Den tredje pedagogens berättelse om barnen från Tellus : En analys av förskolans lekmiljöer och ateljéer ur ett genusperspektiv

This study focuses on children’s play materials in preschool play environments and artstudios. The aim is that from a gender perspective, examine how play materialscontributes to the cultural boundaries or possibilities of the child's identity developmentbased on traditional gender patterns. The object of study is one unit in two differentpreschools which works with a gender perspective in various ways. The method was asurvey of the room’s layout and furnishing, photography of play materials and aqualitative estimate of play materials in play environments and art studio as well as aqualitative approach in the form of an interview with the focus on the educator's controlof play environments and art studios. The empirical data were analyzed with aphilosophical hermeneutic method. The result shows that the gender perspective ismainly expressed through a gender neutral encoding of the play materials and representsabout half of all the play materials with the highest proportion in creative play materials.The results also show a hierarchy which traditionally masculine encoded play materialsget a bit more place than traditional feminine encoded play materials. Gender combinedplay materials encourage transgender identity development. The gender combined playmaterials is underrepresented in the first preschool studied and slightly more representedthan the traditional feminine coded play material in the second preschool. Gendersegregation is clear where the placement, the scale and the selection of play materials arefactors crucial to the child's separate play worlds based on gender.Validerat; 20160229 (global_studentproject_submitter