Exploring the Phenomenology of Whiteness in a Swedish Preschool Class

Autor/inn/en	Schwarz, Eva; Lindqvist, Beatriz
Titel	Exploring the Phenomenology of Whiteness in a Swedish Preschool Class
Quelle	In: International Journal of Early Childhood, 50 (2018) 1, S.1-14 (14 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0020-7187
DOI	10.1007/s13158-018-0210-3
Schlagwörter	Whites; Preschool Children; Freehand Drawing; Personal Narratives; Foreign Countries; Self Concept; Phenomenology; Ethnography; Cultural Pluralism; Student Diversity; Teacher Attitudes; Preschool Teachers; Race; Teacher Responsibility; Sweden + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? White; Weißer; Pre-school age; Preschool age; Child; Children; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Kind; Kinder; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Drawing; Zeichnen; Erlebniserzählung; Ausland; Selbstkonzept; Phenomenological psychology; Phänomenologie; Psychologie; Ethnografie; Kulturpluralismus; Lehrerverhalten; Erzieher; Erzieherin; Kindergärtnerin; Rasse; Abstammung; Lehrverpflichtung; Schweden
Abstract	This article explores how constructions of identity, race and difference permeate and are challenged in a Swedish preschool class. The study is informed by theories of phenomenology and critical whiteness. Data are drawn from a larger ethnographic study conducted in an ethnically diverse preschool. The purpose of the study was to explore how preschool teachers manage and reflect upon the construction of children's social identity within the institution of a preschool. This report considers one incident relating to racial identity. It began with a child's representation, the boy named Stanley, in a self-portrait: 'I want to be white and blonde when I grow up… I want to be like Oscar, not a black boy.' Within this article we consider teachers' reflections on this incident, discussing how 'whiteness' is performed, constructed and interrogated by young children and adults in the preschool and uncovering a certain institutional 'colour blindness.' In this example 'race' announces itself and the children make it visible as an existing category in their everyday life. Children's drawings and narratives reveal much about the implicit understandings and norms that surround them, pointing to teachers' responsibilities for exploring the possibilities and limitations offered in preschool education to deal with these understandings. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01