Gender- and equality discourses in change. : A qualitative interview study about how preschool teachers talk about gender and gender equality in a preschool context.

This study analyzes how preschool teachers describes gender and equality in a preschool setting, how they describe their equality work in preschool activities and how this has changed over time. With a discourse analysis and a feminist poststructualist perspective, interviews with preschool teachers were held. The results show that there are several dominant discourses about gender and equality active in preschool at the same time. In addition, these can clash with each other. The result also highlights preschool teachers’ stories where children are seen as individuals, regardless of their gender and how the view of children and their childhood has changed over time. The preschool has a complex practice where many subjects are included due to the Swedish curriculum, LPFÖ 18. This study focuses on this dilemma and how it can affect children’s opportunity for learning and development on equal terms