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Postprint This is the accepted version of
a paper published in Early Child
Abstract
Development and Care. This paper has
Interesul general este de a înțelege modul în
been peer-reviewed but does not include
care bărbații care studiază predarea
the final publisher proof-corrections or
preșcolară negociază masculinitatile.
journal pagination. Citation for the
Cercetările anterioare arată cum profesorii de
original published paper (version of
sex masculin negociază masculinitățile atunci
record):
când sunt în și intrarea într-un domeniu de
Heikkilä, M., Hellman, A. (2017)
lucru predominant feminin, cum ar fi
Male preschool teacher students
educația timpurie a copilăriei (vezi de
negotiating masculinities: a qualitative
exemplu Simpson 2014, Brody 2015, Pirard,
study with men who are studying to
Schoenmaeckers & Camus 2015). Acesta
become preschool teachers. Early
este articol Noțiunea lui Connell despre
Child Development and Care,
masculinitatea hegemonică este reflectată în
187(7):1208-1220
termeni de negociere.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2016
Au fost realizate interviuri semi-structurate
.1161614
cu trei întrebări principale, la care au
Access to the published version may
participat 38 de bărbați
require subscription. N.B. When citing
programele de formare a profesorilor
this work, cite the original published
preșcolari la trei universități/colegii
paper.
universitare suedeze.
Permanent link to this version:
Rezultatul arată două teme principale de
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?
negociere care s-au numit „A deveni și a fi a
urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-33162 1
„breaker” și „Face față cu ieșirea”. Aceste
Male preschool teacher students teme și conținutul lor sunt prezentate și
negotiating masculinities: an discutat în articol.
qualitative study with men who are Introducere
studying to become preschool teachers Interesul general este de a înțelege modul în
Mia Heikkilä, PhD and Anette care bărbații care studiază predarea
Hellman, PhD Abstract The overall preșcolară negociază
interest is to understand how men who masculinitatile. Mai exact, scopul nostru este
study preschool teaching negotiate să analizăm și să explorăm modul în care este
masculinities. Earlier research shows această negociere exprimată prin modul în
how male teachers negotiate care provocările elevilor profesori preșcolari
masculinities when being in and de sex masculin le exprimă cu privire la
entering a predominantly feminine studiile lor și viitoarea lor profesie. Vom
work area, such as early childhood argumenta că aceste provocări se referă la
education (see for example Simpson conflict între modul de afișare a
2014, Brody 2015, Pirard, masculinității hegemonice critice, fiind în
Schoenmaeckers & Camus 2015). It același timp a profesor profesionist de
this article Connell’s notion on preșcolar. În plus, vom argumenta că acest
hegemonic masculinity is reflected on conflict este demonstrat de modul în care
in terms of negotiation. Semi- acești bărbați își exprimă poziția ca grup
structured interviews with three main minoritar și așteptările asociate cu asta, în
questions were conducted with 38 men timp ce în același timp „încalcă” anumite
attending the preschool teacher norme sau noțiuni masculine despre cum să
training programmes at three Swedish fie bărbați adevărați.
universities/university colleges. The Aceste afirmații sunt discutate în acest
result show two main themes for articol.
negotiation that were called Cercetările anterioare arată cum profesorii de
‘Becoming and being a ‘breaker’’ and sex masculin negociază masculinitățile atunci
‘Coping with sticking out’. These când intră și intră un domeniu de lucru
themes and their content are presented predominant feminin, cum ar fi educația
and discussed in the article. Keywords: timpurie a copilăriei (vezi de exemplu
masculinities, male student, Simpson, 2014, Brody, 2015, Pirard,
negotiation, preschool, early childhood Schoenmaeckers & Camus, 2015). Această
education, gender Introduction The negociere poate
overall interest is to understand how să fie văzute ca fiind necesare datorită ideilor
men who study preschool teaching de gen despre cine este considerat potrivit
negotiate masculinities. Specifically, pentru ce fel de muncă, care solicită
our aim is to analyse and explore how bărbaților să găsească strategii de negociere a
this negotiation is expressed through masculinităților, pentru a ține amândoi pasul
how the challenges male preschool o viziune normativă construită la nivel local
teacher students express concerning asupra masculinității și să găsească modalități
their studies and their future de a fi un individ
profession. We will argue that these și profesor profesionist într-un loc de muncă
challenges relate to the conflict în care majoritatea sunt femei.
between how to display critical Elevii de sex masculin poziționează ca viitori
hegemonic masculinity while profesori preșcolari de sex masculin și ce
simultaneously being a professional implicații au experiențele de negociere a
preschool teacher. Further, we will masculinităților deja ca studenți – sunt de
argue that this conflict is demonstrated interes pentru eforturile viitoare pentru a
by the way these men express their crește numărul bărbaților în grădinițe. În
position as a minority group and the Suedia, a existat o lungă tradiție de luptă
expectations associated with that, pentru egalitatea de gen la diferite niveluri
while at the same time they ‘break’ ale societății. Ca în multe alte țări, principalul
certain male norms or notions how to accent, de înțeles, sa pus pe drepturile
be real men. These statements are femeilor. Acum are un nou tip de
discussed in this article. Earlier conștientizare au apărut la nivel de politică cu
research shows how male teachers privire la situația bărbaților și există un
negotiate masculinities when being in interes din ce în ce mai mare pentru întrebări
and entering a predominantly feminine referitoare la masculinitate (SOU 2014:6).
work area, such as early childhood Drudy și colab. (2005; Drudy, 2008) și multe
education (see for example Simpson, altele recent Brody (2014) subliniază că
2014, Brody, 2015, Pirard, modelul general în lume în ansamblu este atât
Schoenmaeckers & Camus, 2015). de mai puțin peste 3% dintre profesorii
This negotiation can be seen as needed preșcolari sunt bărbați. Brody afirmă, de
due to gendered ideas of who is seen asemenea, că proporția de bărbați muncitorii
as suited for which kind of work, este scăzut chiar și în țări precum Norvegia,
which calls for men to find strategies care a avut niște strategii foarte expliciten
to negotiate masculinities, in order to pentru creșterea lucrătorilor de sex masculin,
both keep up with a normative locally dar în cazul în care doar 10 la sută din
constructed view on masculinity as personal este de sex masculin. În Suedia, 4 %
well as find ways to be an individual din personalul este de sex masculin.
and professional teacher in a work Curriculum-ul impune preșcolarilor o
place where a majority are women. 2 repartizare cu mai multe fațete pentru
Male students position as future male egalitatea de gen, în care
preschool teachers- and what unul dintre rolurile grădinițelor este de a
implications their experiences of sparge noțiunile de gen stereotipe cu privire
negotiating masculinities already as la ce fete
students - are of interest for coming și băieții fac, cum fac lucrurile și când le fac.
efforts to increase the number of men Mandatul Guvernului al
in preschools. In Sweden, there has Agenția Națională Suedeză pentru Educație
been a long tradition of striving for (U2013/5044/S, U2012/7365/S) afirmă că
gender equality at different levels in este
society. As in many other countries, „Este important chiar și la grădiniță să le
the main focus, understandably, has arătăm fetelor și băieților că sexul nu le va
been on women’s rights. Now a new determina alegerea ocupației”. Acest lucru
type of awareness has emerged at poate fi interpretat ca un efort de a schimba și
policy level concerning the situation of rolurile de gen privind în ce moduri și de
men and there is growing interest in către cine se face predarea preșcolară și fost
questions concerning masculinity tradițională asociațiile codificate în funcție de
(SOU 2014:6). Drudy et al. (2005; gen trebuie analizate critic.
Drudy, 2008) and more recently Brody Revizuire de literatura
(2014) point out that the general Unele aspecte ale devenirii unui profesor
pattern in the world as a whole is that preșcolar au fost în mod tradițional legate „în
less than 3 per cent of preschool mod natural”.
teachers are male. Brody also states femei și idealuri de feminitate, cum ar fi a fi
that the proportion of male workers is prietenos, grijuliu, drăguț, sociabil și apropiat
low even in countries such as Norway copii (Tallberg-Broman, 2011). Relația dintre
which has had some very explicit îngrijire și educație este o parte esențială
strategies for increasing male workers, a unui număr de dezbateri relevante de gen
but where only 10 per cent of the staff care sunt legate de apelul pentru modele
is male. In Sweden, 4 % of the staff is masculine și de
male. The curriculum imposes a feminizarea grădinițelor. La baza apelului
multifaceted gender equality pentru modele masculine este influența
assignment to preschools, in which teoria rolului sexual. Dominanța feminină în
one of the preschools' roles is to break cadrul preșcolarilor, împreună cu panica
down stereotypical gender notions morală
regarding what girls and boys do, how despre tații absenți, încă servește la susținerea
they do things and when they do them. apelului pentru modele masculine de rol
The Government mandate of the hegemonic
Swedish National Agency for masculinități mai degrabă pentru băieți decât
Education (U2013/5044/S, pentru fete (Connell, 2000, Whitehead,
U2012/7365/S) states that it is 2002). Ai grijă, femeie
‘important even at preschool to show profesorii, fetele și anumite spații etichetate
girls and boys that gender will not drept „feminine” sunt legate împreună în
determine their choice of occupation’. această grădiniță
This can be interpreted as an discurs. Îngrijirea este legată de instituție, de
endeavour to also change gender roles profesoare, de arhitectura clădirii
regarding in what ways and by whom precum designul și situațiile informale, cum
preschool teaching is done and former ar fi mesele, care funcționează ca un
traditional gender-coded associations curriculum ascuns.
need to be critically analysed. Cercetători precum Renolds (2004) și
Literature review Nordberg și colab. (2010) au subliniat
Some aspects of being a preschool importanța „slăbirii legăturilor” dintre
teacher have traditionally been îngrijire, fete, fetițe, femei și feminitate și
‘naturally’ linked to women and ideals creați posibilități de a analiza și îngrijirea în
of femininity, such as being friendly, raport cu băieții, băiețenia, bărbații și
caring, nice, sociable and close to masculinitatea.
children (Tallberg-Broman, 2011). The Slăbirea acestei legături ar putea avea, de
relationship of care and education is an asemenea, implicații asupra modului în care
essential part of a number of relevant locurile de muncă care sunt caracterizate ca
gender debates that are linked to the fiind îngrijitoare
call for male role models and the se poate deschide și pentru bărbați și cât de
feminization of pre-schools. mulți bărbați încep să-și vadă viitorul în așa
Underpinning the call for male role ceva
models is the influence of sex role locurile de munca. Cu toate acestea, după
theory. The feminine dominance cum a subliniat Wernersson (2015), trecerea
within preschools, together with the de la o tradiție
moral panic about absent fathers, still ocupație masculină la una feminină
serves to support the call for male role tradițională înseamnă și ruperea ordinii de
models of hegemonic masculinities for gen
boys rather than girls (Connell, 2000, „în jos” cu o potențială pierdere de valoare,
Whitehead, 2002). Care, female statut și salariu, precum și riscul de a deveni
teachers, girls and certain spaces 3
labelled as ‘feminine’ are tied together „redusă” în moduri diferite. În acest articol,
in this preschool discourse. Care is bărbații care învață să devină preșcolari
linked to the institution, female profesorii din Suedia reflectă asupra modului
teachers, the building’s architecture as în care au ajuns să devină profesori preșcolari
well as the design, and informal și cum au
situations such as meals that operate as discutați despre viața lor de zi cu zi ca
a hidden curriculum. Researchers such profesori preșcolari. Gândurile și ideile lor
as Renolds (2004) and Nordberg et al. pot fi
(2010) have pointed out the interpretată ca „încălcare” împotriva ordinii
importance of ‘loosening the ties’ de gen și vom discuta reflecțiile lor asupra
between care, girls, girlishness, costurile pentru trecerea acelei linii. Elevii
women and femininity, and create rup, de asemenea, cu ideile „vechi” de
possibilities to also analyse care in masculinitate încă din
relation to boys, boyishness, men and rezultatele prezentate aici arată un mod mai
masculinity. Loosening this tie might fluid și mai flexibil de a te prezenta ca bărbat.
also have implications on how jobs O mare parte de cercetări au fost efectuate cu
that are characterized as caring can privire la problema bărbaților în educația
open up for men too and how more timpurie a copilăriei
men are beginning to see their future setări (cf. King 1998, Havung 2000, Barnard
in such workplaces. However, as et al. 2000, Stroud, Smith, Ealy & Hurst
pointed out by Wernersson (2015), 2000,
shifting from a traditional masculine Cooney & Bittner 2001; Nordberg, 2005;
occupation to a traditional feminine Cushman 2005; Suma 2005; Peeters 2007;
one, also means breaking the gender Baagöe- Nilsen, 2008, Johnson 2011, Warin
order ‘downhill’ with a potential loss & Gannerud, 2014, Brownhill et al., 2015)
of value, status, and salary as well as dar
the risk of becoming 3 ‘reduced’ in nu s-au făcut atât de multe cu bărbații în
different ways. In this article, men programele de formare a profesorilor
who are studying to become preschool preșcolari. Cu toate acestea, unii
teachers in Sweden reflect on how au fost făcute cercetări internaționale, deși
they came to become preschool foarte puține în context suedez (Havung,
teachers and how they discuss their 2000,
coming everyday life as preschool Stroud et al., 2000, O’Lynn, 2004, Nordberg,
teachers. Their thoughts and ideas can 2005, Hellman, 2010, Hedlin & Åberg 2013).
be interpreted as ‘breaking’ against Sumsion (2000a) arată că bărbații din studiul
gender order and we will discuss their ei au vrut să facă o diferență arătând
reflections on the costs for crossing alte moduri de a fi bărbat decât imaginea
that line. The students also break with masculină stereotipă. Sumsion arată, de
‘old’ ideas of masculinity since the asemenea, cum au
results presented here show a more au vrut să aibă dezvoltare personală în viața
fluid and flexible way of presenting lor profesională și au vrut să se simtă nevoiți,
oneself as male. A great deal of la
research has been conducted on the în același timp în care au reflectat despre a fi
issue of men in early childhood într-o „sferă feminină” – un loc în care și ei
education settings (cf. King 1998, trebuia să reflecteze asupra unor probleme
Havung 2000, Barnard et al. 2000, precum faptul că nu ai încredere și că părinții
Stroud, Smith, Ealy & Hurst 2000, și poate colegii
Cooney & Bittner 2001; Nordberg, ar lua în considerare alegerea lor profesională
2005; Cushman 2005; Sumsion 2005; cu suspiciune.
Peeters 2007; Baagöe- Nilsen, 2008, Skelton (2009, 2012) arată într-o analiză a
Johnson 2011, Warin & Gannerud, cercetărilor curente că femeile și bărbații au
2014, Brownhill et al., 2015) but not aceleași motive pentru a alege ca profesie
as much has been done on men in profesorul. Genul nu este privit la nivel
preschool teacher training primar
programmes. However, some profesorii ca având o semnificație specială
international research has been done, pentru cariera lor, în timp ce minoritari etnici
although very little in a Swedish și
context (Havung, 2000, Stroud et al., statutul sexual este ambele considerate ca
2000, O’Lynn, 2004, Nordberg, 2005, având un impact (Skelton, 2009). Skelton
Hellman, 2010, Hedlin & Åberg desenează
2013). Sumsion (2000a) shows that the concluzia că politicile de recrutare a cadrelor
men in her study wanted to make a didactice trebuie să se concentreze mai puțin
difference by showing other ways of explicit pe gen
being male than the stereotypical male și mai multe despre construcții și înțelegeri
image. Sumsion also shows how they mai largi a ceea ce înseamnă să fii „primar”.
wanted to have personal development profesor'. Într-un studiu despre profesorii
in their working life and they wanted bărbați preșcolari din Suedia, Warin (2015)
to feel needed, at the same time as they pledează pentru elev
reflected on being in a ‘feminine profesorii să devină „sensibili la gen”. Ea a
sphere’ – a place where they also căutat să stabilească dacă bărbații lucrează
needed to reflect on issues such as not devreme
being trusted and that parents and educația copilăriei, au fost dispuși și capabili
perhaps colleagues would consider să contracareze modelele tradiționale de gen
their professional choice with sau dacă acestea
suspicion. Skelton (2009, 2012) shows avea tendința de a efectua o poziție hiper-
in an analysis of current research that masculină.
women and men have the same Wernersson (2015) arată că ordinea de gen
reasons for choosing teaching as a este rezistentă la schimbare și că bărbații au
profession. Gender is not regarded by a rămas o mică minoritate – 2–3% din forța
primary teachers as being of any de muncă ECE din Suedia – în ciuda
particular significance to their careers, mai multe eforturi politice. Wernersson
whilst minority ethnic and sexuality subliniază că întrebarea este în esență o
status are both regarded as having an problemă politică.
impact (Skelton, 2009). Skelton draws Ea scrie că „Întrebarea este cum ar trebui să
the conclusion that policies on teacher procedezi pentru a schimba o societate
recruitment drives need to focus less socială stabilită
explicitly on gender and more on model pentru a face unul mai bun. Este, prin
broader constructions and urmare, o construcție deliberată și
understandings of what it means to be direcționată către un scop a
a ‘primary teacher’. In a study about gen bazat pe idei despre cum sunt lucrurile,
male preschool teachers in Sweden, cum ar trebui să fie și ce este posibil. The
Warin (2015) argues for student contradicțiile din argumente arată că diferite
teachers to become ‘gender sensitive’. idei sunt la lucru simultan și de asemenea
She sought to establish whether men că nu există o înțelegere comună a „faptelor”
working in early childhood education, sau „obiectivelor””.
were willing and able to counteract Studiul lui Sumsion (2000a) a evidențiat
traditional gender patterns or if they diverse aspecte ale modului în care bărbații
tended to perform a hyper-masculine care studiază devin
position. Wernersson (2015) shows profesorii preșcolari se văd pe ei înșiși și pe
that the gender order is resistant to viitorul lor context profesional. Suma
change and that men have remained as (2000a)
a small minority – 2–3 per cent of the 4
ECE workforce in Sweden – despite a indicat că bărbații din studiul ei au dorința
several policy efforts. Wernersson de a face diferența, demonstrând asta
points out that the question is in există modalități de a fi un bărbat, altele
essence a political issue. She writes decât imaginea stereotipă a unuia; au vrut să
that ‘The question is how one should se dezvolte
go about changing an established ca indivizi în munca lor ca profesori
social pattern in order to make a better preșcolari și au vrut să simtă că sunt
one. It is thus a deliberate and goal- necesare. The
directed construction of gender based subiecții din studiul ei au reflectat și asupra
on ideas of how things are, how they faptului că se regăsesc în ceea ce este
ought to be and what is possible. The cunoscut sub numele de a
contradictions in the arguments show sfera feminină și, de asemenea, aveau nevoie
that different ideas are at work să se raporteze la faptul că nu li se acordă
simultaneously and also that there is încredere și să fie priviți cu
no common understanding of either suspiciune din cauza alegerii lor.
‘facts’ or ‘goals’’. Sumsion's (2000a) Per total, cunoștințele oferite de cercetările
study pointed out various aspects of anterioare indică faptul că aceasta este o
how men who are studying to become problemă complexă.
preschool teachers see themselves and Bărbații care lucrează în grădiniță este o
their own future professional context. problemă complexă, deoarece, din
Sumsion (2000a) 4 indicated that the perspectiva teoriei genului, aceasta
men in her study had a desire to make este împovărat cu întrebarea cine este cel mai
a difference, by demonstrating that potrivit să îngrijească și să aibă grijă de copii,
there are ways to be a man other than ambele
the stereotypical picture of one; they în general și într-un context profesional și,
wanted to develop as individuals in prin urmare, s-a umplut de întrebarea cum
their work as preschool teachers and Bărbații „adevărați” sunt interpretați și modul
wanted to feel they are needed. The în care acest concept este modelat în viața de
subjects in her study also reflected on zi cu zi. Prin urmare este de
the fact that they find themselves in interesul de a căuta modalităţi de înţelegere a
what is known as a feminine sphere, problemei profesorilor preşcolari de sex
and they also needed to relate to not masculin şi
being trusted and to being viewed with combinând asta cu o societate care este foarte
suspicion because of their choice. All marcată de un ideal egal de gen. În acest
in all, the knowledge provided by articol, acesta
earlier research indicates that this is a se realizează prin prisma elevilor profesori
complex issue. Men working in preșcolari de sex masculin care lucrează cu
preschool is a complex issue because, copiii
from a perspective of gender theory, it în vârstă de 1-6 ani în context suedez.
is burdened with the question of who Baza teoretica
is most suitable to look after and care Cadrele de educație timpurie au fost în mod
for children, both in general and in a tradițional privite ca o extensie a
professional context, and it also acasă, iar profesioniștii din aceste situații
therefore filled with the question of trebuie să demonstreze o tendință „naturală”
how ‘real’ men are construed and how de îngrijire la fel de ridicată
this concept is shaped in everyday life. profesionisti de calitate. Au existat puține
Therefore it is of interest to search for critici la adresa acestui mod de a înțelege
ways of understanding the issue of cadrul de
male preschool teachers and cadre de educație timpurie, înțeles în sens
combining that with a society that is larg, și prelungirea a
highly marked by a gender equal ideal. părinte (mamă) îngrijitor în aceste situații a
In this article, it is done through the fost considerat în termeni precum „natural” și
lens of male preschool teacher students 'dat'. Să arate și să folosească profesional
who are working with children aged 1- aceste competențe așa cum un bărbat poate
6 years old in a Swedish context. provoca local
Theoretical basis Early childhood idei despre ce înseamnă „să fii un om
education settings have traditionally adevărat”. De asemenea, poate solicita ca un
been looked upon as an extension of bărbat care face acest lucru să-și negocieze
home, and professionals in these identitatea masculină, deoarece ideile
settings need to show a ‘natural’ normative, hegemonice ale masculinităților ar
tendency for caring as high quality putea să nu includă
professionals. There has been little arătând astfel de aspecte.
criticism of this way of understanding Conform lui Connell (2008), masculinitatea
the frame of early childhood education hegemonică nu trebuie privită ca o idee
settings, understood in a broad sense, generală asupra
and the prolonging of a caring parent masculinitate sau „cea mai comună
(mother) in these settings has been masculinitate”, ci mai degrabă un ideal rar
considered in terms like ‘natural’ and atins prin trăire
‘given’. To show and professionally indivizii. Cu toate acestea, o imagine a „omul
use these competencies as a man can adevărat” poate fi privită ca o normă pe care
challenge local ideas on what it is to ambii bărbați
‘be a real man’. It may also call for a iar femeile se raportează la. Masculinitatea
man doing so to negotiate his hegemonică poate fi, așa cum spune, de
masculine identity, since normative, exemplu, Brody (2015).
hegemonic ideas of masculinities văzută ca o paradigmă la care indivizii o
might not include showing such aderă cu costuri mari. Connell (2000) descrie
aspects. According to Connell (2008) că
hegemonic masculinity is not to be trăsătură comună între toate masculinitățile
seen as a general idea on masculinity este construcția bazată pe diferențierea
or ‘the most common masculinity’, but masculinități și feminități. Prin urmare,
rather an ideal seldom achieved by masculinitatea hegemonică este construită ca
living individuals. However an image o negație
of ‘the real man’ can be looked at as a de feminitate, în timp ce bărbații și
norm that both men and women relate formațiunile masculinității o execută sau se
to. Hegemonic masculinity can, as for atribuie feminin
instance Brody (2015) puts it, be seen semne, este marginalizat. Cu toate acestea,
as a paradigm that individuals adher to Connell (2008, de asemenea Connell &
at great cost. Connell (2000) describes Messerschmidt, 2005) de asemenea
that the common feature between all scrie despre noțiunea larg folosită de
masculinities is the construction based masculinitate hegemonică ca problematică,
on the differentiation of masculinities adică ea
and femininities. Hence, the abordează întrebarea dacă este posibil să se
hegemonic masculinity is constructed susțină sau să se afirme că există un singur
as a negation of femininity, while men tip de
and masculinity formations performing masculinitatea normativă sau nu. În acest
it or is ascribed feminine signs, is articol masculinitățile este descrisă la plural,
marginalized. However, Connell deoarece ideea
(2008, also Connell & Messerschmidt, a unei structuri binare de o feminitate și o
2005) also writes about the widely masculinitate par depășite într-un post-
used notion of a hegemonic structural
masculinity as problematic, i.e., she înțelegerea genului în care genul este „produs
addresses the question of whether it is prin discurs, adică semne, etichete,
possible to contend or state that there expresii” (Simpson, 2014). Pentru a
is one type of normative masculinity aprofunda înțelegerea identităților masculine,
or not. In this article masculinities is 5
described in plural, since the idea of a și posibilitățile și obstacolele care vin cu
binary structure of one femininity and astfel de identități, este important să se uite
one masculinity seem outdated in a la masculinitatea hegemonică ca ideal, nu ca
post-structural understanding of practică, ci în raport cu care bărbații
gender where gender is ‘produced individuali
through discourse, i.e. signs, labels, ar putea totuși să-și negocieze masculinitățile
expressions’ (Simpson, 2014). In order (a se vedea, de exemplu, Brody, 2015).
to deepen the understanding of Potrivit lui Hearn și colab. (2012)
masculine identities, 5 and the masculinitatea hegemonică trebuie înțeleasă
possibilities and obstacles that comes în raport cu
with such identities, it is of importance alţi discursori hegemonici din societate. În
to look at hegemonic masculinity as an conformitate cu Connell, precum și cu Hearn
ideal, not as practice, but in relation to și colab. (2012),
which individual men still might susținem că egalitatea de gen produce tipuri
negotiate their masculinities (see for locale de masculinitate idealizată, ca în
instance Brody, 2015). According to suedeză
Hearn at al. (2012) hegemonic setările copilăriei timpurii. Ideile locale
masculinity has to be understood in despre masculinități creează negocierea
relation to other hegemonic masculinităților
discoursers in the society. In line with diferit, deoarece dezechilibrele de putere
Connell as well as Hearn et al. (2012), legate de gen sunt diferite la nivel local
we argue that gender equality produces (Connell, Hearn &
local kinds of idealized masculinity, as Kimmel, 2005). Într-un context suedez, ar
in Swedish early childhood settings. putea însemna că, deoarece egalitatea de gen
The local ideas on masculinities create este o prioritate
negotiation of masculinities problemă în societate, ceea ce înseamnă, în
differently, since power imbalances general, că identitățile nu sunt văzute ca
relating to gender are locally different stabile sau fixe
(Connell, Hearn & Kimmel, 2005). In în funcție de sex și gen, negocierea poate fi
a Swedish context it might mean that mai ușoară. „Mai ușor”, nu înseamnă ușor,
since gender equality is a prioritized dar
issue in society, also generally mai aprobat.
meaning that identities are not seen as Bărbații din acest studiu prezintă aceleași
stable or fixed according to sex and modele și demonstrează la ce indică Connell
gender, the negotiation can be easier. - că
‘Easier’, not meaning easy, but more o masculinitate hegemonică nu este
approved of. The men in this study întotdeauna un model interpretativ relevant,
exhibit the same patterns and ci mai degrabă că
demonstrate what Connell points to – constructele de masculinitate sunt
that a hegemonic masculinity is not contextuale istoric local și temporal.
always a relevant interpretive model, Metodă
but rather that masculinity constructs Acest studiu este un studiu cu o abordare
are historically locally and temporally calitativă. O abordare calitativă a fost găsită a
contextual. Method This study is a fi
study with a qualitative approach. A cea mai relevantă metodă de cercetare pentru
qualitative approach was found to be a afla negocierile masculine ale studenților de
the most relevant research method in sex masculin –
order to find out the male students’ cum ar fi apropierea de gânduri și idei despre
masculine negotiations – such as a fi elevi preșcolari de sex masculin (Skinner,
getting closer to thoughts and ideas 2012). Un interviu semistructurat cu trei
about being male preschool students întrebări principale a fost realizat cu 38 de
(Skinner, 2012). A semi-structured bărbați
interview with three main questions frecventarea programelor de formare a
was conducted with 38 men attending cadrelor didactice preșcolare la trei
the preschool teacher training universități/colegii universitare
programmes at three (denumite de aici încolo „universități”) în
universities/university colleges (from diferite părți ale Suediei. Predarea preșcolară
here on referred to as ‘universities’) in în
different parts of Sweden. Preschool Suedia înseamnă predarea și îngrijirea
teaching in Sweden means teaching copiilor cu vârsta cuprinsă între 1-6 ani.
and caring for children aged 1-6 year- Cele trei universități în care acești bărbați au
olds. The three universities were these studiat erau situate în orașe mai mari. O
men studied were located in larger părtinire pentru asta
cities. A bias for this study is that these studiul este că acești bărbați au ales deja deja
men have indeed already chosen ca profesie predarea preșcolară și
preschool teaching as a profession and de aceea credem că rezultatele referitoare la
therefore we believe that the results profesorii de sex masculin din preșcoli ar fi
concerning male teachers in diferit dacă bărbații care nu sunt implicați în
preschools would be different if men predarea preșcolară ar fi fost intervievați.
not involved in preschool teaching had Cele trei întrebări generale de cercetare din
been interviewed. The three acest studiu au fost:
overarching research questions in this  Cum negociază elevii de vârstă preșcolară
study were:  How do male preschool în jurul masculinităților?
student negotiate around  Ce tipare pot fi găsite și cum se manifestă
masculinities?  What patterns can be aceste tipare?
found and how are these patterns  Ce implicații ar putea avea aceste modele
manifested?  What implications asupra eforturilor de creștere a proporției de
might these patterns have for the bărbați
efforts to increase the proportion of lucrează în grădinițe?
men working in preschools? Procedure
We sought out all men studying to
become preschool teachers at these
universities and we contacted all the
male students by mail or phone. We
conducted semi-structured interviews
with about half of the male students
available. The reason for only
conducting interviews with 6 half of
the male students was because we
could either not get in contact with a
student or a student did not want to
take part in the study. The interviews
were 30-60 minutes long and done at
one occasion. The men were provided Concluzii
with our three main questions prior to Sumsion (2000b) și Broady (2015) susțin că
the interviews in an e-mail. The bărbații din grădinițe trebuie în mod constant
questions the interviews revolved să
around were:  What was your path negociază „alteritatea” lor pe baza faptului că
into preschool teacher training?  nu sunt cu adevărat un „om adevărat” în
What is your perception of the conformitate cu o anumită formă
programme?  How do you see your de idee de masculinitate și în același timp
future as a preschool teacher? In modelând și negociind o nouă formă de
addition, we asked supplementary and masculinitatea într-o profesie de profesor
follow-up questions in order to either preșcolar. Dacă ne uităm la ideea lui Connell
clarify or gain more detail about some despre hegemonic
of their reasoning. The men were aged masculinitatea, modurile în care
between 25 and 38 years old at the masculinitatea este modelată de bărbații din
time of the interviews, which were acest studiu pot fi văzute ca un hibrid
conducted in May and September a unui tip hegemonic de masculinitate la care
2014. Analysis of the material All of acești bărbați se raportează, în timp ce în
the interviews were recorded and același timp sunt
transcribed. The interview transcripts modelarea și negocierea altor conținuturi la
constitute the primary data. We have masculinitate, cum ar fi conștientizarea și
gone back to the recordings only if we ființa de gen
have felt there was something unclear îngrijirea.
in the transcript. We have carefully Sumsion (2000b) afirmă, de asemenea, că
read through the interview transcripts această negociere nu este condusă exclusiv
several times in order to discover de bărbați.
discursive patterns in the text. With înșiși; o fac și alții în contactul lor cu acești
‘discursive patterns’ we mean overall bărbați. Ieșind în afară, creația
patterns that show social and culturally a „alterității” și a îndeplini aceeași muncă ca
related ways that the men in the study și alții în preșcolar sunt probleme pe care
relate to or express view on or ways of bărbații
reasoning around masculinities. These a revenit în diferite moduri de-a lungul
readings were conducted based on the interviurilor din acest studiu. Sunt priviți ca
aim of the study, with the idea of diferit, dar doresc să facă la fel ca alții. Aici
negotiation as a main filter to give the se află provocarea – a permite bărbaților și
reading additional dimensions. We tot
subsequently marked and coded the ceilalți indivizi din grădiniță, să fie diferiți,
statements that were the same or găsind totuși o modalitate de organizare a
similar and then gathered these muncii
statements into themes and shared în grădiniţe astfel încât să fie la fel pentru toţi
patterns and themes that are presented angajaţii.
below. We found different patterns Temele care au reieșit din interviuri au
that were grouped in two main themes. implicat negocierea în moduri diferite. Ce
These themes manifest in different este
ways how the student negotiates deosebit de interesant despre a fi un
masculinities. Both of the main themes „breaker” este că deseori a avut loc dintr-un
are accompanied by a specific context cod mai degrabă malefic
that stood out in the process of ocupație/studiu la o carieră foarte codificată
analysis as especially clear. The first de femei. Pauza pe care au făcut-o acești
theme is called ‘Becoming and being a oameni
‘breaker’‘ which reflects around their a fost destul de drastică și poate fi comparată
process to start negotiating around cu ceea ce a văzut Williams (1993) în studiile
traditional, hegemonic ideals around ei,
masculinity and within that theme how în care bărbații din profesia de profesor
‘To have experience of working in preșcolar au consolidat normele masculine
children's education’ has been of stereotipe,
importance in that process. The second dar că acești bărbați o făceau poate înainte de
theme is named ‘Coping with sticking a-și alege noua ocupație. Rezultatul
out’ which refers to how these men ceea ce iese în evidență în acest studiu este că
needs to constantly negotiate as an bărbații au avut un fel de experiență de lucru
everyday practice while being cu
preschool student and also as a copiii înainte de a alege să aplice pentru
professional teacher. Within the programul de formare a profesorilor
everyday negotiation we found a preșcolari care poate fi
theme that was called ‘The ever- văzută ca un pas în procesul de negociere
present paedophilia dilemma’ which împotriva anumitor idealuri masculine. Este
takes into consideration how sexual posibil să
aspects of masculinities were brought luați în considerare experiența pe care
into their professional lives. Ethical bărbații au dobândit-o/au fost oferite ca un
considerations The Swedish Research catalizator sau o rampă de lansare către un
Council's (2011) discussion and nou
guidelines concerning good research decizie, ceva ce poate altfel nu ar fi fost
practices have been adhered to in this posibil.
project. The group of interviewees Un accent a fost pus pe a vedea învățarea ca
consists of a small number of pe ceva ce au declarat de cei intervievați că
individuals that means there is a risk of este foarte important
an individual within the group being 7 avantajul profesiei. Nimeni nu s-a gândit să
identified. The basic principal when it vadă diferențele dintre ce femei
comes to presenting these results has și bărbații fac ca o oportunitate specifică, mai
been for the interviewees to be and degrabă era ceva de rezolvat, un adăpost care
remain as anonymous as possible, riscau să fie plasați în. Toți considerau
which has been ensured by measures dilema pedofiliei ca pe ceva negativ și
such as giving them all fake names. o formă de barieră, chiar dacă termenul de
The results do not state the exact barieră nu a fost folosit de bărbați. Discuția
number who responded, in terms of despre
how many responded in a certain way, „ieșirea”, de obicei văzută ca o oportunitate
except when this number is very high și ceva pozitiv, a fost, de asemenea, discutată
and all appear to agree. ‘Many have în
responded’, ‘Several argue’, etc. are 14
the terms used frequently in the text. raport cu pedofilia-dilema unde au simțit că
This is an ethical consideration we au devenit foarte vizibile în sens negativ
have made in this study in order not to într-un fel.
ascertain the exact number for certain Este posibil să relaționăm teoriile lui Connell
statements because there are a limited (2008) despre masculinitatea hegemonică de
number of interviewees. Results faptul că
Becoming and being a ‘breaker’ There tiparele afișate printre acești bărbați pot fi
appears to be a tendency for privite ca un alt tip de masculinitate care este
individuals who have made non- predominant. Negocierile purtate de oameni
gender-stereotyped choices, often între aceste idealuri, norme sau
referred to as ‘breakers’ in the masculinitățile – indiferent de cum alegeți să
literature, to be somewhat older and to o numiți – sunt un aspect al a fi bărbat și a
have ‘broken off’ from another career elev preșcolar și viitor profesor preșcolar.
path (Cushman, 2010). This is Există o tendință slabă în
consistent with the results of this study date pentru bărbații care au limbajul pentru a
even if it is talked of as negotiating discuta despre normele și cunoștințele de
masculinities. The majority of the men masculinitate
had either had a completely different analiza masculinității pentru a se ocupa mai
occupation or studied something ușor cu negocierile și procesul de
completely different before starting the fiind vizibil în toate aceste sensuri.
preschool teacher-training program. Rezultatele acestui studiu sunt în concordanță
The occupations the men in this study cu studiile internaționale care au fost
had had were security guard, magician, efectuate
personal assistant, sales clerk, truck anterior (cf. Cushman, 2010; Cameron, Moss,
driver, chemist and bank clerk. The & Owen, 1999). Descoperirile lor indică
reason for breaking off is described in faptul că
partially different ways and could be bărbații care învață să devină profesori
anything from leaving their former preșcolari sunt ceva mai în vârstă când
home country to illness, but very often învață, că ei
the interviewees described feeling a au experiență de muncă, fac lucruri diferite în
certain lack of meaning that made preșcolar decât femeile și pe care și le doresc
them reflect on their choice of career. să fie nevoie și să experimenteze dezvoltarea
Below is an excerpt of what Markus, personală. Totuși, ceea ce nu pare să fie
who worked as a truck driver, said: în concordanță cu cercetările anterioare este
Yeah, well, the thing is … when I nevoia ca bărbații să devină „mai bărbătici”
started driving trucks, I thought it was atunci când
kind of fun, but I realized pretty soon contextul poate fi considerat codat feminin.
that, it just came to me; the feeling Cushman (2010) subliniază modul în care un
came afterwards. No, I started feeling internațional
more and more that it wasn't for me context care implică un nivel în general
and … Well, I just kept thinking ‘it'll ridicat de cunoștințe despre relațiile de gen și
probably get better somewhere down despre
the line’, but then I reached a turning rolul genului poate avea un impact pozitiv
point with this old guy I worked for. It asupra modului în care bărbații se văd pe ei
didn't work. And then luckily, when I înșiși și asupra rolului lor în
lost my job, I was offered this preşcolar. Răspunsurile dintr-un studiu
internship and it was such a contrast asupra bărbaților privind programul de
between the two, you know … from formare a profesorilor la
the old guy and then this (laughs). Universitatea Linköping indică, de asemenea,
Markus described a feeling he had un nivel de reflecție conștient de gen cu
while working as a truck driver and privire la rolul lor (Pernrud
also described in the interview how his & Lykke, 2013). Tot în acest moment putem
boss was demanding and aggressive, discuta cât de mult este discursul despre nou
which he found unpleasant. This tații, egalitatea de gen și de gen vor avea un
feeling, together with being laid off rol de jucat în bunăstarea individului,
and the internship, led to his decision viitor preşcolar.
to take up preschool teaching. A Primele întrebări de cercetare au primit
similar, yet different ‘break’ was răspuns prin prezentarea celor două teme
described by Olof: Olof: I could never principale
imagine doing anything else, I guess ilustrații ale citărilor de interviuri prezentate
you could say that it was my duty to în secțiunea de rezultate. Ultima întrebare de
go on in some way, that right then it cercetare
felt like anything other than an se poate răspunde în multe moduri diferite.
engineering program was a step down. Cu toate acestea, pe baza rezultatelor acestui
Mia: Yes, exactly. 8 Olof: We had a studiu,
really unique class because it was a creşterea ponderii bărbaţilor care lucrează în
hybrid programme, with half the class grădiniţe va necesita un număr sporit de
doing all science, the other half doing stagii pentru bărbați în grădinițe, instruire
half science, half music so there were despre gen pentru cei care distribuie stagii,
a load of musicians in the class. So dialog și discuție continuă despre egalitate și
yeah, they vanished, they had their gen în școli și societate și a
own plans and what not. But those abordare mai clară a problemei pedofililor
doing all science; there was a lot of pentru toți cei care conduc școli. Ultimul
talk about what we would do after, it articol de pe
was, how should I say this, computer lista ar putea oferi un sentiment de securitate
nerds and brainy kids and all those pentru bărbații care lucrează în grădinițe și o
groups, or whatever you want to call cunoaștere despre
them. Olof described the impossibility nefiind lăsat izolat în ziua în care problema
of choosing something other than what este adusă în prim-plan. Ceea ce pare să fie
his high school programme focused importante sunt eforturile de a schimba
on. He also stressed the significance of viziunea asupra conținutului profesiei de
his peers in the choice he made and profesor preșcolar,
described how their choices also implicând o elucidare şi întărire a aspectului
indirectly affected his choice. educaţional.
However, he said in the interview that
the civil engineering program he then
chose and completed was not
something he actually would have
chosen; instead, it was the sort of thing
that was expected of him. Olof also
described how his father had pushed
him into choosing the engineering
program in the same way as his
siblings had done, and that the
demands from home were high.
Reading the list of careers some of the
men had had prior to studying to
become preschool teachers also gives a
list of male gender-coded careers. One
possible interpretation could be that
the break to go into preschool teacher
training takes place from a fairly male
gendercoded group of careers. This
interpretation is reinforced by the fact
that, for some of the men we
interviewed, the break was not just
from the labour market; the majority
of them also changed the focus of their
studies from male gender-coded fields.
Many of the men had been involved in
studies of variants of engineering,
finance, computing and law. It might
have been their initial idea of what
these fields involved that led to their
decisions, but the study content then
made them reflect on the error of their
choice. Tommy described a process,
from having attended an economics
program at upper secondary school, to
getting into the preschool area through
his mother. In this way, Tommy is also
typical of what we see in this data, in
that he did not choose the child and
recreation programme at upper
secondary school – a programme that
is perhaps regarded as the most
common for those who continue on to
preschool teacher training. When it
comes to the 38 men in this study, only
a few of them attended this
programme. Other programmes were
significantly more common, but there
is no discernible pattern in terms of the
programmes attended by the others; it
varies greatly. Nor had any of these
men started their studies to become
preschool teachers immediately after
upper secondary school; instead they
had done something else. Many also
described how they took adult
education classes to achieve the entry
requirements. As was the case with
Tommy, several of the other men (but
not all) described how women close to
them had acted as a form of support in
the change to or choice of the
preschool teaching profession. Only a
few of the men described their fathers
as being supportive, and in some of
those cases, the father was also a
teacher. Brothers were also described
as supportive, but no male friends are
described as such. In addition, many of
the men described their fathers as
being indirectly opposed to their
decision, and thus as someone they
have distanced 9 themselves from.
Tommy described how his father did
not say anything direct, instead the
Tommy says ‘he is a bit like, 'it's up to
you, do what you want'‘. Tommy: I
don't know, I just had a feeling that
this (study economy; author’s remark)
is not what I want to do when I get
older, when I am done studying. I have
really thought about it: that I feel I
want to work with people and that sort
of thing. And then when I dropped out
of that economics course, I got two
jobs at the same time. One was as a
financial assistant at the municipality
where I lived and the other was as a
substitute preschool teacher --- Mia:
What happened then, what comments
did you receive, are there any that
have stuck with you? Tommy: Yes,
especially from my grandparents on
my father's side, they were, they still
are, always on my back about this. ---.
Yes, they are really involved, because
I'm the oldest grandchild and they
think I should be successful, I'm the
one with the brains out of all their
grandchildren, so to speak. So they are
really critical of this, even though my
grandmother is a preschool teacher.
---. But my grandfather is still very
critical, he says that ‘you earn so much
more being an economist or an
accountant or something like that.’
Mia: So it's down to money then.
Tommy: Exactly, and that's really all
he's thinking= Mia: What did your
grandfather do when he was working?
Tommy: He was manager of some
construction company, something big
covering the whole of Sweden. Mia:
What does your father do then?
Tommy: He's in the same industry.
This can be interpreted as Tommy
having distanced himself from the
construction tradition in the family and
from an expected (masculine) norm in
the family through his choice. In their
own way, each break that the men in
this study made all appeared to be
different. However, they displayed a
pattern of breaking with a very male-
coded field to enter a femalecoded
field. Thus, none of the subjects in this
data described a break from a less
gender-coded field to the preschool
field. However, some did describe
thinking about the teaching profession
first, but this is something indicated by
previous research as well; teaching
older pupils is viewed as less gender-
stereotypical than teaching preschool
(Francis & Skelton, 2001). 10 To have
experience of working in children's
education Another factor that had
influenced the interviewees to study
preschool teaching, and dare to be
breakers, was the opportunity they
were given to either work or do an
internship at a preschool. In general,
this job or internship had been a
powerful experience that the
interviewees described emphatically.
Tim described his experience as
follows: So then I moved to Norway
and started working at a preschool as a
substitute, then as a permanent
substitute, and worked there for a year.
And that was probably the most fun
job I'd ever had … and I was really
well thought of there, I was the only
man and really noticed that I had …
And … well, when I finished that job,
I cried like a baby, you know what I
mean … like this ((laughs)) … and
then I just felt that if I'm having this
reaction to leaving – I've finished other
jobs and cried with happiness, you
know, but never like this – if I react
like that to leaving this job, then that's
what I should be doing, you know. So
I decided to do it, when I finished
travelling I would study to become a
preschool teacher. What Tim described
here involved, in this case, going in as
a substitute preschool teacher with
rather undefined expectations and
coming away with an experience and a
direction for his future career. This is
how Oscar described his experience of
working in preschool: My mother
worked at a preschool and as a nanny
while I was growing up, but in recent
years she's been working in a
preschool. They needed a substitute
there for two weeks or something, so
she got me the job and I was a
substitute for two weeks. And I
thought it was a lot of fun. I don't
know, maybe it was the perfect timing
because I have just been working at a
gas station and I thought that was, you
know, it felt so meaningless. Then
when you switch to something there,
first of all, you are almost always met
by happy people and you feel needed
and feel that you are there for a reason.
The men described a positive feeling
when they talked about their first
contact with preschool. In some cases,
they stated that this was also because
they had never thought about that sort
of job and that they had no great
expectations of how it would suit
them. Patric described the significance
of experiencing the learning and being
able to share that joy in various ways
with the children. Patric described his
delight in being able to promote
learning, and the delight of the child at
discovering something new in their
lives. Patric described a particular
situation in which he found a way to
teach a child, Felix, to pronounce the
letter f. So I sit down and ask him, ‘but
Felix, can you say Felix?’ ‘Schtelix.’
‘Can you say coffee?’ ‘Coffee.’ ‘Say
coffeelix.’ ‘Coffeeli-’ and then I saw
that it sunk in for him. And it's just
like that, I realized that it doesn't
matter, but when I in some way got the
impression that, well, I get to devote a
lot of time to teaching, every day at
any given moment, if I take all the
opportunities presented. 11 Patric
found several aspects on which to
reflect in this incident. Other than the
experience of Felix learning, it was
also a specific event to reflect on with
regard to the content of the preschool
teaching profession. Thanks to this
event, he realized that he had adopted
incorrect values and incorrect
information in his view of the
preschool teaching profession. Here,
this is interpreted as a way for the
interviewed men to say they want to
work in preschool on the same
premises as women do; they want to
work there as educational, professional
preschool teachers, not primarily as
male preschool teachers. Coping with
sticking out Some part of me likes
being a bit different too, I think, so I
want to do things that maybe not
everyone else do, I want to be
someone – even if you shouldn't think
like that – who is noticed. This is what
Johan said about being a man working
in preschool, and sticking out, a
recurring theme in the interviews.
Many said that being and becoming
someone who sticks out is something
that you have to cope with, be able to
deal with and endure. Not everyone
said this, but several referred to this as
part of a process of becoming a male
preschool teacher. It is pretty much
impossible not to be visible as a man
in a social institution that is largely
staffed by women. It is a place where
everyone remembers your name, when
studying ‘you have to be on your own
with a bunch of chicks’ and all the
teachers on the programme remember
you – including your bad sides.
However, no one mentioned having to
do better in their studies simply
because they were ‘breakers’, except
on the issue of paedophilia which we
will come back to. This is otherwise a
commonly occurring theme when it
comes to female ‘breakers’ in male-
dominated occupations – they need to
be extremely good in order to be
accepted and included. This does not
appear to be the case for these men.
Accordingly, this can be discussed in
terms of them being able to use their
male privileges, to use the words of
Mills, Martino and Lingard (2004, p.
365). One part of sticking out is in fact
sticking out when looking for work.
Many of the men noted how easy it
would be for them to find work as
‘everyone wants to have us’ and from
this perspective, sticking out is
something positive, an opportunity.
Sticking out can also be accomplished
by doing gender-related things that
make them stick out as a different type
of man. Johan discussed male norms
and his view of how he could serve as
a gender-equal role model for the
children by sticking out in a different
way to how men are usually seen. Mia:
Do you think about any- now, you
were already on that subject, but
specifically male norms, is there
something specific about male norms
that you think you will have the
opportunity to go clearly against?
Johan: Sure, the male norm is really
crude, you know, in that way, or has
been, or still is= Mia: And exercising
power and putting people down etc. 12
Johan: Yeah, putting each other down,
all the time, pouncing on weakness.
Yeah, I think about that, well, a lot,
it… I mean, just talking to a five-year-
old about power, you know what I
mean, it would be cool, I want to do
that, for sure… But also to, what
should I say, really … try to call things
into question, cause the kids often
have, well, you know at the age of
around four or so they kind of absorb
it, from the outside or whatever, this is
a girl, this is a guy, to… to call that
into question, to set a thought process
in motion in their heads, what is this,
why is this like it is? Being or
becoming someone who sticks out did
in fact involve seeing their own
specificity and being prepared to use
and reveal these skills. Several of the
interviewees were also multilingual.
These men highlighted how they
wanted to use their language skills in
their future careers as preschool
teachers and one of them, after having
worked for a few years, wanted to
open a preschool specializing in
languages with some of his classmates
in order to raise the positive
significance of being able to speak
several languages. The ever-present
paedophilia dilemma For men, one
part of the process of becoming a
preschool teacher appears to be
dealing with the risk and threat of
being viewed as a sexual
offender/paedophile, with this being
seen by the interviewees mostly as a
barrier in the process. All of the
interviewees described this in different
ways, but each of them related to
paedophilia. Every one of the
interviewees brought the conversation
round to this question when we have
asked them to reflect on what it is like
being a man in preschool. Some may
have interpreted bringing up
paedophilia as being a ‘correct answer
to this question’, which was in no way
my implicit intention. Based on the
interview responses, it is primarily the
parents who are given the power to
define these men as supposed
paedophiles. But other staff members
were also mentioned, although not to
the same extent as parents. Oscar
described a subtle emotional transfer,
as brought up by many of the
interviewees, specifically when
discussing being a man in preschool.
The fact that this is a part of these
men’s process of becoming preschool
teachers shows how several ideas of
masculinity are present at the same
time, colliding and negotiated. The
idea of paedophilia as closely
connected to male sexuality that is
seen as being both desirable and
dangerous shows how sexuality can be
seen as a major part of masculinity in
preschools from the point of view of
parents, who are the ones that these
men saw as addressing them with
suspicion. This goes somewhat against
the basic idea of this article, i.e. that
ideals connected to masculinity are
changing. However, there is very little
qualitative knowledge about the
processes around paedophilia and the
actual presence of parents’ suspicions
in preschools and that is why I choose
only to briefly analyse this. The
strategies the men described for
dealing with the situations they ended
up in, or when they had ideas and
thoughts concerning a subtly strange
treatment of them by a parent,
included ignoring this treatment, being
overly clear to the parents about their
expertise/gaining the parents' trust, not
being alone, particularly with girls, in
the toilets or not 13 consoling or
showing as much concern as they
would like/are able to towards
girls/children, or focusing their work
on older children. Only very few of the
men in this study had received clear
support from their manager/internship
supervisor in dealing with this issue.
The majority had been left to deal with
this alone and they did so by thinking
about their own beliefs, or possibly by
discussing it with the other men
studying to become preschool teachers
or happened to be close to them.
Conclusions Sumsion (2000b) and
Broady (2015) contends that men in
preschools are constantly having to
negotiate their ‘otherness’ on the basis
of not really being a ‘real man’ in line
with some form of idea of masculinity
and at the same time shaping and
negotiating a new form of masculinity
in a profession as preschool teacher. If
one looks at Connell's idea of
hegemonic masculinity, the ways
masculinity is shaped by the men in
this study can be seen as a hybrid of a
hegemonic kind of masculinity that
these men relate to, while at the same
time they are shaping and negotiating
other contents to masculinity, such as
gender awareness and being caring.
Sumsion (2000b) also states that this
negotiation is not solely conducted by
the men themselves; it is also done by
others in their contact with these men.
Sticking out, the creation of
‘otherness’ and performing the same
work as others in the preschool are
issues that the men returned to in
various ways throughout the
interviews in this study. They are
looked upon as different but want to
do the same as others. Therein lies the
challenge – allowing men, and all the
other individuals in preschool, to be
different, while still finding a way to
organize work in preschools so that it
is the same for all employees. The
themes that emerged from the
interviews involved negotiation in
different ways. What is particularly
interesting about being a ‘breaker’ is
that it often took place from a rather
malecoded occupation/study focus to a
very female-coded career focus. The
break these men made was rather
drastic and can possibly be compared
to what Williams (1993) saw in her
studies, in which men in the preschool
teaching profession reinforced
stereotypical masculine norms, but that
these men were perhaps doing so
before they chose their new
occupation. The result that stands out
in this study is that the men had some
sort of experience of working with
children before choosing to apply for
the preschool teacher training
programme which can be seen as a
step in the process of negotiating
against certain masculine ideals. It is
possible to regard the experience the
men had acquired/been given as a
catalyst or springboard to a new
decision, something that perhaps
would not have been possible
otherwise. One focus was placed on
seeing learning as something the
interviewees stated was a big
advantage of the profession. No one
regarded seeing the differences
between what women and men do as a
specific opportunity, rather it was
something to deal with, a pigeonhole
that they risked being placed in. All
regarded the paedophilia dilemma as
something negative and a form of
barrier, even though the term barrier
was not used by the men. The
discussion about ‘sticking out’, usually
seen as an opportunity and something
positive, was also discussed in 14
relation to the paedophilia-dilemma
where they felt they became very
visible in a negative kind of way. It is
possible to relate Connell's (2008)
theories about hegemonic masculinity
to the fact that the patterns displayed
among these men can be regarded as
another type of masculinity that is
predominant. The negotiations the men
conducted between these ideals, norms
or masculinities – regardless of what
you choose to call it – are one aspect
of being a man and a preschool
teaching student and prospective
preschool teacher. There is a weak
tendency in the data for the men who
have the language to discuss
masculinity norms and knowledge
about masculinity analysis to have an
easier time dealing with the
negotiations and the process of being
visible in all these senses. The results
of this study are consistent with
international studies that have been
conducted previously (cf. Cushman,
2010; Cameron, Moss, & Owen,
1999). Their findings indicate that men
who study to become preschool
teachers are somewhat older when
they study, that they have work
experience, they do different things in
preschool than women, and that they
want to be needed and experience
personal development. However, what
does not appear to be consistent with
prior research is the need for the men
to make themselves ‘more manly’
when the context can be considered
female-coded. Cushman (2010) points
out how an international context that
involves a generally high level of
knowledge about gender relationships
and the role of gender can have a
positive impact on how men see
themselves and their role in preschool.
The responses in one study of men on
the teacher-training programme at
Linköping University also indicate a
gender-aware level of reflection about
their role (Pernrud & Lykke, 2013). It
is also at this juncture that we can
discuss how much the discourse on
new fathers, gender and gender
equality will have a role to play in
well-being at the individual, future
preschool. The first research questions
have been answered presenting the two
main themes through illustrations of
interview citations presented in the
results section. The final research
question can be answered in many
different ways. However, based on the
results of this study, increasing the
proportion of men working in
preschools will require an increased
number of internships for men in
preschools, training about gender for
those who distribute internships,
continued dialogue and discussion
about equality and gender in schools
and society, and a clearer approach to
the issue of paedophiles for all those
who run schools. The last item on the
list could provide a sense of security
for men who work in preschools and a
cognizance about not being left
isolated on the day the issue is brought
to the fore. What also appears to be
important are efforts to change the
view of the content of the preschool
teaching profession, involving an
elucidation and reinforcement of the
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