Ska du ha hjälp? Uppfattningar om manligt och kvinnligt hos förskollärare

Swedish preschool has undergone some changes over the last decades. The preschool curriculum, LpFö98/2010, underlines the teacher’s responsibilities to work against the reproduction of traditional gender patterns. The focus of this study is to identify preschool teachers’ perceptions of what is male and female and how these may affect the dynamics amongst colleagues. In order to do so we have conducted eight interviews with preschool teachers of both genders and analyzed the material with the help of gender theories from Hirdman and Connell. The analysis shows that traditional gender patterns frequently occurs and that both genders tend to preserve the differences between men and women. The call for male preschool teachers affects the dynamics within the institutions. Male colleagues often benefit due to their gender, even though the perceptions of masculinity, to a certain extent, presents a broader variety of roles.