In this article we explore how children’s opportunities for subject-related learning in Nordic early childhood education and care (ECEC) depend on intra-actions between the physical environment, gender norms, and the relevant learning content. We apply a socio-material perspective and draw on three Swedish ECEC studies, in which the learning content was related to physics, dance, and environmental sustainability, respectively. The analyses illustrate how socio-material intra-actions encouraged or impeded certain bodily encounters, thereby encouraging or impeding certain kinds of subject-related learning.

 This article aims to present a research reviewdone of research on gender and gender equality in relation to Swedish Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) during 2002–2022. The article is based on a report compiled at the request of the Swedish Gender Equality Authority in fall 2023and this article highlights the results. Since Sweden historically has been seen as having a prominentposition concerning gender equality work theresult can be interesting to a larger fieldof researchers. The studies included were selected through various search methods tofind Swedish and/or international research relevant to Swedish preschool conditions. Thisarticleputs its focus on studies that are interpreted as being specifically relevant to preschool practice, in terms ofhow research results could support development and change into a more gender equal preschool in accordance with the Swedish national curricula for preschools, close to the Finnish assignments.Although the article show that research is continuouslyproduced in this field, further analysis of the relations between children, ECEC/preschool, gender and gender equality and especially intersectional analysis are needed given the changing nature of preschool context in line with a changingsociety. The research presented in thisarticle show how gender continues to be a significant categorization in preschool, and several studies highlight how children and staff negotiate gender expressions in severalways. There is still limited research on how preschools are governedand developedin relation to gender equality, likely due to the individual-focused emphasis in policy documents. The analysis showshow gender equality work in preschools often havebeen project-based, but the existing research underscores the importance of continuous and systematic work based on established knowledge. Staff perspectives and approaches are crucial for effective work on gender and equality, emphasizing the need for training and reflection in the field. 

 The Swedish National Curriculum for Preschools states that “the environment in the pre‐ school should inspire and challenge children to broaden their abilities and interests without being constrained by gender stereotyped perceptions”. The aim of a three‐year research and development (R&D) project was to both analyse and recreate early childhood education and care (ECEC) units’ indoor spaces, aiming at creating an indoor educational environment that would be socially inclu‐ sive and norm‐aware, and support preschools to fulfil their curricular assignment around gender equality. The aim of this article is to present a specific process for challenging the norms around certain indoor play places and spaces as well as pieces of furniture in ECEC settings that risk repro‐ ducing gender norms. This aim was achieved through a social semiotic multimodal gender analysis of so‐called “kitchen furniture”, as a well‐established, commonly occurring space in ECEC. The pro‐ cess of how this was challenged is presented in this article. A gender analysis of what affordances for play this kitchen‐focused piece of furniture gives, and how it can be recreated, was conducted. The introduction of more inclusive furniture to the ECEC units, through creating and building a play trolley, could affect children’s play in a more inclusive way. The analysis addressed both this idea and teachers’ self‐initiated move of the piece of furniture within the ECEC unit. The process was performed with a multidimensional perspective of understanding play as a combination of children’s meaning‐making and the affordances of both relationships and the environment.

Helhetsskapande arbetssätt där exempelvis omsorg, fostran och undervisning samverkar har ett starkt fotfäste inom nordisk småbarnspedagogik. Detta holistiska arbetssätt märks för Finlands del i att olika varianter av ordet helhet används flitigt i styrdokumenten. Studiens syfte är att analysera textsekvenser som innehåller formuleringar med helhet i de tre finländska småbarnspedagogiska styrdokumenten. Dessutom diskuterar vi hur utbildningen av lärare inom småbarnspedagogik kan tydliggöra dessa helheter för studenterna. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och med hjälp av tematisk analys har teman som beskriver innebörder i de olika helheterna identifierats. Resultaten visar att det finns en stor variation i vad som förutsätts bilda helheter och att lärarna till exempel förväntas skapa helheter både inom den egna undervisningen och mellan de olika stadierna. Slutsatser av studien är att lärarutbildningen behöver erbjuda studenterna både ämnesdidaktiska kunskaper och integrativa pedagogiska kunskaper. Vi föreslår bland annat att en taxonomi eller modell speciellt utarbetad för småbarnspedagogiken kunde åskådliggöra olika typer av samspel. Vidare kan lärarutbildningens kurser organiseras så att integrering av olika ämnesområden blir en naturlig del av kurserna.