Festivals and traditions at preschools : a qualitative study about the descriptions and reflections of five preschool teachers around the celebration of festivals and traditions at preschool

This study is about the work around festivals and traditions that takes place in multicultural preschools. The purpose of this study is to describe and reflect upon the work around festivals and traditions in multicultural preschools from the view of five preschool teachers who are active in their profession. The purpose is also to investigate which festivals and traditions that are given attention at preschool and for what reason according to the preschool teachers. The method of research chosen in this study is qualitative in the form of individual interviews with the intention of obtaining and interpreting the descriptions and reflections of the informants around the subject. The results will be analyzed from an intercultural perspective. The results show that all investigated preschools celebrate the traditional Swedish festivals Christmas, St. Lucia’s day, Easter and Midsummer, and that these festivals take up lots of space in terms of time and labor. At some of the preschools attention was also given to other festivals from different faiths and cultures out of diversity and a more globalized perspective. The results also revealed that all of the preschool teachers were positive to giving attention to festivals from other faiths and cultures. It was considered to bring an increased understanding and respect for differences between people. It appeared that an operation with increased cultural features would result in the confrontation of some difficulties