Kampen om mobbebegrepet - En diskursanalyse av begrepet mobbing i barnehagen

Most people still associate bullying among children predominantly to schools, as evident in both national and international research. Kindergarden bullying in Norway became actualized from a political stance through the Manifesto against bullying 2002-2004. The Norwegian debate in the subject, presents bullying in a kindergarden setting as a relatively new and controversial matter. This master thesis aims at illuminating the battle of the term ”bullying” and the implementation of the manisfesto in kindergardens.A discourse analytic approach was used to draw attention to how the term bullying is constructed and communicated in kindergardens, and potential consequences for the implementation of the manisfesto. Interviews were conducted on 3 preschoolteachers and 3 managers in 3 kindergardens in Hordaland. The interviews were supplemented by documents in order to clarify central elements in the discourse.Results of the analysis identified 4 antagonistic relationships in the kindergarden bullying discourse. A) Informants do not actualize bullying in kindergardens, at the same time the political manisfesto order kindergarden staff to actualize this matter as a priority in all kindergardens. B) Informants and researchers construct the the term bullying somewhat different. C) Informants show through their statements a perception that ”little children do not bully”, whereas the manisfesto draws on research showing that bullying occurs also in the kindergardens. D) The discourse signifies a current educational practice focusing on social competence and positive reinforcement as potential preventive strategies to negative behavior among preschool children. This contrasts the recommendations of leading researchers on intervention programs against bullying. Such programs demand a direct problemfocused approach to negative behavior such as bullying.The discourse reflects several antagonistic relationships between perceptions on bullying of those working in the kindergardens, and the political leads in curriculums supposed to comprise the kindergarden practice. These antagonistic relationships seem to be based on different perceptions of what the bully term refers to. Knowledge about bullying appears imperative for succeding in implementing the manisfesto in the kindergardens.At the same time it seems necessary that the kindergarden staff percieve the manifesto as relevant and meaningfull. This study points to that this might not be the case