in the way that the children with Swedish as a first language and Swedish as a second language discusses norm breaking.