The good kindergarten is a gender equal kindergarten

The good kindergarten is a gender equal kindergarten

Plan of Action for equality in kindergartens 2004-2007

1. Background

The Ministry of Children and Equality has, since the mid-nineties, worked systematically to recruit more men to work in kindergartens. Norway is on the forefront of this work, devoting both expert and political energy to this topic. Kindergartens contribute towards giving both parents an equal opportunity to take paid work. It is important that they are a good example of an equal society.  

The Ministry of Children and Equality has in recent years concentrated on improving the quality of kindergartens, with a focus on the kindergarten as an arena for children’s development. Quality in the kindergarten is also about the kindergarten preparing children for a much more equal society than it has been before. In the framework plan for kindergartens, under 1.3 Samfunnsendringer – framtid (1.3 changes in society – the future) it states that kindergartens have an important job in preparing children of both sexes to be equally qualified for various roles in society. Children should also experience this while attending kindergarten. Furthermore, the framework plan states that kindergartens have an important job in contributing to a child’s gender socialisation. A modern gender socialisation should build upon equality and equal worth. The ministry is convinced that without equality in kindergartens, both among personnel and in the day-to-day running of the establishment, the goals of diversity and quality cannot be fully achieved. Adults are important role models, and both sex and age are necessary variables in order to develop the service fully. 

In the future, kindergartens will need to meet the same requirements as other institutions in society, namely that 40 per cent of the staff shall be the underrepresented sex. The ministry appreciates that this will demand a long term focus on the recruitment of men into kindergartens, and that there are a number of factors that need to be addressed before this goal can be realised. In this plan we are concentrating on a partial goal of 20 % men within 2007.

Based on this, the ministry has decided to propose a plan of action for equality in kindergartens for the coming years, in which there will be two primary areas of focus; recruiting more men to kindergartens (called the MIB project) and developing and strengthening a pedagogy that enhances gender equality.

The ministry is planning to organize the work between the five regions, corresponding to the health care regions and the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufetat). One of the county governors in each region has been given responsibility for coordinating the work on the gender equality, and money has been earmarked that is directly granted to the centrally coordinated offices. The ministry expects that the work is prioritised at all of the offices, within quality standards work. More on this under Point 3.

During this period, the ministry will evaluate the need for a national reference group for the work.

2. Target for plan of action

The ministry states the following two primary targets for equality work in kindergartens:

1. More men working in kindergarten - 20 % men in kindergartens by the end of 2007.
2. Gender equality and equal worth will be core values for all activity and educational content in kindergartens.

Based upon these two primary targets the ministry has stated four subsidiary targets for the work:

1. Local and regional authorities that are aware of and committed to gender equality

2. A consolidated and active MIB-network in all five regions.

3. Boys and girls/men and women in the sector who are committed to gender equality.

4. Gender equality rooted in the framework for kindergartens and teacher training.

Yearly reports on the progress of both primary and subsidiary targets will be made.

3. A closer look at the field and strategies

It is important that the primary targets are reflected in all activities that arise from this plan of action. The four subsidiary goals are the basis for the activities and strategies that are being set up at different levels. The ministry will entrust to the various participants to discuss and carry out the plans and strategies for the work, but will continue to monitor the results through the reporting scheme that will be discussed below under point 4.

Subsidiary target 1. Local and regional authorities committed to gender equality.

According to the Kindergarten Law municipal authorities are responsible for both publicly and privately owned kindergartens. The local authority responsible for kindergartens, i.e. the municipal authority, the owner of the kindergarten and the majority of the kindergarten employees, who are women, need to take seriously the need for male employees in their establishments and must take advantage of the opportunities and proposals for action that are available. This also means that the authorities responsible for kindergartens, owners and employees of both sexes, and not least pre-school teacher training must develop an awareness and expertise of girls’ and boys’ gender socialisation.

Measures

• The Gender Equality Act permits the affirmative action of men in connection with teaching and care work related to children (directive Q-07/98). All municipal authorities, both as kindergarten authorities and owners, private owners and kindergartens that have few or no male employees, should take advantage of the opportunities that this decision provides in giving priority to men when recruiting.
• The management of both publicly and privately owned kindergartens should ensure that kindergarten personnel address the recruitment of men, and that they do their best to retain the men they have.
• Kindergarten personnel, together with the works council should discuss why it is important to have male employees, and how the day-to-day running of the establishment can include men’s perspectives so that they remain in the sector.

Subsidiary target 2. A consolidated and active MIB (men in kindergartens) network in all five regions

The goal for the MIB work is to recruit more men to work in kindergartens and to enrolment for pre-school teacher training, and to ensure that they complete the training and remain in the profession. Currently, 7 per cent of kindergarten employees are men, and not all of these work directly with the children. The proportion of men has remained stable in recent years. This means that the total number of men has increased in the last ten years, as expansion in the form of new kindergartens has been rapid during this period. It is very important that the children have contact with men in the kindergartens. More men working in kindergartens will affect the substance of the service the kindergartens provide. A more even gender distribution will serve to provide diversity and quality in kindergartens.

This was implemented in the plan of action 1997-2000. A network has been established in all counties with a contact person who is responsible for outreach work to recruit more men and to support the men who are employed in kindergartens. The ministry has arranged conferences, produced information resources and promoted research into this topic. The ministry supports a website devoted to the MIB work: http://www.mibnett.no/

The recruitment of men into teacher training was part of a recruitment campaign presided over by the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Children and Equality in the winter of 2002. This work will be continued in the plan of action for gender equality.

Local participants

The MIB work should involve management and the women and men in the kindergartens. The management is central to this work. We need committed people who communicate to both sexes that working in a kindergarten is a positive and challenging career choice. Local kindergarten authorities must take up this challenge. 

Regional participants

All of the counties have – and shall have – an MIB network and a contact person who is responsible for plans and measures. The county governor remains in contact with the networks, and organises conferences etc. The degree of activity taking place varies from county to county, and it appears that not all of the county networks are able to fulfil their brief. For the networks to function optimally there’s a need for a more permanent, broader organisation of the work, and a distribution of resources. Coordination of the work is therefore passed on to the governor of one of the five regions, and the funds for the work are channelled through this official.

Measures

• The county governors will be responsible for leading the work, and regional committees and regional recruitment teams should be established. Activities should be coordinated with the educational authority of the county governor, with university colleges, with local authorities that are responsible for the kindergartens and with the owners. The Ministry of Children and Equality will earmark resources for gender equality work for the period of the plan of action. The resources will be used for outreach programmes and information campaign programmes. A plan will be developed for the work during this period. Specific annual reports will be submitted, as per the obligation to report laid out in the Gender Equality Act.
• The county governor is responsible for disseminating the experience gained. Guidance is included in the letters of allocation from 2004.

Pre-school teacher training

Surveys show that more women than men have considered pre-school teacher training to be worthwhile, and many more men than women either decline offer of admission to the school, or they drop out during the education. The university colleges face a challenge in trying to change this situation. Many university colleges are involved in the MIB network and have other strategies in place to recruit more men. Each of the university colleges is responsible for integrating MIB work into its recruiting strategy and for being prepared for male students.

Measures

• The university colleges need to look at the recruitment of male applicants, and how they are received and treated. They need to look at the syllabus, and not least at work experience placements in the context of gender.

Central participants

The Ministry of Children and Equality is responsible for leading, coordinating, and developing and spreading expertise in this field. This work will be intensified.

Measures

• The Ministry of Children and Equality will collaborate with the Ministry of Education and Research in order to reinforce cooperation at this level and to improve the figures and the monitoring of progress.
• The MIB website will get a new site editor and measures are put in place to increase the communication of experience gained.
• The need for further research is being assessed.
• Nordic collaboration will be developed further.

Subsidiary target 3. Boys and girls/men and women in the sector who are committed to gender equality

Kindergartens have an important role in the work towards gender equality. Kindergartens for everyone who wants a place and at an acceptable price are important for securing real gender equality and freedom of choice for parents.

Children will become adults in a society that is much more equal than ever before. It is important that the adults working in kindergartens are aware of the role they play in socializing children for a gender equal society, and that they systematically evaluate their own activity and the kindergarten’s culture and day-to-day running in relation to gender socialisation. More focus on children as boys and girls can result in children’s childhood being, in reality, more alike. Gender equality needs to be put on the agenda in kindergartens, schools and in other educational institutions. Gender equality must be central in all day-to-day activities in the kindergarten. The sharing of experience between the teacher training establishments and the kindergartens where the practical work is done is decisive for developing knowledge and professional practice based upon gender equality.

Measures

• Kindergartens must integrate gender equality into their activities, so that boys and girls are, in reality, equal and socialised for a gender equal adult life.
• Kindergarten personnel must reflect upon and assess their own practices in relation to boys and girls, and organise the day-to-day running of the kindergarten so that both gender and the individual child factors in their work.
• Some kindergartens have had experience of providing different educational content for boys and girls. Others have experience of how male employees can change the substance of the service the kindergarten provides on a daily basis. These experiences will be collected, developed and passed on to other kindergartens, as part of the work of the county governors.

There are indications that kindergartens have not done very much compared to schools in terms of research and development work on promoting gender equality theory and practice. The university colleges will develop this area and integrate it into their teaching.

Measures

• A research project that documented educational theory and method which promotes gender equality, and that mapped out the place of gender equality in teacher training and in kindergartens has been completed. The Ministry of Children and Equality wants to establish further research projects on gender equality in kindergartens, and will invite municipal authorities, kindergarten management and kindergarten staff with experience in this area to collaborate on this.
• A handbook will be developed based upon these projects.
• The ministry will support research into gender socialisation and educational theory that supports gender equality.
• The ministry will develop expertise of practices in kindergartens which promote gender equality.

Subsidiary target 4. Gender equality rooted in the framework for kindergartens and teacher training

According to the Gender Equality Act all public authorities are obliged to work actively and systematically towards gender equality. The obligation to act means that gender equality should be integrated in the sector’s framework and gender equality activity must be reported in annual reports. The Ministry will ensure that the provisions of the Gender Equality Act are made known in the kindergarten sector.

The Ministry will ensure that the framework for kindergartens builds upon the principles of gender equality, and will take responsibility for ensuring that pre-school teacher training follows the same principles and knows what they are.

Measures

• The Ministry of Children and Equality will, when reviewing the kindergarten law, ensure that the framework confirms that the educational work of kindergartens builds upon gender equality.
• In the framework for pre-school teacher training gender equality shall be attended to. The Ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Research, will make sure training in gender equality is attended to at university colleges.
• The Ministry will ensure that the Gender Equality Act’s provision on the positive discrimination of men is widely known.
• The Ministry’s quality group, established in January 2004, shall include gender equality as one of its parameters for the improvement of kindergartens.

4. Information, reporting and following up

Measures

• The Ministry arranges an annual conference on the implementation of the plan of action for gender equality in kindergartens during the action plan period. The next conference takes place autumn 2004, and will be directed at county governors and university colleges.
• Information and documentation measures in relation to diverse target groups.
• The annual reports on gender equality create the basis for further measures and alterations in the action plan.

Today, all types of organisation, including kindergartens and local authorities, have an obligation to report on their gender equality work, established in the law on gender equality which came into force 01.01.2003. The Ministry has planned, in line with this provision, that all levels in the sector shall report what work they are doing to implement the action plan.

Work towards both primary targets and all four secondary targets in the plan shall be reported annually. The Ministry deems the main goals and the secondary goals as a template for the reports.