En del av svenska förskollärares uppdrag innebär sedan år 2018 att leda arbetslagets gemensamma arbete i förskolan. Ur ett historiskt perspektiv har den svenska förskolan karaktäriserats av en demokratisk och platt organisationsstruktur, där förskollärare och barnskötare delat ansvaret lika inom arbetslaget. Syftet med studien är att bidra med kunskap om förskollärares föreställningar om sitt ledarskapsuppdrag i relation till arbetslagets gemensamma arbete. Fyra kvalitativa fokusgruppsintervjuer med 18 förskollärare har genomförts och sedan analyserats utifrån positioneringsteori. Resultaten visar att yrkeserfarenhet och jämlikhet initialt beskrivs som avgörande för uppdraget att leda. Successivt under samtalets gång lyfts förskollärarutbildningens betydelse fram som alltmer central för uppdraget att leda förskolans undervisning. Det framträder en tystnadskultur inom de egna arbetslagen gällande de olika yrkeskategoriernas varierande kompetenser. Studiens slutsats är att förskollärare behöver olika former av stödstrukturer för att utöva sitt ledarskap i praktiken. Här ingår att rektor tydligt kommunicerar förskollärares mandat att leda till arbetslaget som helhet.

In this chapter, we focus on children’s democratic practices in two Swedish preschool settings, drawing on the child dimension in the theoretical model presented in the introduction of this book. The specific aim is to contribute knowledge about children’s own constructions of democracy. Our research questions are the following: How do children negotiate democracy, and what does this entail? The chapter takes its point of departure in the intersection between our previous dissertations (Ribaeus K, Demokratiuppdrag i förskolan [Democratic mission in preschool]. Doctoral dissertation, Karlstads universitet, Karlstad, Sweden, 2014; Skånfors L, Barns sociala vardagsliv i förskolan [Children’s everyday social life in preschool]. Doctoral dissertation, Karlstads universitet, Karlstad, Sweden, 2013) which in different ways have focused questions about 3- to 5-year-old preschool children’s agency and influence and preschool teachers’ democratic practice. The empirical material consists of reanalysed data from our dissertations. We use the model Institutional Events of Democracy (Ribaeus K, Demokratiuppdrag i förskolan [Democratic mission in preschool]. Doctoral dissertation, Karlstads universitet, Karlstad, Sweden, 2014) to identify and understand children’s constructions of democracy. The results show how children in various ways construct and negotiate democracy in terms of participation, power relations and through political influence, illustrating children as democratic subjects and agents of democracy. We conclude by arguing a need for a more explicit emphasis on democracy in early childhood education.

The overarching aim of the studies in this dissertation is to contribute knowledge about children’s shared social knowledge in their preschool peer cultures, regarding both content and how it is established and maintained.

An ethnographic approach has been used to study the shared activities of children, aged 3-5, in the preschool. During 1 ½ years, one preschool setting was visited on a regular basis. One hundred hours of observation have been made and documented through video camera recordings and field notes. The theory of children’s peer cultures (Corsaro, 2005), positioning theory (Harré & Langenhove, 1999a) and social representation theory (Moscovici, 2001) have been used as theoretical tools in the analyses.

The empirical results are presented in four articles (articles I-IV) and are all illustrations of the children’s shared social knowledge. The findings are that children’s shared social knowledge involves two main aspects of knowledge about relations; how to establish and maintain relations vis-à-vis various tokens or social resources (articles III and IV), and how to create distance to relations (articles I and II). Another find is that there seems to be a tension between the children’s social knowledge and the social norms explicitly formulated in the studied preschool context.

I den här avhandlingen undersöker Lovisa Skånfors barns sociala vardagsliv i förskolan. Det specifika syftet är att bidra med kunskap om barns gemensamma sociala kunskaper i förskolans kamratkulturer, både vad gäller dess innehåll och hur de etableras och upprätthålls. Författaren har genom ett etnografiskt arbetssätt följt barns gemensamma aktiviteter på en 3-5-årsavdelning i en svensk förskola, under 1,5 år.

Resultatet visar att barns gemensamma sociala kunskaper handlar om hur man kan skapa och upprätthålla relationer och hur man kan distansera sig från relationer. Barns sociala relationer skapas och upprätthålls i relation till olika sociala resurser (rätt ålder, specifika kompetenser och tidigare etablerade relationer). Barn skapar dessutom distans till andra barn och vuxna genom att på olika sätt dra sig undan i förskolekontexten. Resultatet visar också att det tycks finnas en spänning mellan barnens gemensamma sociala kunskaper och de normer om kollektivitet som explicit formuleras i den studerade förskolekontexten.

Avhandlingen vänder sig till forskare och praktiker med intresse för frågor kring förskola och förskolebarns sociala samspel.

This article is about the positioning work of preschool children. Ethnographic observations were made of interactions among 2–5-year-olds in their preschool setting. In the analysis, Corsaro’s theoretical framework of children’s peer cultures and positioning theory as described by Harré & Langenhove were used. Results show that children share knowledge concerning their social positions in the peer group as built up, negotiable and possible to move between in relation to various ‘tokens’, namely established relationship, proper age and specific competence, all of which change in relevance depending on the actual peer context and activity.

The article reflects on ethical dilemmas encountered during a study with 2–5-year-old children in preschool. A brief overview of the ethical research field indicates that discussions mostly revolve around problems of the consent process. Empirical illustrations are given and discussed in an endeavour to contribute to knowledge within this field. The conclusion is that ‘ethical radars’ are necessary throughout the research process, as children seem to have other ways of expressing acceptance and rejection/withdrawal than just verbally.

The article discusses how children make use of their preschool contex tin order to withdraw. Ethnographic observations were made of two- to five-year-old children’s interactions during free play and teacher-led activities in the preschool, and documentation was carried out through fieldnotes and video recordings. The empirical material was analysed using Corsaro’s theory on children’s peer cultures. Results show that children, in their peer cultures, construct withdrawal strategies – ‘making oneself inaccessible’ and ‘creating and protecting shared hidden spaces’ – by making use of the preschool’s organization of time and space.