The child in the Swedish preschool photograph versus the child in the curriculum – a comparison of contemporary notions

Abstract

ABSTRACT Photographs constitute an important visual language in contemporary Swedish preschool, as they are legible to young children themselves. This article aims to examine which notions of the child are represented in preschool photographs, and how these notions correlate to notions of the child expressed in the Swedish preschool curriculum. The analysis uses Fairclough’s critical discourse analyses and the critical concepts of performativity and celebrated subject positions. First, the curriculum’s descriptions of the child and modes of learning in preschool are analysed. Second, photographs from four preschools are thematised, analysed and theorised, with a focus on the performances and subject positions repeatedly displayed. Results show that while the curriculum promotes holistic performances where play and care are interwoven with education, the photographs celebrate performances within teacher-led educational situations and invisibilise care as well as play. The focus on education in the photographs corresponds with international trends regarding the professionalisation and ‘schoolification’ of early childhood education. Crucially, this is connected to gendered meanings linked to care and education, respectively.