”Pidetään huolta ettei erotella tyttöjen ja poikien juttuja”. Tasa-arvoa, yhdenvertaisuutta ja sukupuolisensitiivisyyttä rakentavat diskurssit paikallisissa varhaiskasvatussuunnitelmissa

Authors

• Mervi Eskelinen Tampere University, Finland
• Susanna Itäkare University of Turku, Finland

Keywords:

curriculum for early childhood education, sukupuolisensitiivinen kasvatus, early childhood education, tasa-arvo, equality, varhaiskasvatus, gender sensitive pedagogy, varhaiskasvatussuunnitelma

Abstract

In this article, we focus on how equity, equality and gender sensitivity are construed discursively in local curricula for early childhood education. In Finland, equity and equality must be promoted in all areas of life and one of its means is gender sensitive education. The data for our study consists of eighty-two (82) local curricula for early childhood education that came into force in 2017. Our article represents qualitative research. The research method is critical discourse analysis. Our research moves theoretically in the context of gender studies. In discourse analysis, we produce five discourses that construct equity, equality and gender sensitivity from our data. Our main result is that the gender equality discourse in local curricula is already quite strong in the 2010s, but the way forward towards gender equality in early childhood education is still very ambiguous and remains unspecified in local curricula for ECEC. Consequently, there is a need for clearer, more concrete and child-centered guidance in the planning, implementation and evaluation of gender sensitive pedagogy in curricula for early childhood education. In addition, there is a need for, among other things, staff training, professional pedagogical management and systematic development of an ECEC culture.