When #MeToo was the most intensive, many girls, women and non-binary people’s voices were heard about being exposed. Knowledge on boys’ perspectives is important as they need to be involved to provide change. In research, boys’ and men’s voices are missing unless accounted for in settings associated with violence or harassment. This project contributes knowledge about schoolboys’ positionings with respect to masculine hegemony and sexual harassment. The analysis of pair interviews with 22 participating boys, aged 14–16, suggests three ways in which they relate to the topic. With respect to the discursive patterns labelled equal boy and let-go boy, gender issues are competently expressed and these two patterns convey knowledge about the power that the gender culture exercises. These two discursive patterns also suggest a proficient way of taking the gender order into account to fit in with the peer group. Nevertheless, the third pattern, labelled the dominant boy, suggests settings when a traditional masculinity culture exercises power. We conclude that discussions on situations where different discursive patterns are overt would facilitate a shift towards gender equal discourses with less risk of sexual harassment.

The aim of this study is to contribute knowledge about Swedish school girls’ perspectives of sexual harassment and their relations to peers when exposed to violence in terms of sexual harassment, both online and offline. The empirical data was collected through pair interviews where 28 girls participated. The theoretical framework was based on coping strategies that people use when facing stressful situations. The transcribed empirical data was read and interpreted based on what appeared to be important and decisive related to the theoretical framework. The found strategies are divided into three main categories, namely, problem-focused behavioural strategies, emotion-focused cognitive strategies, and emotion-focused behavioural strategies. The results show that the girls use different strategies depending on if the harassment occurs online or offline and if the perpetrator is known or unknown. Problem-focused cognitive strategies are used due to the specific context. Emotion-focused cognitive strategies are foremost used if the perpetrator is a known friend.

The aim is to contribute knowledge about educators' beliefs about children's belonging in early childhood education. The study applies parts of Nira Yuval Davis's theory about the politics of belonging. Six group interviews were conducted with educators from four Swedish preschools. A content analysis is used as a first step, followed by a theoretical analysis. Two main beliefs were identified regarding the ECE 'community' and 'diversity'. The belief in the community included ideas related to both the collective and the individual child. Togetherness and safety appeared as collective oriented aspects while the emphasis on a caring and loving approach, and protecting the child's integrity were individual oriented. To balance between the collective and the individual oriented beliefs emerged as a challenge. The belief in diversity contained aspects related to learning from each other and that different cultures enrich practice. Culture clashes emerged regarding time, outdoor activity, sexuality and identity.

I föreliggande studie är syftet att presentera ett pedagogiskt verktyg för att sortera könsrelaterade resonemang relevanta för diskussioner om sexuella trakasserier, samt att lyfta fram och tydliggöra de pedagogiska implikationer som ett visst grundantagande för med sig. Detta pedagogiska verktyg appliceras på två kvinnliga gymnasieelevers berättelser om erfarenheter av sexuella trakasserier under sin tid i grund- och gymnasieskolan. Tre olika förklaringsmodeller används i analysen. Dessa är ’med könsskillnader i fokus’, ’med den könsneutrala individen i fokus’ samt ’med könsnormer i fokus’. När könsskillnader framhålls som förklaringsmodell, blir slutsatsen att pojkarna styrs av sin biologi och att de därför inte kan hållas ansvariga för sina handlingar. Om könsneutralitet betonas, blir konsekvensen att sexuella trakasserier inte kan knytas till ett specifikt kön. Istället är det den specifika situationen eller individen som är den avgörande faktorn. När könsnormer är i fokus kan sexuella trakasserier förstås som något unga män i grupp använder sig av som ett sätt att stärka och bekräfta maskulinitet i en heteronormativ ordning. Vissa förklaringsmodeller kan underlätta och andra kan försvåra arbetet för att motverka sexuella trakasserier.

In the present study, the purpose is to present a pedagogical tool for sorting gender-related reasoning relevant to discussions about sexual harassment, as well as to highlight and clarify the pedagogical implications that a certain basic assumption entail. This pedagogical tool is applied to two female high school students’ stories of experiences of sexual harassment during their time in primary and secondary school. Three different explanation models are used in the analysis. These are named ‘with gender differences in focus’, ‘with the genderneutral individual in focus’ and ‘with gender norms in focus’. When gender differences are emphasized, the implication is that boys are ruled by their biology and therefore they cannot be responsible for their actions. If gender neutrality is stressed, the consequence is that sexual harassment cannot be linked to a specific gender. Instead, it is the specific situation or the individual that is the triggering factor. When gender norms are in focus, sexual harassment can be understood as something that young men in groups use to strengthens and affirm masculinity in a heteronormative order. Some of the explanation models may facilitate and others may complicate the work of counteracting sexual harassment.

The aim of the present study is to contribute with knowledge about pupils’ views upon teachers’ teaching regarding the work of counteracting sexual harassment. 28 girls and 22 boys in secondary and upper secondary school were interviewed. The theoretical framework is based on an educational perspective and directed towards teachers’ work against oppression. More specifically it deals with the relationships between teacher and pupil, teacher and the knowledge content as well as the teaching process. The concept ‘teaching’ is understood as ‘teaching acts’ that are carried out both in formal teaching situations within specific lessons as well as in informal teaching situations in between the lessons. According to the pupils, a trusting climate between teachers and pupils is an essential condition for counteracting sexual harassment successfully. The result also shows that the knowledge content usually is mediated, as in traditional school practice, from the teacher to the pupils in specific lessons. The pupils find these fact-based lessons both relevant and irrelevant. Some lessons are based on the pupils’ own experiences and on limiting gender norms in society and in school. These lessons have a dialogical approach, where the teachers and pupils learn together based on a good relationship.

This study seeks to explore how the belonging and participation, as well as its related concepts, are framed in the national curriculum guidelines of the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. We employed a scoping study with concept-mapping methodology. The results reveal macro level principles related to human rights and values, multiliteracy and language, policy measures and ideologies. Meso level principles stressed that education is supposed to guarantee a child's overall development and skills acquisition, participation involvement in the activities related to a child's environment and cultural heritage. The micro level principles were indicative of the need for inclusive and accessible physical and social environments, along with teaching methods which foster positive attitudes about diversity and teachers' expertise levels to address diversity. We also found the importance of designing opportunities that encourage socializing, building relationships, and belongingness. Additionally, the results show how frequently the chosen key concepts are represented in the guidelines. Based on our study we can conclude that curriculum guidelines do not provide sufficent frameworks for promoting children's belonging and participation. Further exploration on those concepts is needed, along with increased scholarly attention within the spheres of ECEC and compulsory education practice to enable inclusion for all children.

The aim of this study is to contribute knowledge about the politics of belonging that is embedded in the educational practice of early childhood institutions in Sweden, with the focus on children's doing of belonging. The research questions are: What appears as important aspects for belonging in everyday children's interactions in the ECE practice? How are positions and borders for belonging negotiated, produced, and reproduced among the children? Yuval-Davis's [(2011). The politics of belonging: Intersectional contestations. London: Sage] theory about the politics of belonging is used as a framework. Data consists of 13 h of video-film of interactions among children at two Swedish ECE institutions. The findings show how the doing of belonging involves an ongoing positioning process among the children, and how the borders for being inside or outside the community are continually constructed and reconstructed. One suggestion is to talk about a glimpse or moments of a sense of belonging.

The aim of this study is to contribute with knowledge of young peoples’ communication in social media. A total of 32 boys and girls aged 14 to 15 years old, from two schools in Sweden, participated in this study. A hermeneutic interpretation process formed the basis of the analysis process. The data were thematized based on patterns found throughout the material. Theoretical perspectives concerning normalization processes related to the use of language were connected to the data to deepen the understanding of themes and patterns. The result shows that there is an ongoing negotiation with reciprocal processes in which both boys and girls have lots of reference points to consider, when they interact online. There are social norms and rules related to the online arena itself, as well as normative expectations connected to gender orders. The gender category is intertwined with sexuality and group hierarchies, which give the youth different power positions to act online.