Abstract

The purpose of the essay is to examine the discourses that become visible when South African teachers talk about preschool children, viewed from an equality perspective.

The theoretical framework for this essay is social constructionism.The data collection is made with a qualitative semi-structured interview method. My analysis of data collection is done through an incomplete Foucault inspired discourse analysis.

The result shows several discourses that become visible when the teachers talk about preschool children. Due to how the teachers talk, due to what words they use, opposite discourses become visible, partly discourses based on traditional gender roles but also discourses based on gender equality. Teachers work is based on the desirable discourses, but the work is a struggle because they themselves are partly bearers of discourses based on traditional gender roles.

The teachers hold the power in preschool; they have the possibility to influence children’s view of gender equality.

Keywords

Preschool, South Africa, gender equality, gender, children