„Kannski alltaf svona á bak við eyrað“: Kynjajafnréttismenntun í leikskólum

The aim of the study was to explore the practice of gender equality education in the oldest age groups in Icelandic preschools. Seven preschool teachers in six preschools in the capital city area were interviewed, and the researcher conducted around three hours of observation in each of the schools to gain insight into classroom practice. The sample of schools and teachers was determined by employing a stratified random sampling, from different parts of Reykjavík and its surrounding towns. The interviews were rich in content and observations insightful into daily operations at the preschools. The findings are reported here in three thematic groups. The first group contains four main themes: How the children dress, role models, stereotypes about sex roles, and gender division. The interviewees reported on the ways in which the gendered and gender-divided society tends to be reflected in preschool operations. This appears, for example, in the gendered dress code of the children which may be influenced by popular children’s television programs. The preschool teachers were critical of gender stereotypes in society, and they expressed the view that if more men worked in preschools, a greater variety of role models would be presented to the children. The preschool teachers were also critical of how gender was constructed among the children and argued that they had the role of fostering critical thinking in the children. The second group comprises six themes: Books, what appeared on the walls, blocks, jigsaw puzzles, role play, and rough and tumble play. The interviewees emphasized the importance of scrutinizing books according to the type of gender images and stereotypes they present. When posters and wall art in the schools were examined, examples of stereotypes were not typical. The blocks were considered to be gender divided-toys in spite of being “unbelievably ungendered phenomena”, as one of the teachers put it. In their experience, boys played more with blocks than girls did. The teachers are conscious of gendered toys, such as Barbie or “princess jigsaw puzzles” or “car jigsaw puzzles” and tried to encourage children to cross boundaries that assign certain toys to one gender. In the third group, there are three themes that concern the preparation and situation of preschool teachers; gender equality policy, and the call for gender equality education for teachers, and for other staff. It was under this umbrella that the title of the article appeared: that gender equality education is “always somehow in the back of the mind; that is, opportunities were taken when they arose. We asked about gender equality policy documents which apparently exist in the municipalities. Teachers and other staff do not seem have been informed about the content of such policies. One of the teachers suggested that educational material, “packages”, should be prepared for the preschools to apply in their practice, and other teachers reported that staff development seemed to focus on issues unrelated to gender. Although we witnessed positive examples in relation to gender equality work, the overall conclusion is that work promoting gender equality education in the six preschools was scarce and coincidental, and most often not preplanned. But we noted a keen interest, among teachers, and in some of the schools, in selecting appropriate play materials. We believe it is vital that municipal and other authorities assume institutional responsibility for gender equality education. Furthermore, the preschools need a high level of support for enhancing this area of practice. This does not only apply to preschool teachers but also to other staff in the preschools who do not have professional education. And although this an educational responsibility, we also argue that it is a feminist project to identify what is of value in the current activities and to enhance this important aspect of Icelandic society, currently and for the future.