Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Gender and technology in free play in Swedish early childhood education

  • Published:
International Journal of Technology and Design Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the new Swedish curriculum for the preschool (2010) technology education is emphasized as one of the most significant pedagogical areas to work with. The aim of this article is to investigate how girls and boys explore and learn technology as well as how their teachers frame this in free play in two Swedish preschools. The study is inspired by an ethnographic approach and is based on qualitative data collected through video-taped observations and informal talk with children and teachers in two preschools. It is concluded that girls and boys learn to approach and handle technology differently, thereby confirming rather than dissolving gender boundaries. The girls more often have a special purpose in building something they need in their play, that is, they mostly engage in technological construction as a sideline. The boys, on the other hand, more often award technological construction a central part in their play; building is an end in itself. Teachers are not so active in supporting free play involving technology among the older children, nor in giving boys and girls equal opportunities to explore and use material and toys which are not gender-stereotyped. One important implication is that in-service education needs to address not only experiments and construction but also gender issues and how teachers can create equal opportunities for boys and girls in the free play.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The research on which this article is based has also partly provided material for Elvstrand et al. (2012).

  2. Swedish preschools have two distinct teacher categories, the university-educated pedagoger or nowadays more commonly förskollärare, and the child minders (barnskötare) without university education. Since we have not analysed them separately we choose to label both categories as preschool teachers.

  3. For a recent, important overview of primary technology education, see Benson and Lunt (2011).

References

  • Alderson, P. (2000). School student’s views on school councils and daily life at school. Children and Society, 14, 121–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ärlemalm-Hagsér, E., & Pramling Samuelsson, I. (2009). Många olika genusmönster existerar samtidigt i förskolan. Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 14(2), 89–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthur, W. B. (2009). The nature of technology: What it is and how it evolves. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Axell, C. (2013). Teknikundervisningen i förskolan: En internationell utblick. Linköping: Forum för ämnesdidaktik, Linköping University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benson, C., & Lunt, J. (Eds.). (2011). International handbook of primary technology education: Reviewing the past 20 years. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryman, A. (2001). Social research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr, M. (2000). Technological affordance, social practice and learning narratives in an early childhood setting. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 10, 61–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Vries, M. (2005). Teaching about technology: An introduction to the philosophy of technology for non-philosophers. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elvstrand, H., Hellberg, K., & Hallström, J. (2012). Technology and gender in early childhood education: How girls and boys explore and learn technology in free play in Swedish preschools. In T. Ginner, J. Hallström, & M. Hultén (Eds.), Technology education in the 21st Century: The PATT 26 Conference Stockholm, Sweden, 26–30 June 2012. Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleer, M. (1992). Introducing technology education to young children: A design, make and appraise approach. Research in Science Education, 22, 132–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleer, M. (1999). The science of technology: Young children working technologically. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 9, 269–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleer, M. (2000). Working technologically: Investigations into how young children design and make during technology education. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 10, 43–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, N. K. (2007). Preschoolers’ perceptions of gender appropriate toys and their parents’ beliefs about genderized behaviors: Miscommunication, mixed messages, or hidden truths? Early Childhood Education Journal, 34(5), 357–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (1995). Ethnography: Principles in practice. London: Tavistock.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hope, G. (2000). Beyond their capability? Drawing, designing and the young child. The Journal of Design and Technology Education, 5(2), 106–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, A., & Prout, A. (1990). Constructing and reconstructing childhood: Contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood. London: Falmer Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch, G., Sørensen, E., & Levidow, L. (2011). Childish science: Editorial introduction. Science as Culture, 20(4), 421–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kranzberg, M. (1986). Technology and history: “Kranzberg’s laws”. Technology and Culture, 27(3), 544–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Löfdahl, A. (2002). Förskolebarns lek. En arena för kulturellt och socialt meningsskapande. Karlstad: Karlstad University.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacNaughton, G. (2006). Constructing gender in early-years education. In C. Skeleton, B. Francis, & L. Smulyan (Eds.), The sage handbook of gender and education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mawson, B. (2007). Factors affecting learning in technology in the early years at school. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 17, 253–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mawson, B. (2010). Children’s developing understanding of technology. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 20, 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milne, L. (2013). Nurturing the designerly thinking and design capabilities of 5-year-olds: Technology in the new entrant classroom. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 23, 349–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitcham, C. (1994). Thinking through technology: The path between engineering and philosophy. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker-Rees, R. (1997). Learning from play: Design and technology, imagination and playful thinking. In IDATER 1997 conference (pp. 20–25). Loughborough: Loughborough University. http://hdl.handle.net/2134/1458.

  • Pearson, G., & Young, A. T. (Eds.). (2002). Technically speaking: Why all Americans need to know more about technology. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prout, A., & James, A. (1997). A new paradigm for the sociology of childhood? Provenance, promise and problems. In A. James & A. Prout (Eds.), Constructing and reconstructing childhood (pp. 7–33). London: Falmer Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Resnick, L. B., Säljö, R., Pontecorvo, C., & Burge, B. (Eds.). (1997). Discourse, tools, and reasoning: Essays on situated cognition. Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, H. (2008). Listening to children and hearing them. In P. Christensen & A. James (Eds.), Research with children: Perspective and practice. London: Falmer Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoultz, J., Säljö, R., & Wyndhamn, J. (2001). Heavenly talk: Discourse, artifacts, and children’s understanding of elementary astronomy. Human Development, 44, 103–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skolverket. (2010). Läroplan för förskolan, Lpfö 98 (reviderad 2010). Stockholm.

  • SOU. (2006):75. Slutbetänkande av Delegationen för jämställdhet i förskolan, Jämställdhet i förskolan—om betydelsen av jämställdhet och genus i förskolans pedagogiska arbete. Stockholm: Regeringskansliet.

  • Stables, K. (1997). Critical issues to consider when introducing technology education into the curriculum of young learners. Journal of Technology Education, 8(2), 50–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, A., & Bers, M. U. (2013). Gender differences in kindergarteners’ robotics and programming achievement. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 23, 691–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thulin, S. (2011). Lärares tal och barns nyfikenhet: Kommunikation om naturvetenskapliga innehåll i förskolan. Göteborg: Göteborg University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tu, T. (2006). Preschool science environment: What is available in a preschool classroom? Early Childhood Education Journal, 33(4), 245–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turja, L., Endepohls-Ulpe, M., & Chatoney, M. (2009). A conceptual framework for developing the curriculum and delivery of technology education in early childhood. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 19, 353–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vetenskapsrådet. (2013). Forskningsetiska principer inom humanistisk-samhällsvetenskaplig forskning. Stockholm: Vetenskapsrådet. http://www.codex.vr.se/texts/HSFR.pdf.

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was financed by the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) and CETIS, Centre for School Technology Education, to which the authors are grateful for support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Welfare Studies, Linköping University, 601 74, Norrköping, Sweden

    Jonas Hallström & Helene Elvstrand

  2. Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, 581 83, Linköping, Sweden

    Kristina Hellberg

Authors
  1. Jonas Hallström
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Helene Elvstrand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kristina Hellberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonas Hallström.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hallström, J., Elvstrand, H. & Hellberg, K. Gender and technology in free play in Swedish early childhood education. Int J Technol Des Educ 25, 137–149 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-014-9274-z

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-014-9274-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation