Preschool teachers as keepers of traditions and agents of change

Abstract

According to the Swedish Preschool Curriculum, one of the tasks of the preschool is to pass on a cultural heritage, its values, traditions and history, language and knowledge, from one generation to the next. The formulation indicates that cultural heritage plays an important role in defining the tasks of preschool teachers as far as the transmission of cultural norms is concerned. The aim of the overall study was to explore how Swedish preschool teachers implement and reflect on the task of transmitting a cultural heritage. This paper has its focus on how a particular cultural tradition, Easter, is celebrated in two preschools. The empirical data consists of 227 min video data from two preschools. The video data were analysed through qualitative content analysis with a focus on how different semiotic resources, actions and artefacts are used to perform Easter. The different modes of enacting traditions are used as instruments of socialisation into a cultural heritage as well as means of actualisation of a preschool pedagogy. While preschool teachers can be seen as agents of change who challenge some of the ways of celebrating a tradition, they are also agents of national reproduction. Thus, the teachers both enact the curriculum and build a bricolage of elements, some of which represent continuity, while others represent change.

Caring for Worldviews in Early Childhood Education: Theoretical and Analytical Tool for Socially Sustainable Communities of Care

“…Although there is a growing body of literature on linguistic and cultural diversity e.g., [47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] in Swedish preschools, apart from a few exceptions [9,10,41,42,[55][56][57][58], these studies do not tend to examine questions related to diversity of religions or worldviews. When it comes to worldview inclusion and religious and cultural diversity in Swedish and other Nordic ECEC, the available studies have pointed out at least two additional critical and discursive factors.…”

La deconstrucción de los roles de género a través del patrimonio cultural en Educación Infantil

“…Es, por ello, clave trabajar en torno al patrimonio desde las primeras etapas educativas, en las cuales se sientan las bases para el desarrollo posterior en todos los ámbitos de la vida (Bodero-Cáceres, 2017), con el fin de formar personas preparadas para comprender, respetar y valorar el patrimonio y para analizar las dinámicas sociales de forma crítica (Peinado, 2020). Así, entendemos la educación patrimonial no como una disciplina que pretende únicamente la transmisión de contenidos teóricos cerrados, sino como un proceso de socialización patrimonial (Cuenca, 2014;Puskás & Andersson, 2021), a partir del cual se orienta el trabajo a la promoción de valores éticos, cívicos y afectivos en relación con la defensa, protección y salvaguardia del patrimonio (Cuenca, Estepa y Martín, 2011) y al análisis crítico de la realidad cotidiana para formar a una ciudadanía activa y participativa en su entorno (Borghi y Galletti, 2020).…”

12. “Argh, even my kid is digitalised!” Commercial apps’ effect on parent– teacher communication

“…Findings in studies from Bergsland (2018), Hellman and Lauritsen (2017), Herwartz-Emden (2020) and Lauritsen (2011) show the same tendencies. Research from several countries by Krogstad and Hidle (2015), Kuusisto (2011Kuusisto ( , 2017, Kuusisto and Lamminmäki-Vartia (2012), Puskás and Andersson (2018) and Schweitzer (2020) show that some of the kindergarten teachers feel insecure and lack knowledge about religions. When religion and world views are included in the diversity issues, educators often find it even more challenging.…”