Equality and fairytales. Action research in a preschool

Abstract

This article describes action research intended to monitor a developmental project on gender equality and fairy tales in a preschool in Akureyri. The project was conducted in the school year 2013-2014. The author took part in the study, as project manager, along with the teachers. The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture sponsored the project through the Venture Fund for Preschools, Primary and upper Secondary Schools.
According to the Icelandic National Curriculum for Preschools, equality is one of the fundamental pillars of education and, as the curriculum states: “critical examination is an important part of equality education, for example because established ideas in the society influence ideas and views and therefore it is critical to teach young children to voice and analyse the circumstances that lead to discrimination of some and privileges for others” (Aðalnámskrá leikskóla, 2011). It is clear that schools are supposed to work on and teach equality but in reality, studies show both those aspects to be lacking (Eygló Árnadóttir, 2009; Þorgerður Einarsdóttir & Ingólfur Ásgeir Jó-hannesson, 2011). One reason could be a shortage of teaching materials, especially in gender equality. Therefore, it is important to work towards equality in schools and it is of particular significance to develop educational material for teachers. The main purpose of the developmental project was to increase teachers’ knowledge of gender education and to develop methods in equality and gender teaching, as well as work-ing on, and improving, preschool children’s gender awareness, and finding ways to develop equality and gender education in preschools.
The goal of the action research was to empower the teachers as professionals and further their skills to develop their own teaching methods by systematically paying attention to the project and revising it, especially the participation of the children and their contribution. The participants consisted of a classroom of 4 year olds and their teachers.
Data was gathered through photographs, video recordings and audio recordings of meetings and interviews with teachers and pupils, as well as with the control group; recordings were performed by the teachers and the project manager. Children’s projects and artwork were also gathered systematically. During the project teachers worked with their own views and awareness, as well as with the children’s views and awareness. The focus was on gender equality, gender issues and stereotypes, and the teachers used fairy tales and story making to enhance gender awareness. The aim was to integrate equality teaching with indoor and outdoor activities and play. The children had opportunities to participate in con-versations on gender issues, such as tasks, roles or characteristics based on gender, and talk about discrimination and privileges. Part of this process was to teach the children to practice critical thinking. The plan was to choose well-known fairy tales as it is more likely that the children would have heard them before, and these particular fairy tales were chosen because they were considered to have aspects that suited the project well. For example, none of them included princesses, nor did they end in marriage. They do, however, contain characters of both genders who exhibit both affection and courage. Data was gathered from various sources throughout the study period, such as notes from teachers’ meetings, and group work with children, where the aim was to discuss the children’s views on gender, stereotypes and their beliefs about possibilities and opportunities in the context of gender. Furthermore, the data included teachers’ di-aries and documentation from children’s participation as they took part in preschool activities such as play, and creative activities, for example drawing, writing stories or dramatic play. Part of this project was to create teaching materials, to be made accessi-ble online through the website idavollur.is.