Open Access Article Intercultural Communication

Managing the Symbolic Power of Halal Meat in Swedish Preschools: Food for Thought in Discussions on Diversity

Jonas Stier (1) , Margareta Sandström (2)
1. Intercultural studies, Dalarna University
2. Department of special education, Mälardalen University
https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v20i1.293

Article Sidebar

Issue
Vol. 20 No. 1 (2020)
Submitted
2018 June 13
Published
2020 March 28
Keywords:
    preschools, Sweden, dietary requests, preschool teachers, approaches to diversity, culture
Ask AI (Dimensions)
Download PDF

Abstract

Recently there has been much debate as to which foods Swedish preschools should serve. This text explores preschool teachers’ approaches to parents’ dietary requests. The empirical material consists of 14 focus group interviews with 41 preschool teachers from two areas of Stockholm. Results suggest that cultural and religious differences pertaining to food and diet requests lead to dilemmas and conflicts which are handled with instrumental multicultural or conscious multicultural approaches, whereas intercultural or transcultural approaches are rare. Among the preschool teachers in this study, this leads to avoidance strategies or efforts to change the parents’ views. Results show that the preschool curriculum provides little guidance and preschool teachers must develop their own strategies to deal with children’s and parents’ expectations and demands, often using the children as intermediaries.

Full text article

Generated from XML file

References

Banks, J.A. (1994). An Introduction to Multicultural Education. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Barthes. R. (1997). Toward a psychosociology of contemporary food consumption. In Counihan, C. & Van Esterik, P. (eds.), Food and Culture: A Reader (20-27). London: Routledge. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Douglas, M. (1966). Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London: Routledge and Keegan Paul. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Douglas, M. (1984). Food in the Social Order: Studies of Food and Festivities in Three American Communities. New York: Russel Sage Foundation. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Freeman, N.K. (1998). Look to the East to gain a new perspective, understand cultural differences, and appreciate cultural diversity. Early Childhood Education Journal, 26(2):79-82. Google Scholar | WorldCat

García, O. (2018). The multiplicities of multilingual interaction, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(7): 881-891. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2018.1474851 Google Scholar | Crossref | WorldCat

Geens, N. & Vandenbroeck, M. (2013). Early childhood education and care as space for social support in urban contexts of diversity. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 21(3): 407-419. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Han, H.S. & Thomas, M.S. (2010). No child misunderstood: Enhancing early childhood teachers’ multicultural responsiveness to the social competence of diverse children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(86): 469–476. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Harding, C., Wade, C. & Harrison, K. (2013). Communication between children and carers during mealtimes. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 13(4): 242-250. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Husband, T. (2012). ”I don’t see color”: Challenging assumptions about discussing race with young children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 39(6): 365-371. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Izutsu, T. (2002). Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur'an. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Joshi, A., Eberly, J. & Konzal, J. (2005). Dialogue across cultures: Teachers’ perceptions about communication with diverse families. Multicultural Education, 13(2): 11-15. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Keengwe, J. (2010). Fostering cross cultural competence in preservice teachers through multicultural education experiences. Early Childhood Education Journal, 38(3): 197-204. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Kemple, K.M. (2017). Social studies, social competence and citizenship in early childhood education: Developmental principles guide appropriate practice. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(5): 621–627. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Krueger, R.A. & King, J.A. (1998). Involving Community Members in Focus Groups. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: Sage. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Kvale, S. & Brinkmann, S. (2009). Den kvalitativa forskningsintervjun. (2nd Edition). Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Lévi-Strauss, C. (1969). The Raw and the Cooked. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Lunneblad, J. (2006) Förskolan och mångfalden: en etnografisk studie på en förskola i ett multietniskt område. PhD thesis, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Oliveira-Formosinho, J. & Barros Araújo, S. (2011). Early education for diversity: starting from birth. European Early Childhood Research Journal, 19(2): 223-235. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Rippin, A. (2012). Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. (4th Edition). London: Routledge. Google Scholar | WorldCat

San Poon, H.S., Abdullah, M.N.L.Y. & Abdullah, A.C. (2013). Multicultural early childhood education: Practices and challenges in Malaysia. The Australian Educational Researcher, 40(5): 615–632 Google Scholar | WorldCat

SNAE Swedish National Agency for Education (2018). Läroplan för förskolan Lpfö18. Stockholm: Skolverket. Google Scholar | WorldCat

SNAE Swedish National Agency for Education (2011). Läroplan för förskolan Lpfö 98 (Revised 2010). Stockholm: Skolverket. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Souto-Manning, M. (2007). Immigrant families and children (re-)develop identities in a new context. Early Childhood Education Journal, 34(6): 399-405. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Stano, S. (2017). Eating, diversity, creating identity: Translations of the culinary code between creativity and misunderstandings. In Andreica, O. & Olteanu, A. (eds.), Readings in Numanities (Numanities - Arts and Humanities in Progress, Vol. 3) (85-92), Springer, Cham. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Stier, J., Tryggvason, M-T., Sandström, M. & Sandberg, A. (2012). Diversity management in preschools using a critical incident approach. Intercultural Education, 23(4): 285-296. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Stier, J. & Sandström, M. (2018). Managing the unmanageable: Curriculum challenges and teacher strategies in multicultural preschools in Sweden. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 48. Available from http://www.immi.se/intercultural/nr48/stier.html. Google Scholar | WorldCat

The Swedish Education Act (2010:800). Stockholm: Riksdag. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Twiner, A., Cook, G. & Gillen, J. (2009). Overlooked issues of religious identity in the school dinners debate. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(4): 473-488. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Vandenbroeck, M. (2007). Beyond anti-bias education: Changing conceptions of diversity and equity in European early childhood education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 15(1): 21-35. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Wardle, F. (1998). Meeting the needs of multiracial and multiethnic children in early childhood settings. Early Childhood Education Journal, 26(1): 7-11. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Wibeck, V. (2010). Fokusgrupper. Om fokuserade gruppintervjuer som undersökningsmetod. Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur. Google Scholar | WorldCat

Authors

Jonas Stier
jonas.stier@mdh.se (Primary Contact)
Margareta Sandström
Author Biographies

Jonas Stier

Jonas Stier is a professor of intercultural studies at Dalarna University. He has a great deal of experience in the research field of intercultural studies within a variety of contexts such as preschools, schools and higher education, and has written several books in this subject area. Further, he is strongly committed to public outreach and is a popular lecturer outside academia.

Margareta Sandström

Margareta Sandström is a senior professor of special education at Mälardalen University. She has a great deal of experience researching in the fields of education, special education and intercultural studies within a variety of contexts such as preschools, schools and higher education, and has written several books on this subject area. Further, she is strongly committed to teacher education.

Stier, J., & Sandström, M. (2020). Managing the Symbolic Power of Halal Meat in Swedish Preschools: Food for Thought in Discussions on Diversity. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 20(1), 92-106. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v20i1.293
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This journal provides immediate and free open access to all its content and is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This means readers are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, as long as proper attribution is given. This policy is consistent with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access. 

 

Article Details

How to Cite

Stier, J., & Sandström, M. (2020). Managing the Symbolic Power of Halal Meat in Swedish Preschools: Food for Thought in Discussions on Diversity. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 20(1), 92-106. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v20i1.293

Most read articles by the same author(s)