Gender Equity in the Smart Home Corner: Playing Digital Transformation in Kindergarten

• In Event: Reimagining Play: Critical Examinations of Gender, Race, and the More Than Human

Abstract

The spatial arrangement and the opportunities for play in kindergarten often repeat historical traditions of kindergarten pedagogy (AUTHOR, 2021), as well as perpetuating genderisms (Goffman, 1977). By introducing the topic of digital transformation into the pretend play spaces of kindergarten, new learning opportunities are created: the traditional home corner found in kindergartens becomes a smart home corner, and completely new play corners such as an IT-center are installed. On the basis of guided play ((Weisberg, Hirsh‐Pasek, & Golinkoff, 2013), children pretend to be IT developers, repair persons and users (Turja, Endepohls-Ulpe, & Chatoney, 2009). The research projects examine gender equity in children’s and educators’ interactions within the spatial arrangement, using multi-modal interaction analysis on video data from 15 kindergartens.

Authors

• Franziska Christina Vogt, St.Gallen University of Teacher Education

• Lena Hollenstein, St. Gallen University of Teacher Education