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Not okay: Preschool teachers talk about inappropriate touching
Linnéuniversitetet.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6016-4416
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Centre for Gender Studies (from 2013).ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8019-2396
2020 (English)In: Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, E-ISSN 2323-7414, Vol. 9, no 2, p. 456-476Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This study investigates views and experiences described by Swedish preschool teachers regarding inappropriate and unprofessional physical touching between educators and children. The empirical material consists of semi-structured interviews with 30 preschool teachers. The interviews were analysed with thematic analysis, and further examined in the light of the concepts ‘becoming’ and ’being’. The results show that educators consider it inappropriate and unprofessional for staff to grab or restrain a child, or to touch a child without observing the child’s signals, as doing so violates the child’s integrity. It is also deemed wrong to carry or ‘help’ a capable child, as this is considered undermining the child’s agency. Further, to kiss a child is also deemed inappropriate and unprofessional. The informants have, however, slightly different approaches and experiences regarding kissing. The results show that preschool teachers struggle with these issues. The boundaries between appropriate and inappropriate touching may be difficult to draw up. And in concrete situations, the concepts ‘becoming’ and ‘being’ are not always easy to separate. The study concludes that both preschool teacher education and workplaces should pay attention to the subtle, but culturally and socially permeated, issues of touch.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Early Childhood Education Association Finland , 2020. Vol. 9, no 2, p. 456-476
Keywords [en]
preschool, touching, inappropriate touch, preschool teachers
National Category
Educational Sciences
Research subject
Pedagogics and Educational Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-81173OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-81173DiVA, id: diva2:1485495
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2014–2121Available from: 2020-09-29 Created: 2020-11-02 Last updated: 2021-04-07Bibliographically approved

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https://jecer.org/not-okay-preschool-teachers-talk-about-inappropriate-touching/

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Åberg, Magnus

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

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Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • apa.csl
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf