Practicing Gender Pedagogy: The Case of Egalia

Abstract

Egalia is a state-funded pre-school that provides education to 1-6-year-old children in Sweden. What separates Egalia from other schools is the gender-neutral pedagogy practiced in the school. The aim of this study was to investigate the dimensions of the gender-neutral pedagogy practiced in the school and the principles it is based on. A document analysis approach was followed in the present investigation. A total of 16 documents have been gathered and content analysis was administered. The results have been grouped under the following themes: school's objectives; philosophy; philosophical principles; educational principles; curriculum approach; gender-neutral pedagogy and the effects of this particular pedagogy on school activities, emotions, character traits, and the language and materials used in the school; recruitment of gender pedagogues, school's recruitment policy, teachers' roles and school-parent relationship. A gender-neutral pedagogy model has been presented based on the results.