"Ja, det finnes mobbing i barnehagen" - Pedagogers beskrivelser av mobbing blant barn i barnehagen

Research on bullying in kindergarten implies that bullying exists amongst small children, and that it is as big a problem in kindergartens as in schools. Hence the kindergartens have a responsibility for early prevention of bullying. The basis for this master thesis is a question which is presented in the research literature: How can we define bullying amongst children in kindergarten? I wanted to study how pedagogical leaders in kindergartens describe their experience with bullying amongst children. I chose a qualitative approach for this study, with semi-structured interviews as my method. I interviewed six pedagogical leaders, who worked with children in the age-group of two-six years of age. The kindergartens they worked at were municipal kindergartens, localized in five of Bergen municipality‟s districts. Throughout the analysis and discussion of the respondents‟ descriptions I got clear indications that they all agreed that bullying could occur amongst children in kindergarten. They were also concerned about their responsibility in the task of prevention. Not every one of them had seen or experienced bullying in the kindergartens where they were employed, but they still had descriptions of the phenomenon. The pedagogical leaders described bullying as demeaning actions that occurred repeatedly and over time. They also described how bullies could be considered as leaders because of their ability to “read” and understand the social picture, and to influence other children to contribute to the bullying. As for the victims, they were described as cautious children, who differed from the other children, and didn‟t dare to tell the adults about the bullying they were subjected to. These descriptions suggest an imbalance in the power relation between the bully and the victim. This power imbalance is also explicit in definitions of bullying. Another element in the discussion of how bullying can be defined is whether or not intention can be a criteria for when unpleasant actions can be classified as bullying. The respondents expressed mixed opinions about this, which is also prominent in the researchers‟ reflections on the element of intention. It is pointed out that kindergarten children aren‟t capable to see things from others‟ perspectives, and that we cannot know the intent behind their actions