Medvetenhet och osäkerhet: hur vill jag att du ska bli?

: – en fenomenografisk studie om barnskötares och förskollärares uppfattningar om hur genus påverkar barnets identitetsskapande

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of how gender can affect the child's identity. The study's research question is: how can gender affect the child's identity? The literature review investigates the research question from different aspects, such as what expectations there are for girls and boys, the importance of language for the child’s identity and how gender and identity is created. The study's problem specification is: how describe nanny and preschool teacher verbally that their gender perspective can affect the child's identity? To address the research question two teaching assistants’ and four preschool teachers were interviewed using a qualitative interview form. The analysis process uses a phenomenographic research approach, which focus on identifying variation in perceptions of the research question. The study investigates the perception of child minders and preschool teacher on a number of important aspects, each of which acts as an important factor in fully answering the research question. From the results it is possible to discern that teaching assistants’ and preschool teachers’ do attempt to treat each child as an individual. It is also clear that a child's sex determines how it will be treated, and that this can be identified as a crucial aspect of how the child creates its own identity.