To Örebro University

This thesis focuses on physical touch as a pedagogical action in the interplay between male preschool teachers and children in preschool. Previous research shows preschool teachers consider touch an essential resource when supporting children’s care, learning, and development. Touch has also been subject to surveillance due to a discourse on children’s protection and the adoption of policies towards children’s rights to bodily integrity. Men, as a minority group working in a female-dominated preschool, express that they are extra careful when involved in touch situations with children to avoid possible suspicions that may arise. Against this background, the thesis aims to gain knowledge about touch as a pedagogical action for male preschool teachers and children, focusing on its functions, usage, and contextual conditions.

The study draws upon John Dewey’s pragmatism from a transactional perspective by examining different types of touch as pedagogical action. Fieldwork with participant observation has been conducted in three Swedish preschool classes with 45 children and three male preschool teachers. The findings present five types of touch as pedagogical action according to their functions: focus-oriented action, guiding action, assisting action, affectionate action, and playful action. Touch is used in different forms and is shaped by contextual conditions such as pedagogical situations, unexpected events, male preschool teachers’ and children’s initiative, children’s communication needs, and children’s age. These findings suggest that touch can support children’s meaning-making, participation, and caring relations with their teachers during several situations. Touch, understood as a pedagogical action, also contributes to strengthening male preschool teachers’ professional practice.

This case study focuses on Brazilian ECEC aiming to understand children’s perspectives on their teachers through a gender lens. Brazilian society, much like that of other Latin American countries, emerged from a binary division of gender and sexuality based on heteronormative ideals and patriarchy (Lugones, 2016; Dimenstein, et al., 2020). Stereotypical ideas prevail and have consequences for gender construction in ECEC (Reis, 2016). This qualitative study is based on gender as a social construction, situational, fluid, and performative, while subject to reflection and questioning (Butler, 1990; Connell & Pearse, 2015). A Mosaic Approach (Clark, 2017) was conducted by using observation open-ended interviews with pictures and drawings as photo elicitation with 15 children, a parent questionnaire, and teacher interviews with female and male teachers. Thematic analysis of data was employed (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Information letters and consent forms were provided to all participants, including children, parents, and staff. A negotiated consent process was employed during data collection, and data were anonymized. Preliminary findings indicate that children perceive their male teacher to engage in play, while the female teacher to teach. Results demonstrate how children construct and deconstruct gender in relation to home and the ECEC setting. Male teachers can illustrate to children that care is not inherently gendered. ECEC institutions play a crucial role for the deconstruction of gender stereotypes. Consequently, there is a pressing need to advocate for Brazilian public ECEC policies that integrate gender into official curricula and incorporate gender and sexuality themes into teacher training.

This PhD research project aims to learn about touch as a pedagogical action in the interplay between men and children in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). The following questions were addressed: (1) how does touch become a pedagogical action between male preschool teachers and children? (2) Under what conditions does touch become a pedagogical action? This project is in its final stage, with the thesis defense planned for Autumn 2024.  This study builds upon previous research that has shown that the touch between preschool teachers and children has been subject to surveillance due to a societal concern about children’s sexual abuse (CSA) and the adoption of policies towards the protection of children’s body integrity (Pruit, 2015). Men working in ECEC express concern about being suspected of CSA when they are involved in touch situations with children (Brody et al., 2020). The study draws upon Dewey’s pragmatism by examining touch as an action in the transaction between preschool teachers, children, and their environment (Dewey, 1949/1991). Fieldwork within a qualitative research paradigm was conducted. Participant observation was conducted with 45 children and three male preschool teachers from three Swedish preschools. Field notes and video recordings were used as data analyzed through a thematic analysis within an abductive approach (Braun & Clarke, 2016; Conaty, 2021). The study received approval from the Swedish Ethical Review Authority, and ethical principles such as informed consent, confidentiality, and anonymity were adhered to throughout the research process. The findings indicate that touch becomes pedagogical in five actions: focus-oriented, guiding, assisting, affectionate, and playful. These findings suggest that touch in the form of pedagogical actions creates conditions for children’s learning and care. Such actions can also support men’s professional work when touch situations are understood from a pedagogical perspective in ECEC.

This study aims to understand how cultural discourses in Norway and Brazil are represented in children’s views on their teachers as seen through a gendered lens. ECEC institutions are infused with local gender discourses represented by professional and parental beliefs. Nordic countries emphasize equality and gender sensitive practice (Edström & Brunila, 2016), while conservative forces in Brazil attempt to block educational policy focusing on gender and sexuality (Vianna & Bortolini, 2020). The theoretical framework posits gender as socially constructed performances (Butler 2004, Connell & Pearse, 2015) that are fluid and situational, cultural, political, and socially multi-leveled. In our case study methodology, data collection is modeled on the Mosaic Approach (Clark, 2017), using observation and open-ended interviews with children, and semi-structured interviews with mixed gender staff and parents. Thematic analysis using an abductive approach was conducted. Children gave assent to their participation, and adults gave informed consent. Data was anonymized. Ethical approval was obtained from National Centres for Research Data. Preliminary findings suggest that children in both settings value playfulness and kindness amongst the staff and are attracted towards staff with those competencies. The Brazilian case exhibits a binary pattern where children see only male teachers with those qualities. In Norway it is harder to distinguish a gendered pattern. We relate these findings to local gender discourses, pedagogical traditions and organizational traits. This study shows how cultural contexts affect gender sensitive practices and challenge gender stereotypes by acknowledging children's voices.

In Brazil, debates about the inclusion of gender and sexuality in early childhood education is fraught with tension. The debates are set against the pro feminist movements that support the inclusion of discussion on gender and sexuality in Brazillian early childhood education; and the rise of conservative groups who reject such discussion as unwarranted, using religious and cultural norms to prevent more progressive ways in which to consider ECE. In this chapter we present findings from a qualitative study based on empirical data from semi-structured interviews with 36 Brazilian ECE teachers. The findings concern interviewee teachers’ perceptions of gender and sexuality in ECE and the impact on their pedagogical work. The findings indicate that cultural beliefs, a lack of national educational policies and support for the inclusion of discussion on gender and sexuality in ECE have effects on how teachers challenge and support the conservative agenda.

O objetivo deste artigo é tentar construir uma memória coletiva da produção bibliográfica de pesquisas sobre homens na educação infantil por meio da análise de teses de doutorado e dissertações de mestrado publicadas em programas de pós-graduação no Brasil. Foi realizada uma busca bibliográfica no Banco de Pesquisa de Teses e Dissertações da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) onde foram encontrados 46 estudos (cinco teses e 41 dissertações de mestrado) publicados entre 1996 e 2022. Os resultados mostram que as pesquisas da década de 1990 abrangem a gênese dos estudos sobre os homens na educação infantil, enquanto trabalhos da década de 2000 mostram a inserção de professores do sexo masculino como fenômeno de gênero. Foi identificada uma vasta produção de pesquisas sobre homens na educação infantil entre 2010 e 2019, enquanto a década de 2020 é marcada pela intensificação da produção de conhecimento na área. Nas conclusões, discute-se algumas lacunas na produção acadêmica e a necessidade de ampliação dos estudos que evidenciem os rumos das pesquisas sobre homens na educação infantil na pós-graduação brasileira.

The aim of this article is an attempt to build a collective memory of the bibliographical production of research on men in early childhood education by analyzing doctoral theses and master dissertations published in postgra-duate programs in Brazil. A literature search was carried out in the Theses and Dissertations Research Database of the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) where 46 studies (five theses and 41 master dissertations) published between 1996 and 2022 were identified. The findings show that the research from the 1990s covers the genesis of studies on men in early childhood education; while works from the 2000s show the insertion of male teachers as a phenomenon of gender. A vast production of research on men in early childhood education has been identified between 2010 and 2019; while the 2020s is marked by the intensification of knowledge production in the field. In the conclusions, we discuss some gaps in academic production and the need to expand studies that highlight the direction of research on men in early childhood education in Brazilian postgraduate studies.

This study aims to gain knowledge about how touch can be pedagogical action in the interplay between men and children in ECEC. Research has shown that touch between preschool teachers and children has been subject to surveillance due to a societal concern about children’s sexual abuse (CSA) and by adoption of policies towards protection of children’s body integrity (Pruit, 2015). Men working in ECEC express concern to be suspected of CSA when they are involved in touch situations with children (Hedlin et al., 2019). The study draws upon Dewey’s pragmatism by examining touch as an action in the transaction between preschool teacher, children, and their environment (Dewey, 1934, 1981). A field study within a qualitative research paradigm was conducted (Patton, 2015). Participant observation was carried out with 45 children and 3 male preschool teachers from three Swedish preschools. Fieldnotes and video recordings were used as data that was analyzed through a thematic analysis within an abductive approach (Conaty, 2021). The preschool teachers and children’s guardians received an information sheet and signed a consent form. Children were informed about the study during a circle time. The names of participants were pseudonymized and a negotiated consent was applied during the observations. The findings indicate that touch becomes pedagogical in five different actions: affective, communicative, supporting, playful and guiding. These findings suggest that touch in form of pedagogical actions create conditions for children’s learning and care. Those actions can also support men’s pedagogical work in touch situations with children in ECEC.

This article aims to reflect, through a brief review of international studies, mostly in European countries, on the experiences and challenges faced by male practitioners in their professional practice in Early Childhood Education, which is aplace mostly occupied by women in several countries. Furthermore, it seeks to discuss the question when male practitioners are seeing, by a significant parcel of various societies, as subjects out of place who could pose some risk to physical and emotional integrity of the children. In accordance with the aim of the study, we carried out a qualitative study having content analysis as method, in which 100 scientific peer-reviewed articles from several international journals were analyzed, having English the most recurrent language among them. The results indicate that men who are working with young children need to break their subjectivities and social barriers when they want to join and stay in the profession. In addition to that, the results show that they need to deal with different expectations about their personal and professional attitudes in relation to their gender. Moreover, it is not uncommon that those practitioners are viewed with suspicions by other professionals who share the same spaces in the preschools. Therefore, they are always under surveillance and usually create strategies that seek, if not to shield them, to minimize the mistrust and fears which they are commonly submitted.

Este artigo busca refletir, por meio de uma breve revisão de estudos internacionais, especialmente em paíseseuropeus, sobre as experiências e desafios enfrentados por homens educadores em seu exercício profissional na Educação Infantil, que é um ambiente marcadamente feminino em vários países. Ademais, busca-se problematizar a respeito de homens que trabalham com crianças pequenas serem vistos por uma parcela significativa de várias sociedades como sujeitos fora de lugar e que poderiam oferecer algum risco à integridade física e emocional das crianças. Para tanto, em uma pesquisa de cunho qualitativo e tendo como método de pesquisa a análise de conteúdo, foram analisados 100 artigos científicos indexados em várias revistas internacionais, sendo o inglês a língua mais recorrente entre eles. Os resultados apontaram que os homens que trabalham com crianças pequenas precisam romper, de maneira geral, com barreiras subjetivas e sociais para sua entrada e permanência na profissão, ademais de lidarem com expectativas diversas acerca de suas posturas pessoais e profissionais tendo em conta seu gênero. Ainda, não é incomum que sejam vistos com suspeição por vários sujeitos que integram o universo pré-escolar e, por isso, estejam sempre sob vigilância. Ante isso, tais educadores costumam constituir estratégias que buscam, senão blindá-los, mas minimizarem as desconfianças e receios a que estão comumente submetidos.

The aim of this paper is to present an overview of studies which contribute to get knowledge on the possibilities and challenges for men who intend to work or are working within the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). Men’s relations to children have often been reduced to the issues of fatherhood, paternity and parental leave, and also fathers’ rights post-separation and divorce (Hearn & Pringle, 2006). During the past decades, some scholars have been interested about to study the relation between men and children in educational settings, specially within the ECEC where the number of male practitioners is very low. A worldwide pattern indicates that there are few men working in ECEC (Peeters, et. al, 2015). Taking the total amount of the ECEC workforce, 1-4% of that corresponds to male practitioners. Men engaging in care work can be a way to deconstructing traditional forms of masculinities and contributing to the gender equality in the society as whole (Moosa & Bhana, 2020). Mixed-gender teams in ECEC can benefit children when they see that care and teach are not associated to a single sex. Moreover, the increase of men in areas that involve care of children can also be a way to break a segregated labor market by deconstructing gender stereotypes and norms in some professions. However, the insertion of more men in ECEC is a challenge due to the lack of local and national policies and support for male practitioners. Men’s presence in ECEC can also be subjected of suspicious when the relation between men and children associates to discourses on children’s protection and sexual abuse (Pruit, 2015). Therefore, studies about men in ECEC can bring questions and discussions about the importance and challenges of increasing the number of male practitioners working with small children in different countries. 

In an ongoing research project, I examine touch as a pedagogical practice in interactions between male practitioners and children. The aim of the study is to get more knowledge about for what purpose male practitioners touch children and the pedagogical implications of touch for children’s care and learning. In research on men in ECEC questions about touch between male practitioners and children are very recurrent (Eidevald et. al, 2018; Pruit, 2015). The theoretical framework for this study draws upon critical studies on men and masculinities (Hearn, 1997) as well as theory of learning from a pragmatic perspective (Biesta & Burbules, 2003). In this paper I present preliminary results based on a qualitative study using participant observation as method in a group of 15 children and three practitioners (two female and one male) in a Swedish preschool. Fieldnotes and video recordings were used as data collection and the analysis was conducted through a content analysis. This research project was approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Agency and ethical principles as confidentiality, anonymization, informed and negotiated consent have been taken.The findings indicate that male practitioners use touch to help and guide children in care and play situations.  Touch is applied as a tool for communication and participation by reorienting children’s body towards activities. Touch practices are also regulated based on a policy of children’s body integrity. The findings suggest implications for how touch provided by all practitioners can support children’s care, play and learning and challenge gender norms in ECEC.