Vi vill leka själva faktiskt! : En essä om barns kamratkultur i förskolan, när det inte riktigt fungerar och pedagogens roll i sammanhanget

This essay focuses on my reflections on children’s peer culture and their interactions in preschool when it comes to conflicts and their ways of treating each other in such situations. I start by telling a story where I describe a situation between four children and their way of handling a conflict between them. Based on my story I want to investigate and understand how peer culture works and why it sometimes doesn´t work in children’s relationships. Why it sometimes comes to children excluding each other or using power over one another in different ways, good and bad. This makes me think about my own ways of handling things and why I sometimes hesitate when it comes to knowing what the right thing to do is. The purpose of writing an essay as a method is to reflect and deepen my own understanding of these matters, like peer culture, conflicts between children and their relationships, but also of my own actions and how I can better understand them. This way of writing, reflecting and relating to theoretical literature deepens my own reflections and understanding of the questions I have been hesitant about, which are: What strategies are children using in conflicts and what norms govern children’s peer culture in preschool? How do I as a teacher work with conflict management? Why do I hesitate in my own knowledge of what is right or wrong? The theoretical perspectives I have been using to better understand my story are by William Corsaro, Fanny Jonsdottir and Pia Williams and their studies about peer culture and social interactions as well as Annica Löfdahl who also writes about norms and attitudes in children's play. To reflect on the social competence and self-esteem of children I explore Margareta Öhman and Kari Pape, who also studied children excluding each other and power structures. I have also reflected on Cecilia Ländins research on master suppression techniques and Maria Johansson, the actress, who writes about: having courage, fairness and kindness