| Summary: | During the past few years debates such as #metoo has led to more discussions about children’s rights to integrity. The aim of this study is to investigate how preschool teachers interpret and work with integrity in preschool. The questions for this study are the three following: How is integrity described in relation to preschool? Which methods are used in preschool for working with integrity? Why is it of importance to work with children’s integrity in preschool? Our study is based on interviews with six preschool teachers. All of them have been interviewed in couples. Each couple has been interviewed two times. We have four theoretical concepts in this study. The first is Juul and Jensens theoretical concept of integrity, which deem that integrity occurs when our internal responsibility conflicts with our external responsibility. Integrity occurs when what I feel is not in balance with what society demands of me (Juul & Jensen 2003). The second theoretical concept is the Self theory by Daniel Stern through Brodin and Hylander. Stern means that from our births we have an inner core which evolves to what we call our inner self (Brodin & Hylander 1997). Our third theoretical concept is Foucault’s theory of power through Börjesson and Rehn and through Juul and Jensen. Börjesson and Rehn describes power as something that is always present and constantly floating in social relationships and events. As an adult, your experience and knowledge imply that you are more often in a position of power than a child (Börjesson & Rehn). Juul and Jensen describes a specific kind of power: definition power. This power means that adults in a greater extent than children possess the right to define what is right and wrong (Juul & Jensen 2003). The last theoretical concept is a theory about the competent child, described by Brodin and Hylander. In this theory children are aware of their dependence of other people to care for them and are therefore in search for both knowledge and social interplay with other people (Brodin & Hylander 1997). The result of this study shows that integrity in preschool is described as the physical integrity and the right to decide over your own body. The teachers described that children must learn different ways of showing their boundaries, and to become responsive to the limits of others. The teachers describe various types of materials and methods for learning the children about integrity. Learning about your own and other’s boundaries is important both for becoming part of a society and for reducing sexual violence.
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