Pre-school teachers’ professional identity and multilingual children: An interactionist analysis of pre-school teachers’ practical work with multilingual children’s language development

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to re-examine the empirical research focused on the creation and recreation of pre-school teachers’ identity and their practices with multilingual children and language development. The analysis was based on empirical sequences from previously published qualitative analyses with the assistance of an interactionist perspective and earlier research revolving around the phenomenon of “social interaction and learning”. Pre-school teachers emphasised the significance of everyday practical interactions for language development and presented themselves as competent parties who build upon their knowledge via interaction with multilingual children. Thus, the interaction with multilingual children becomes a fundamental dimension of the pre-school teachers’ professional identity. The interactive dimension is important to the successful involvement and integration of multilingual children in the pre-school context and social pedagogical recognition of the identity of pre-school teachers who engage in practical work among these children.

Keywords:

• teaching
• pedagogical work
• language development approach
• secondary empirical material
• social recognition
• pedagogical recognition
• social pedagogical identities
• sociocultural perspective
• competent teacher
• educationally competent actor

1. Introduction

Most multilingual children in Swedish pre-schools learn the Swedish language without encountering problems, whereas some have difficulties and “weaknesses”.¹ Multilingual children are often viewed through the lens of a single-language perspective, which results in assessing multilingual children’s language development based on a single-language norm. When a multilingual child’s linguistic ability does not achieve the norm, it is seen as a deficiency or possible problem (Baker, 2019; Bunar, 2010; Kultti, 2012, 2013, 2014; Muhonen et al., 2016; Scarinci et al., 2015; Zhou & Yadav, 2017). This reminds of the idea of expecting our students to be two multilinguals in one (see for example Grosjean, 1989, which denies their bilingual fluidity). The notion of “weaknesses” when learning language is rooted in a deficit frame. For example, the relevant issues in the context are: 1) How are their language skills weak when they are learning? 2) Isn’t that a part of the language development process? 3) And how are we determining that they are “weak”? 4) In comparison to who? There are other scholars who also talk about multilingual children being seen from a deficit lens when viewed from a single-language perspective (Santa, 2004; Bunar, 2010; Kultti, 2012, 2013, 2014; García & Wei, 2014; Scarinci et al., 2015; Muhonen et al., 2016; Zhou & Yadav, 2017; Torpsten, 2018; Baker, 2019).

Since 2015, more than 70,000 children and adolescents came to Sweden, of whom more than 35,000 were unaccompanied (Swedish Migration Agency, 2018a-c, 2023a-c). Most of these children and adolescents are from war-torn countries. The big influx has been a challenge for the Swedish school system. One out of five children in Swedish pre-schools have a mother tongue other than Swedish, and the number of children in pre-schools in Sweden who communicate in more than one language is growing (Baker, 2019; Bunar, 2010; Kultti, 2012, 2013, 2014; Muhonen et al., 2016; Scarinci et al., 2015; Zhou & Yadav, 2017).

The preconditions for children and pupils to acquire and further develop language skills have received attention. According to a report by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate (2010), pupils with a mother tongue other than Swedish have worse preconditions to achieve the national goals in compulsory school than students with Swedish as their mother tongue. This can be interpreted as that the conditions preceding multilingual’s arrival at school are at fault. The interesting question in the context is about what is being normalized in the school as the framing for the argument here? Predominant standard explanations of this category of children and pupils appear to concern needs to overcome difficulties and “weaknesses”. For example, the needs to overcome difficulties and “weaknesses” is a commonly used explanation of the categories “children and pupils with experience of war” while competing explanations appear to have been afforded relatively less attention, such as: 1) established inequalities in society and at pre-school, 2) material and institutional difficulties in societal and pre-school contexts, 3) bureaucratic hurdles in pre-school and in the rest of society, 4) ethnic monitoring and social control in society and at pre-school, 5) the humiliated identity of the actors in a societal and pre-school context, 6) victimization in relation to the majority groups in the context; 7) demeaning ethnic categorizations in society and at pre-school, 8) discrimination in the pre-school context and an overall societal context (Baker, 2019; Basic et al., 2021; Basic, 2015, 2018, 2022; Bhopal & Preston, 2012; Björk et al., 2019; Bunar, 2010; Fuller, 2018; Greve et al., 2021; Hamilton et al., 2000/2007; Johnsson et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Kultti, 2012, 2013, 2014; Medegård et al., 2022; Muhonen et al., 2016; Scarinci et al., 2015; Zhou & Yadav, 2017). This evokes interest in understanding pre-school as the first step in the educational system and the preconditions for multilingual children to acquire language skills from an early age (Baker, 2019; Kultti, 2012, 2013, 2014; Muhonen et al., 2016; Scarinci et al., 2015; Zhou & Yadav, 2017).

This study has the ambition to develop new knowledge concerning creation and re-creation of pre-school teachers’ professional identity during the practical work with language development in multilingual children. The analysis revolves around the issue of how the pre-school teachers’ practical work with multilingual children’s language development is presented in interactions with children. In this study, qualitative methods (Flick, 2013; Silverman, 2015) were used to analyse empirical sequences from previously published qualitative analyses (Kultti, 2012) in order to investigate the phenomenon of pre-school teachers’ practical work with language development in multilingual children in the context of Swedish pre-schools. The study’s analysis is based on secondary empirical material (Basic, 2013; Björk et al., 2019; Corti & Libby, 2005; Corti, 2007; Fielding & Fielding , 2008; Johnsson et al., 2021; Kultti, 2013, 2014; Medjedović, 2011; Wästerfors et al., 2013). The study’s analytical discoveries are presented as: interaction and language development during play, interaction and language development during mealtime, and interaction and language development during story time.

2. Theory: social interaction and identity

The study’s general theoretical premise is from an interactionist perspective regarding the individual’s interaction via language, actions, and gestures (Basic et al., 2021; Bernstein et al., 1966; Bernstein, 2000; Blumer, 1969/1986; Collins, 2004; Farr et al., 2019; Garfinkel, 2002; Goffman, 1959/1990; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Mead, 1934/1967; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011). The analysis is also inspired by an ethnomethodological perspective of communication (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Garfinkel, 2002; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Medegård et al., 2022). The study primarily subscribes to the interactive traditions in sociology, pedagogy and education in which interactions are viewed as both experience-establishing and important for the creation and re-creation of identities. The pre-school teachers’ practical work with language development in multilingual children and the analysis of these interactions can be viewed as meaning-creating activities that can be used in the development and improvement of language-developing approaches in work with multilingual children in pre-schools.

Classic interactionism is interested in how the individual defines the situation, how the individual presents him or herself in various situations, how various situations are combined with other situations to create social rituals, and how the individual’s identity is created, preserved, and re-created. In addition, interactionists investigate how social objects (i.e., symbols, such as language and documents) contribute to the creation of cultural context (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Bernstein et al., 1966; Bernstein, 2000; Blumer, 1969/1986; Collins, 2004; Farr et al., 2019; Garfinkel, 2002; Goffman, 1959/1990; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Mead, 1934/1967; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011). For interactionists, the self is a foundation of the individual’s identity creation and re-creation. During their lives, the individuals in a society play a number of different roles for different audiences that result in the self being formed and changing in every social situation. It can be formulated as such: being recognised in our roles is to be recognised in our identities (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Bernstein et al., 1966; Bernstein, 2000; Blumer, 1969/1986; Collins, 2004; Farr et al., 2019; Garfinkel, 2002; Goffman, 1959/1990; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Mead, 1934/1967; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011).

In this context, identity is seen as a dynamic field and not as something static. Identity is not clearly defined; it can be negotiated but also on the border between various categories. A single individual can use several different identities at the same time, such as his or her professional identity, gender identity, and ethnic identity. Identity can be seen as the name we give ourselves and, because it is socially constructed, can actually change (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Bernstein et al., 1966; Bernstein, 2000; Blumer, 1969/1986; Collins, 2004; Farr et al., 2019; Garfinkel, 2002; Goffman, 1959/1990; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Mead, 1934/1967; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011). The interactionists’ view of roles and identity inspired us to note, during the analysis, how the pre-school teachers build up their expertise and professional identity via interactions with multilingual children. This perspective also helped us analytically determine that interactions with multilingual children are the fundamental dimension for pre-school teachers’ professional identity creation and re-creation.

Additional theoretical aspects essential to analyses of inter-human interaction in the pre-school context are the phenomena of ethnicity, gender and class that are created and recreated in daily interactions between: 1) children/pupils, 2) children/pupils and pre-school teachers, and 3) children/pupils, pre-school teachers, and parents (the intersectional perspective). In their analyses, several researchers focus analytically on the question of how ethnicity is actualized in different cultural contexts when the actors’ gender and class affiliation is created and recreated during communication and relationship building—and how the power relationships in these interactions change (see for example Baker, 2019; Basic, 2015; Bhopal & Preston, 2012; Fuller, 2018; Hill Collins & Bilge, 2016; Hill Collins, 2019; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Kultti, 2012, 2013, 2014; Levine-Rasky, 2011; Muhonen et al., 2016; Scarinci et al., 2015; Zhou & Yadav, 2017). Newly arrived children/pupils and their parents, as well as pre-school teachers and other resources (staff) acting in the pre-school context, use several different identities in a series of daily interactions simultaneously (e.g. professional identity, gender identity, ethnic identity, collective identity, individual identity, social identity, pedagogic identity etc.). On the basis of the intersectional perspective, the importance of the phenomenon of recognition (Foster 2012; Basic et al., 2021; Björk et al., 2019; Greve et al., 2021; Johnsson et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Medegård et al., 2022) in the pre-school context can be actualized as an important analytical dimension in examining the question of how children/pupils and their parents are recognized in the pre-school context based on their specific experiences and actions, irrespective of their perception of class, gender and ethnicity. The aspect of social pedagogical recognition appears to be important for successful collaboration in the pre-school context and for successful involvement and integration of both children/pupils and their parents in the pre-school context and into society at large.

One researcher inspired by an interactionist tradition, and one of the theoretical inspirations for this study, is Erving Goffman (1959/1990). Goffman viewed the world as a stage on which individuals were expected to play their roles with the help of a number of “appropriate” gestures, statements, props, and movements. As he saw it, interactions between those who held the roles on the world’s stage worked to maintain the temporary conditions of consensus between the actors. One component of Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective is the individual’s presentation of him or herself. Goffman studied in detail how individuals interact with other people in their daily lives; he studied a number of different situations in different surroundings, such as at home and work. He found that, as individuals, we define all of these different situations to know how we should act. When two individuals meet, they must first make it clear to each other who they are, or want to be, in the situation in question. In other words, individuals present themselves in different contexts when they meet other people. Every definition of the situation has a moral character—it tells us what we should do. The definition of the situation is also dependent on the actors’ actions, in regards to both the participants’ and the audience’s actions (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Bernstein et al., 1966; Bernstein, 2000; Blumer, 1969/1986; Collins, 2004; Farr et al., 2019; Garfinkel, 2002; Goffman, 1959/1990; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Mead, 1934/1967; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011).

Considering the dramaturgical perspective, during the analysis, we noticed how the pre-school teachers presented themselves during interactions and strived to convince the audience with their activities. According to Goffman (1959/1990), a social interaction is played out by the actors playing their roles in front of the audience with the help of a script and various props. Many situations lead to individuals acting jointly as if a group of actors playing a play. To carry out the play, cooperation is needed, such as saving a situation and saving the scene being played out; via the cooperation, social order is preserved and the play can continue (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Bernstein et al., 1966; Bernstein, 2000; Blumer, 1969/1986; Collins, 2004; Farr et al., 2019; Garfinkel, 2002; Goffman, 1959/1990; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Mead, 1934/1967; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011).

Another theoretical source of inspiration for this study is Randall Collins (2004) and Basil Bernstein (2000)² who believes that social life is designed by a series of rituals in which individuals are linked together by a common interest that awakens interest and calls attention to them. When people move between different situations, they cannot ignore their experiences from past situations. In other words, past situations are bonded together and combine with new ones. Collins and Bernstein analysed the interactions that follow one another, in which the individuals involved show respect and esteem for objects that come to be regarded as particularly important. Successful participation in such rituals creates and recreates the feeling of togetherness, belonging, involvement, participation, and integration, as well as the emergence of other cultural symbols, which are used in future rituals.

In this study, creation and re-creation of pre-school teachers’ professional identity during the interactions with children in the pre-school context are a common theme. Interactions that were chosen from Kultti (2012) for analysis based on the purpose of the study address the following themes: play, mealtime, and story time.³ In the analysis of these themes, the theoretical reasoning of theoreticians other than Mead (1934/1967), Blumer (1969/1986); Goffman (1959/1990), Bernstein (2000), Garfinkel (2002) and Collins (2004) is used, noting the significance of social interaction in the pedagogical context (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Bernstein et al., 1966; Farr et al., 2019; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011; von Wright, 2000; Wong & Hansun, 2010).

3. Previous research: social interaction and learning in pre-school

Play, mealtimes, story time, time outdoors, song activities and dressing are all situations that can lead to genuine conversations. For language to be given the opportunity to develop, the way that adults involve themselves in the conversation by asking questions is important (Gest et al., 2006; Nolan et al., 2014; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012). Previous research has suggested, the pre-school teachers need to become better at using longer sentences, sub-ordinate clauses, naming things, and avoiding the use of oversimplified language in everyday conversations with the children (Kultti, 2014; Nolan et al., 2014; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012). A language-developing approach involves using all of the pre-school’s activities in a well-conceived way (Muhonen et al., 2016; Nolan et al., 2014; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012). Children develop their understanding and thinking via discussions and generally speaking with adults. When the pre-school teachers take advantage of the children’s conversation initiatives, they participate in the construction of the children’s narratives and gain insight into the child’s way of understanding and interpreting the world—the world also outside pre-school (Björk-Willén, 2008; Eriksen Ødegaard, 2007; Moll, 2019; Muhonen et al., 2016; Nolan et al., 2014; Norma et al., 2005; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012).

Language development is often made into a planned activity done at a certain time of the day and includes rhymes, language bags, or songs. There is a risk that pre-school teachers forget to work with language development throughout the remainder of the day (Nolan et al., 2014; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012). The language gatherings then become isolated efforts and do not provide multilingual children the opportunities to develop their Swedish language capacities at a level that corresponds to the children who have Swedish as their mother tongue (Kultti, 2014).

The gathering has become a normal part of the pre-school culture. For multilingual children, it is rarely a good language situation, as it provides the children too little space to speak. This is something each teacher needs to be aware of, as well as being aware of the purpose of the gathering. The more pedagogically activity is, the worse the preconditions usually are for language development (Muhonen et al., 2016; Nolan et al., 2014; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012). The content of the communication is largely controlled by the pre-school teachers, but they do not take advantage of the children’s conversational initiatives (Nolan et al., 2014; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012; Skans, 2011).

By using objects or engaging in games with pictures, pre-school teachers can adapt the material based upon what the child needs to learn, such as clothing, food, kitchen utensils, or words from the theme with which the pre-school is working, making language development possible. Some gatherings provide the children the opportunity to participate based on their own particular circumstances. The songs are illustrated by pictures and objects in order to create understanding. Support takes place by means of the pre-school teachers explaining words, asking questions, and giving the children the opportunity to repeat gestures before and during the song. It becomes a way to offer the children opportunities for language development and to learn the majority language, and creating various opportunities for learning. The support gains significance in the children’s opportunities for learning (Kultti, 2013; Muhonen et al., 2016; Nolan et al., 2014; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012).

Previous research in social interaction and learning paid attention to the everyday practical interactions at pre-school that influence the multilingual children’s possibilities for learning the new language in pre-school. Interactions noted in earlier research relevant for this study are “play”, “mealtime”, and “story time”.

3.1. Play and language development

The number of words in their vocabulary affect a child’s knowledge development (Svensson, 2012) because language is a tool for thinking, learning, and understanding how things are interrelated. It is in play that multilingual children develop language and, when the language skills are inadequate, the child may use their body and hit, push, bite, or grab other children, whereas other children may become despondent (Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019; Cekaite, 2018). In order for the child to be able to participate in the play, adults may need to help the child by providing words and explaining what is happening (Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019; Cekaite, 2018; Gest et al., 2006; Kultti, 2013, 2014).

Role-playing can provide a significant educational experience. The more developed the role-play, the more the language develops. Development of the role-play presupposes that the adult intentionally controls the role-play by, for example, dividing the children into suitable groups. The role-play also needs to be enriched with experiences that can subsequently be shaped. Rich experiences give rich play and a rich language. Rich experiences entail many visits in the same environment, which give the children in-depth experiences and new perspectives (Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019; Gest et al., 2006; Svensson, 2012). Role-playing builds on a common understanding, and children work based on their experiences, develop them in the role-play, and have new experiences. When communication becomes an obstacle in the role-play, the experiences that the role-playing provides are reduced and the child is assigned a passive role (Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019; Gest et al., 2006; Svensson, 2012).

The material used in the role-play becomes an important resource for the creation of the role-play, participation, and the roles within it, with a pre-requisite use of various props. The activities in role-play are maintained and initiated via interaction, imitation, and repetition of the children’s own and other children’s language and physical actions (Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019; Gest et al., 2006). The teachers often choose a passive role in role-play, except when a child is upset or a conflict arises (Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019; Skans, 2011). According to a studies, play offers the teachers extensive opportunities to use the children’s initiatives for communication, which rarely occurs in practice.

3.2. Mealtime and language development

A large part of pre-school interactions are various food situations (e.g., breakfast, lunch, and snack time) that are often not used for learning (Kultti, 2014; Scarinci et al., 2015; Skans, 2011). The eating situations establish possibilities for learning of both term understanding and practise and space and spelling (Gest et al., 2006; Kinginger et al., 2016; Kultti, 2014; Ljunggren, 2013; Skans, 2011; Tulviste et al., 2002). According to Kultti (2014) learning opportunities can be missed if communication during mealtimes is not regarded.

Communication in food situations often consists of reminders of what the children should do; it consists of instructions and, for example, how the children should set up the food, name what one wants to have, or make different choices (Kultti, 2014; Scarinci et al., 2015). Food in the form of concrete props invites communication and creates an introduction for common discussions at the table.

Children are inhibited by the routines and rules that control mealtimes, meaning the purpose of it, which is to eat properly and behave (Gest et al., 2006; Kinginger et al., 2016; Kultti & Niklas, 2015b; Ljunggren, 2013; Skans, 2011; Tulviste et al., 2002). The concrete things that are on the eating table provide opportunities to learn terms but are not used. The communication that takes place is short on vocabulary, which does not facilitate linguistic development (Scarinci et al., 2015; Skans, 2011). Mealtimes provide the opportunity for a daily narrative, making use of everyday events and re-telling them (Gest et al., 2006; Kinginger et al., 2016; Tulviste et al., 2002).

3.3. Story time and language development

Stories are a central part of the language development work in pre-school activities. It becomes a lesson-like situation for the children in which teachers use their knowledge of both language development and multilingualism. In story time, the story content is strengthened in several ways, such as signs as support, mother tongue support, pictures, and concrete objects. The story is also read several times in order to increase understanding. For multilingual children, understanding increases if the story can be read in both the majority language and their mother language (Gest et al., 2006; Hibbin, 2016; Sheridan et al., 2009; Skans, 2011; Zhou & Yadav, 2017).

Stories can be used as a theme for a long time, which provides the children the possibility of encountering the same story in various forms of expression and in a number of different activities (Gest et al., 2006; Hibbin, 2016; Sheridan et al., 2009; Zhou & Yadav, 2017). When teachers use concrete materials from a book, it establishes opportunities for multilingual children and adults to talk about the book’s contents. The teacher can ask questions and answer children’s questions. It also provides the opportunity to wander between time and space. Children can make their own associations and, together with the teacher, reflect on shared experiences. Story time bags that are available in the pre-school activities give the children opportunities to cultivate the stories in their own play, and the children can also develop the stories’ contents based on their own personal experiences (Hibbin, 2016; Sheridan et al., 2009; Zhou & Yadav, 2017).

Book reading is important to multilingual children’s learning. It provides early reading experiences with story books and later affects children’s development as readers. Discussions between teachers and children during book reading create opportunities for language learning in a social interaction. It also becomes possible for the children to acquire understanding of words and concepts they have not mastered (Hibbin, 2016; Sheridan et al., 2009; Svensson, 2012; Zhou & Yadav, 2017). The discussions and interactions that arise when reading are significant to language development (Hibbin, 2016; Svensson, 2012; Zhou & Yadav, 2017).

4. Methodology: qualitative secondary empirical material—reanalysis

This study is based on qualitative methodology (Flick, 2013; Silverman, 2015). Wästerfors et al. (2013, 467) wrote the following about the “reanalysis of qualitative data”:

Reanalysis of qualitative data should be at the core of qualitative research. It facilitates dialogue, debate, and progression in qualitative research, not only between various researchers and studies (Fielding and Fielding, 2008), but also between works from the same researcher at different times (Riessman, 2003; Roulston, 2001). Reanalysis slows down analysis to a point at which new findings, theories, and methodologies can more easily crystallize. Using reanalysis, researchers may disentangle data from preceding perspectives and zeitgeists, make comparisons across time and cases, and frame data in a new way.

Wästerfors et al. (2013) presented several ways of conducting reanalysis of secondary empirical material: a researcher reanalysing their own collected empirical material, the empirical materials of other researchers using the materials available via archives and databases, or the empirical materials of other researchers using the materials available in already published works, or a researcher combining the above to carry out a reassessment of secondary empirical material. Wästerfors et al. (2013) also presented a variety of motives for reanalysis of qualitative secondary empirical material. A common motive or reason is that, over the long-term, researchers are attracted to a certain empirical material that arouses interest and contributes to creating and recreating ideas for new analysis. Another motive is that researchers realise the opportunity exists to contribute to analytical, theoretical, and/or methodological development without needing to collect new empirical data (Basic et al., 2021; Basic, 2013; Björk et al., 2019; Corti & Libby, 2005; Corti, 2007; Fielding & Fielding, 2008; Johnsson et al., 2021; Kultti, 2013, 2014; Medjedović, 2011). The collection and processing of new empirical material is time consuming (Silverman, 2015), and it is financially advantageous for the researcher and the study to be able to use the time reanalysing existing materials rather than collecting empirical data directly. Another motive that Wästerfors et al. (2013) drew attention to is the analytical drive researchers have to explore phenomena via history and/or comparative studies.

Working with reanalysis of qualitative secondary empirical material encompasses both the strengths and weaknesses of the study (Wästerfors et al., 2013). The strengths include the following: a) secondary empirical material is relatively liberated from the perspective of the previous study, and the theory of the new analysis provides analytical space for advancement; b) the time required for the collection of new empirical material is economised and the time can be used instead for the reanalysis; and c) basic traditions and principles in the field of qualitative research (Flick, 2013; Silverman, 2015) are enhanced by a reanalysis of qualitative secondary empirical material. The weaknesses include the distance between empirical data and the researcher, which characterises some reanalyses. The original context and complete empirical material that formed the empirical basis of the previous study is wholly or partially unknown to the researchers performing the reanalysis of qualitative secondary empirical material (Wästerfors et al., 2013). This fact controls the content of the reanalysis and limits it to relatively few empirical sequences (Basic, 2013; Flybjerg, 2003/2004; Ragin & Becker, 1992). At the same time, an isolated empirical sequence is also a part of a reality that can be reassessed over and over again (Basic, 2013; Flybjerg, 2003/2004; Potter, 2007; Ragin & Becker, 1992). The latter as an important starting point and a strict use of theories and previous research on the investigated phenomenon (“social interaction and learning”) has contributed to preventing reanalysis weaknesses in the current study.

4.1. Empirical sequences

In the present study, three empirical sequences published in Kulttis (2012) doctoral dissertation at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden were reanalysed.⁴ The overall objective of the dissertation was to analyse the preconditions that the participating pre-schools provide for younger multilingual children’s linguistic and communicative development and for their participation in a variety of different activities. Kultti (2012, 18) wrote that the background for the study was an interest in the experiences of multilingual children in pre-school and how the activities that they engage in can strengthen their personal development and growth. The questions the study posed are: 1) What types of pre-school activities provide a context for the children’s participation and how are these activities rooted in the pre-school’s educational tradition? 2) What characterises the children’s and teachers’⁵ participation in these activities? 3) What possibilities or potential for changed participation do the school’s activities offer the children? 4) What linguistic and other communicative resources do the children use and how? 5) How is the child’s participation and communication supported? 6) What importance is ascribed to the spatial organisation and artefacts that the pre-school activities are based upon? (Kultti, 2012, 18–19).

In order to obtain some answers to these questions, Kultti (2012, 59–72) used an ethnographic and interaction analysis approach as a methodological starting point for the study. Empirical material was collected via participatory observation at eight pre-schools in a major city in Sweden, as well as video recordings of activities in the pre-school environment as a context for learning by means of child-initiated play activities and teacher-led group activities. Play, mealtime, and story time were analysed in eight pre-schools via the teachers’ practical work with 10 multilingual children ranging in age from 1.7 to 2.11 years. The study takes the relevant ethical guidelines into account. For example, in the publication of the study’s empirical sequences, the actual names of the children, parents, teachers, city, and pre-schools are not used. The names used are fictitious.

In order to analyse the empirical material of the study, Kultti (2012, 21–37) took a sociocultural perspective concerning development and learning as the theoretical point of departure. The analysis of empirical material has its origins in analytical reasoning related to children’s language development as the development of a system of concepts, learning that is socially, culturally, and institutionally situated, and learning that has changed participation in social practices. In addition, the study’s empirical data and empirical analysis was analysed using the concepts of “communication”, “activity”, and “participation” as important areas for development.

The analysis in Kultti (2012, 95–166) is presented in four chapters entitled, “Play Activities”, “Mealtime Activities”, “Song Activities”, and “Reading Activities”. Play, mealtimes, singing, and reading form a part of the regular and recurring activity patterns at the pre-schools. Pedagogical work, organisation of activities in time, spatial and social organisation, play materials, and other physical artefacts are recognised as contributing factors in the creation of preconditions for the children’s communication and language learning. The Swedish language is emphasised as the dominant language of communication at the pre-schools included in the study. In the educational environment, distinctions are created between children and staff and recreated based on the language used in a particular context. However, a considerably broad scope of varied individual participation in the educational environment was found (Kultti, 2012, 95–166). The specific character of the pre-school’s activity system means that opportunities exist for all children to participate in a number of activities with others and to manage or change their participation. The activities offered various resources other than verbal communication for participation, such as repetition of tasks, use of artefacts, and participation in music. Participation in Swedish by each child was not required. Therefore, differences in the children’s language skills do not constitute an obstacle or barrier to participation in most activities. However, the effectiveness of the resources available to the learners was dependent on the teachers’ practical efforts and dedication. Focusing on pre-school activities and communication possibilities provides new perspectives for understanding multilingual children in pre-school, and pre-school as institutional practice. In addition, the study provides knowledge about how the teachers themselves can learn in multilingual contexts (Kultti, 2012, 95–166).

Kultti (2012) is used in the present study as both a source of three important empirical sequences that are reanalysed and relevant prior research and vital assistance in future analyses (see also Kultti, 2013, 2014], Kultti & Niklas, 2015a], and Kultti & Niklas, 2015b]). Wästerfors et al. (2013) argued that empirical material from already published analyses can be analysed again even if the analyst did not participate in the collection of the primary empirical material. The new analysis with the same or different analytical glasses as the previous analysis further develops earlier analyses, theories, and methods. In this sense, the reanalysis of qualitative secondary empirical material always adds something for future analyses.

The empirical material for this study has recurring dimensions important to the possibilities for analysis of pre-school teachers’ professional identity who produce during the practical work with multilingual children who learn the Swedish language during the pre-school activities. In the following sections, some of these dimensions that promote practical work with multilingual children’s language development are analysed. These dimensions are: interaction and language development during play, interaction and language development during mealtime, and interaction and language development during story time.

In contrast to Kultti (2012) this study contributes to the development of knowledge regarding: 1) dealing with social interaction and learning combining: a) pre-school teachers’ experiences, b) their practices with multilingual children, and c) language development; 2) the significance of these social interactions and learning to the creation and recreation of the pre-school teachers’ identity; and 3) alternative methodological approaches to analyzing the pre-school context. In Kultti (2012), does not appear how the pre-school teacher’s identity is build or strengthen as well as how the same is confirm/perceive (social pedagogical recognised) by the teacher or other stake holders.

5. Findings: interaction and language development during play

Multilingual children best develop their language skills via interaction between children and adults, as well as play as a form of interaction. When pre-school teachers are involved in play, they can offer support by providing words and terms and explain what is happening. This creates security and trust for children, and makes it possible for them to participate in play and social interactions with the one another (Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019; Cekaite, 2018; Moll, 2019; Muhonen et al., 2016; Norma et al., 2005). By interacting with children during the practical work concerning development of their language skills, the pre-school teachers present themselves as pedagogically and culturally competent parties.

Presentations of the pre-school teachers’ skills and expertise are made in empirical sequences in Kultti (2012, 107–109). One example is the interaction between a mother-tongue language teacher at a pre-school and two children named Parvis and Lina. The mother-tongue teacher and Parvis speak Persian when they are sitting and building with Legos in the part of the room that has been set aside for this. The conversation is about Parvis’s construction. Lina, a younger child with Swedish as her mother tongue, shows an interest in building with the Legos. Lina sits and builds while Parvis and the teacher continue with their construction and conversation. There is a Lego building plate on the wall, and Parvis is standing in front of it and clamping bricks on it. Lina notices the building plate and approaches it. Parvis pushes her away. A negotiation of Lina’s participation in the play activity starts between the teacher, Parvis, and Lina (Kultti, 2012, 107–108).

Mother-tongue teacher in Persian, (MTP): “Here’s yours, here’s Lina’s. Okay?” (The mother-tongue teacher points to different sides of the Lego building plate, one for Parvis and the other for Lina).

MTP: “No, Parvis. Parvis come here. No.”

Lina: (Unclear speech sounding sad).

Mother-tongue teacher in Swedish (MTS): “What do you want, Lina?”

MTP: “No, Parvis, play here.” (The mother-tongue teacher points to one side of the building plate).

MTS: “Lina. Lina, you can do that here, here.”

MTP: “Give it to her, tell her to play here.”

Parvis (in Swedish): “Here you get.” (Parvis pats the building plate).

MTS: “Lina here, Parvis here. Okay?”

Lina: (Stands in front of the building plate next to Parvis).

MTS: “Very good!” (Kultti, 2012, 108)

The mother-tongue teacher in the sequence above creates the picture of herself as a social pedagogically and culturally competent party (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Bernstein et al., 1966; Bernstein, 2000; Blumer, 1969/1986; Collins, 2004; Farr et al., 2019; Garfinkel, 2002; Goffman, 1959/1990; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Mead, 1934/1967; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011). That the teacher actively participates in the educational practice, can speak both Swedish and Persian, and actively participates in the integration and involvement of both Swedish-speaking and Persian-speaking children results in the teacher being regarded as an active and competent participant.

The play and social interactions are depicted as significant to multilingual children’s possibility of acquiring the language. In enjoyable situations, and when experiencing something together with others, the language is learned and skills are developed. When the pre-school teachers are involved in the play, they can provide support by offering words and terms and explain what is happening (Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019; Cekaite, 2018). This creates security for children and makes it possible for them to participate. During this time of play, the mother-tongue teacher actively encourages children to have the courage to use the language and express themselves, which provides knowledge of the children’s language knowledge (“Lina here, Parvis here. Okay?”). The fact that the mother-tongue teacher is actively engaged with the goal of promoting both Lina’s and Parvis’s participation in the pre-school context is likely to affect the children’s sense of belonging in the interaction. Via such an approach, the teacher contributes to preserving democratic values in the pre-school, securing the children’s participation and integration in pre-school context, and to creating, recreating, and preserving the equality of the preconditions in the pre-school context.

Play builds on common understanding and the child’s experiences, which the child develops in the play. Play initiated by the children gives the pre-school teachers’ extensive opportunities for communication (Skans, 2011; Svensson, 2012; Kultti and Pramling 2015a; Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019). Mother-tongue teachers in the pre-school context also create and recreate their own sense of belonging in the interaction via their active participation. The teacher who successfully manages to be integrated and involved in pre-school interaction creates a basic interactive prerequisite for themselves to learn something in these interactions.

The social interaction is the foundation for all communication. A meaningful discussion topic, the common experiences from educational practice, and the children’s imagination and creativity have an important function in the common creation of meaning. Depending on how pre-school teachers organize the activities, the educational context can promote language learning or not (Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019; Cekaite, 2018; Kultti, 2012, 2013, 2014; Moll, 2019; Norma et al., 2005; Sheridan et al., 2009). In addition, the imagination and creativity of a mother-tongue teacher fulfils an essential dimension in the creation of common knowledge during the interaction with the children. The teacher’s creativity can contribute to the child being included in the context and create the preconditions for interactive well-being in the pre-school. Inclusion in the empirical sequence above deals with both Lina and Parvis and the mother-tongue teacher is involved in pre-school interactions.

von Wright (2000) stated that interactions in play create opportunities for the child to exercise his or her role-taking, when the child goes in and out of various roles (see also Goffman, 1959/1990). Through this, the child constructs and reconstructs identities and meaning creation. von Wright (2000) and Wong and Zhang Waring (2010) emphasised that learning occurs in social interactions, which means that both teachers and children learn by being involved in various situations and joint activities in different situations.

Children develop language through the play that is a part of the everyday social interaction by participating in fun and meaningful contexts together with other children and adults. When children participate in social interactions with other persons, they learn and develop the language (Björk-Willén, 2008; Eriksen Ødegaard, 2007; Moll, 2019; Nolan et al., 2014; Norma et al., 2005; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012). It is important to emphasise that this process is not one-sided (Basic et al., 2021; Basic, 2015; Bhopal & Preston, 2012; Fuller, 2018; Hill Collins & Bilge, 2016; Hill Collins, 2019; Levine-Rasky, 2011). In the same way that children are involved, learn, and develop their language, the staff becomes involved in the interactive chain affecting the interaction, learning, and personal growth (“Very good!”). The mother-tongue teacher in the above sequence is an active participant who facilitates learning in the pre-school context but who also learns via the educational acts and activities. In addition, the teacher presents himself/herself in the interaction as a wise conflict manager (“Here’s yours, here’s Lina’s. Okay?”; “Lina here, Parvis here. Okay?”), which is also likely to affect both the children’s learning of language in the context and the involvement and integration of the teacher and the children in the pre-school context.

6. Findings: interaction and language development during mealtime

Participants in the pre-school context use the language deliberately to create a purpose for learning language. Opportunities are created for children to develop and learn more words and terms via the children’s participation in everyday interactions at the pre-school (Kultti, 2012, 2013, 2014; Muhonen et al., 2016; Nolan et al., 2014; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012; Scarinci et al., 2015). By calling attention to such educational phenomena, pre-school teachers show that their professional skills and competence is built, in part, through interactions with multilingual children.

Placing a name on significant objects in daily life at pre-school permeates the empirical sequences in Kultti (2012). An instance of this is presented below and is related to interactions at the eating table. During breakfast at Parvis’ pre-school; the pre-school teacher is together with four children, including two with mother tongues other than Swedish (Parvis and another child). Conversations are ongoing in which all of the children participate with the teacher. The teacher challenging the children by asks questions based on their way of expressing themselves (Kultti, 2012, 123).

Teacher: “What do you want to drink? Soured milk or regular milk?” (She is pointing at the milk and soured milk containers).

Parvis: (Unclear speech, says something that sounds like “yes”. Parvis sits on his hands and is looking at the teacher).

Teacher: “Which milk? Which? Soured milk or regular milk? Which?” (The teacher continues pointing at the two containers).

Teacher: “You can show me.”

Parvis: “Milk.” (Parvis is still sitting on his hands).

Teacher: “Milk, well done!” (Kultti, 2012, 123; Kultti, 2014, 23–24)

In the sequence above, the pre-school teacher seems to build up her own professional skills and competence via interactions with multilingual children (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Bernstein et al., 1966; Bernstein, 2000; Blumer, 1969/1986; Collins, 2004; Farr et al., 2019; Garfinkel, 2002; Goffman, 1959/1990; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Mead, 1934/1967; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011). In the sequence, she presents the image of an active, motivating, and independent pre-school teacher, a personal and relatively strong role presentation that appears to be important to gaining the trust of multilingual children (“Milk, well done!”). This trust appears to be important to the successful development of language skills by multilingual children (Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019; Cekaite, 2018; Moll, 2019; Muhonen et al., 2016; Norma et al., 2005). Confidence in interpersonal interactions between pre-school teachers and children is also important for the creation and re-creation of social pedagogical identities including even the teacher’s professional identity. By presenting professional skills and trust in the interaction with the children above, the teacher also shows how his/her own professional identity is shaped and maintained in the interaction.

Everyday interactions in educational practice in pre-school are depicted as important to language development. Kultti (2012, 119–137) paid attention to the food situations as occasions to intentionally use language and practise words and terms. By deliberately using language, opportunities are created for multilingual children to learn more words and terms in the Swedish language. Skans (2011), Kultti (2012, 2014) and Scarinci et al. (2015) put forth that food situations are important to consider in language development because they include a large part of the pre-school interactions that are repeated daily as a chain of rituals (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Bernstein et al., 1966; Bernstein, 2000; Blumer, 1969/1986; Collins, 2004; Farr et al., 2019; Garfinkel, 2002; Goffman, 1959/1990; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Mead, 1934/1967; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011). Mealtimes provide the opportunity for everyday narratives in which the children are given the opportunity to tell and re-tell things they have experienced (Baker, 2019; Gest et al., 2006; Hibbin, 2016). Learning takes place via participation and interactions between the participants, with communication and language as the fundamental element in the learning processes (Bernstein, 2000; Moll, 2019; Norma et al., 2005; von Wright, 2000; Wong & Hansun, 2010).

By means of switching between different roles in the pre-school context, the pre-school teacher presents his/her different social pedagogical identities as seen both with their own eyes and through the eyes of others. The reflective image of the teacher becomes something other in light of this particular point of view. The empirical sequence above provides even the image of a professional identity in which an active participant in the interaction contributes to both the development of the child and the involvement and integration of the teacher and children in the interactive educational context in the pre-school. The teacher’s involvement and integration in the context is an important stepping off point for recognizing social pedagogical identity in the role as a competent teacher.

The behaviour and actions of pre-school teachers, if based on the perspective above, can be analysed as a series of rituals (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Bernstein et al., 1966; Bernstein, 2000; Blumer, 1969/1986; Collins, 2004; Farr et al., 2019; Garfinkel, 2002; Goffman, 1959/1990; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Mead, 1934/1967; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011) in which the teacher and children are interconnected via a common point of interest that arouses their interest and attention. When the teacher and children move between various situations in a pre-school context, they cannot ignore previous experiences. In other words, past situations combine with new situations when interactions, routines, and practices in the pre-school context are created and recreated.

According to Björk-Willén (2008), both interactions and routines are important for multilingual children’s participation in social interactions in pre-school and promote language development. Interactions and routines create predictability and facilitate the children’s participation while challenging the multilingual children’s language and understanding, which creates possibilities for learning and development of the language. For language to be developed, the professional parties that participate in everyday interactions need to offer children many occasions for interaction in the educational context (Gest et al., 2006; Ljunggren, 2013; Moll, 2019; Muhonen et al., 2016; Nolan et al., 2014; Norma et al., 2005; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012; Sheridan et al., 2009).

Interactions, rituals, and routines in pre-school contacts consist of a wild-branched chain of interactive/verbal conflicts and conflict negotiations that arise in the context of everyday life (“Give it to her, tell her to play here.”/…/“Lina here, Parvis here. Okay?”). In the pre-school context, the pre-school teacher is expected to act the role of the leader in such interactive negotiations. Successful involvement and facilitation in such rituals and negotiations creates and recreates the sense and feeling of participation, belonging, membership, involvement, and integration of the parties involved, as well as the emergence of other cultural symbols, which are used in subsequent rituals and negotiations. What is problematic from the interactionist perspective is that successful participation in such rituals and negotiations, as well as the production of professional identities, leads to the exclusion of parties both inside and outside the interactive context (the outsider or the excluded). In practice, successful participation involves giving the child conditions and possibilities to succeed by listening to the child, as the pre-school teacher him or herself is involved and ultimately responsible for the success of language learning. Participation in the series of interactive activities builds upon and enhances the teacher’s professional identity. By pedagogically working with children in the context, the teachers contribute to both the successful involvement and integration of multilingual children in the pre-school context and their own creation of identity, recreation plus social pedagogical recognition, which is based on an interactive distinction from other categories in the pre-school context (Mead, 1934/1967; Blumer, 1969/1986; Goffman, 1959/1990; Bernstein et al., 1966; Larochelle et al., 1998; Bernstein, 2000; Garfinkel, 2002; Collins, 2004; Taber, 2011; Foster, 2012; Bateman, 2018; Björk et al., 2019; Farr et al., 2019; Krompák et al., 2021; Johnsson et al., 2021; Basic et al., 2021; Greve et al., 2021; Medegård et al., 2022; Kesak & Basic, 2023).

7. Findings: interaction and language development during story time

Pictures and concrete material in various situations receive attention as important props for multilingual children to learn the language (Gest et al., 2006; Moll, 2019; Muhonen et al., 2016; Nolan et al., 2014; Norma et al., 2005; Rasku-Puttonen et al., 2012). In story time, props are used so that children will see, and thereby understand, what the story is about; pictures are said to create visual understanding when the language is missing (Hibbin, 2016; Zhou & Yadav, 2017). Based on the props that are used, the parties in Kultti (2012) develop conversations and dialogue with children. The impact that the interaction between pre-school teachers and multilingual children has on creation and re-creation of the pre-school teachers’ professional identity also crystallises.

Mandisa, who appears in Kultti (2012, 157), speaks, Krio, Teme and Fula as her native tongues. Laura and Linus, who are the same age as Mandisa, have Swedish as their mother tongue. The teacher sits between Laura and Linus and lifts Mandisa up on her knee. She has brought two picture books. The first book is about a baby called Simon who is looking for his mother, and the second book is about Pelle, a rabbit who gets a potty. When the book about Simon is finished, the teacher moves on to the other book. From the book about Pelle, she highlights how he grows up and learns to go to the toilet and begins to read (Kultti, 2012, 159–160).

Teacher: “So Pelle took his trousers off and ran out into the garden and played with the butterflies. But do you know what, exactly what it was he felt, when he wet his pants. He had peed in his pants. But his mother said, do not be so sad. Things surely will be better tomorrow. (…) And his mother became very happy and Pelle became very happy. Here. So that the end of it!

Mandisa: “The end.”

Teacher: “The end.”

Laura: “Read it.” (Laura points to another book sitting on the couch.)

Teacher: “Now, why don’t we read a bit more in order to find out what we will do in a short while?” (The teacher looks at his/her watch). “We are going outside now.”

Mandisa: “Going outside.”

Teacher: “Do you know what you are going to do now? You are going to pee now before we go outside.” (Kultti, 2012, 159–160)

It seems as if the daily interaction between pre-school teachers and multilingual children affects the pre-school teachers’ professional identity creation and re-creation in educational practice (Basic et al., 2021; Bateman, 2018; Bernstein et al., 1966; Bernstein, 2000; Blumer, 1969/1986; Collins, 2004; Farr et al., 2019; Garfinkel, 2002; Goffman, 1959/1990; Greve et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Krompák et al., 2021; Larochelle et al., 1998; Mead, 1934/1967; Medegård et al., 2022; Taber, 2011). Professional identities in the pre-school context are produced and reproduced in practice through special knowledge, language, and working methods (von Wright, 2000; Wong & Hansun, 2010). Demonstration of the pre-school teachers’ professional identity tends to respect their own responsibilities and the category of students, i.e., multilingual children. In such a way, the pre-school teachers appear to protect their educational territory, competence, and professional identity.

The pre-school teacher in the empirical sequences above note the importance of book as concrete educational materials in educational practice (“Laura points to another book sitting on the couch”). These interactive symbols in Blumer’s (1969/1986) meaning (or sacred objects in Collins, 2004 meaning), as well as language/communication and various documents in the context, contribute to the creation of the educational context that affects the implementation of daily duties. For example, in the practical work with stories, the use of pictures in the book is relevant so the child can see and understand what the story is about (Kultti, 2012, 157–166). Books and pictures are also used to create understanding and are a way to communicate with the child. Through props in the form of books and pictures, conversations and dialogues are created with the child. Books are used primarily to create conversations based on the pictures, to develop learning of language. By using props during story time, opportunities are created for conversations about the book’s contents (Hibbin, 2016; Moll, 2019; Norma et al., 2005; Sheridan et al., 2009; Skans, 2011; Zhou & Yadav, 2017). This is an interaction that strengthens the content of the story and allows the language to grow.

Successful work effort in the pre-school context can be seen as a form of social interaction aimed at convincing others present in the situation and researchers who are observing it of the teacher’s professional expertise (“Now, why don’t we read a bit more in order to find out what we will do in a short while?”). The tools for demonstrating teachers’ competency, skills, and professional identity are versatile and rhetorically effective. The pre-school teachers in the empirical sequences analysed above highlight this with substantial commitment; with their appearance, they show their identity as competent teachers. They offer interactions with children that stimulate the child’s participation, involvement, and integration in the pre-school context, as well as the creation and recreation of the teacher’s professional identity and social pedagogical recognition of those in the immediate surroundings (Foster 2012; Björk et al., 2019; Johnsson et al., 2021). Images presented in the analysed sequences show an appreciation of parties belonging to the pre-school context via a successful interactions, rituals, and negotiations.

8. Conclusion: pre-school teachers’ professional identity and multilingual children

The aim of this article was to re-examine the empirical research focused on the creation and recreation of pre-school teachers’ identity and their practices with multilingual children and language development. The teachers in the study produce a picture of themselves as educationally competent actors. The practical work conveys the image of an active participant in educational practice who pays attention to multilingual children, thereby construing themselves as an active and competent participant. By depicting their own professional skill and competence, the study’s participants emphasise the importance of interactions with multilingual children. Presenting themselves as active, driving, and independent in their professional practice creates the view of a personal and relatively strong role creation that appears to be important to gaining the trust of multilingual children and achieving success in language development (Axelrod, 2014; Baker, 2019; Cekaite, 2018; Moll, 2019; Muhonen et al., 2016; Norma et al., 2005).

The teachers in the study demonstrate the importance of interactive symbols and sacred objects, such as language learning of multilingual children by play, mealtime, and story time. The pre-school teachers’ social pedagogical identities including even professional identity is created and re-created in the daily interactions between the teacher and multilingual children. Demonstration of the pre-school teachers’ professional identity tends to respect the practical work. In such a way, the pre-school teachers appear to protect their educational territory and their own competence and professional identity (Basic et al., 2021; Basic, 2015, 2018; Bhopal & Preston, 2012; Björk et al., 2019; Bunar, 2010; Fuller, 2018; Greve et al., 2021; Hamilton et al., 2000/2007; Johnsson et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Medegård et al., 2022).

The child’s learning is also played out in other environments and is a result of interaction, which means that children uses experiences from previous social situations when handling ongoing (learning) interactions. The category “Language Learning of Multilingual Children” is loaded with meaning and significance in the analytical empirical sequences. In the interactive negotiations, the teachers’ professional occupationalities are actualised and preserved. Basic (2012, 2013), Björk et al. (2019), Johnsson et al. (2021), Basic et al. (2021), Greve et al. (2021), Medegård et al. (2022) and Kesak and Basic (2023) argued that the actualisation of professional occupationalities occurs by the parties belonging to the same occupational category showing themselves to be competent in contrast to those belonging to another occupational category or to a client that the professional has the task and responsibility to assist with their involvement and integration in the surrounding context and community. We can ask ourselves whether the work the pre-school teachers engage in regarding social pedagogical identities can be seen as a paradoxical phenomenon. Their occupationality or occupational identity is actualised and preserved via both distinction from and interaction with others. “Others” in this study refers to other teachers, parents, and children. Pre-school teachers likely occasionally have an interactive distance from categories that they are dependent upon and linked to in different ways.

Educational sciences, pedagogy and sociology are three of the perspectives within social sciences that emphasise the importance of participation, inclusion, integration, and a sense of belonging by multilingual children in a pre-school and social community. In this study, the community was formed by the pre-school context (Baker, 2019; Basic et al., 2021; Basic, 2015, 2018; Bhopal & Preston, 2012; Björk et al., 2019; Bunar, 2010; Fuller, 2018; Greve et al., 2021; Hamilton et al., 2000/2007; Hill Collins & Bilge, 2016; Hill Collins, 2019; Johnsson et al., 2021; Kesak & Basic, 2023; Kultti, 2012, 2013, 2014; Levine-Rasky, 2011; Medegård et al., 2022; Muhonen et al., 2016; Scarinci et al., 2015; Zhou & Yadav, 2017). Both pre-school children and teachers receive confirmation of their personal social pedagogical identities by participating in the community, and successful interaction between individuals in the pre-school context is a basic prerequisite for successful involvement and integration of both the multilingual children and teachers in the pre-school context. One of the important dimensions for future research in educational sciences, pedagogy and sociology is to analyse relationships between teachers on the one hand, and multilingual children and their parents on the other hand, parents who are sometimes in need of help, and the professional parties in the pre-school context who, within the framework of performing their occupational activities, have the task of assisting these individuals.

An interesting question was evoked during this study: How do multilingual children and their parents describe language-developing interactions in pre-school? Another question raised during the work on this study is how the pre-school teachers describe language-developing interactions in pre-school. In this study, we investigated pre-school teachers’ practical work with multilingual children in pre-school presented in previous research. The study’s empirical material does not provide answers to how the multilingual children in pre-school learn a new language from the practical social pedagogical work of pre-school teachers. From a methodological aspect, there is a need to collect and analyse new primary ethnographic empirical material in the form of interviews, field notes, video material, and documents from pre-school practice.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Linnaeus Knowledge Environment: Education in change.

Notes

1. Some parts of this text were published previously: in the scientific article, “Collaboration and identity work: a linguistic discourse analysis of immigrant students’ presentations concerning different teachers’ roles in a school context” (Björk et al., 2019), in the doctoral thesis, “When collaboration becomes a struggle. A sociological analysis of a project in the Swedish juvenile care” (Basic, 2012), and in the independent work in the Special Pedagogy (the second cycle), “Multilingual children in preschool: A study about preschool teachers’ stories regarding language development approaches” (Nilsson & Svensson, 2016).

2. See also Bernstein et al. (1966).

3. Other activities in the preschool’s everyday life such as time outdoors, song activities and dressing is analyzed in Kultti (2012). These dimensions are not reanalyzed in the present study because the three selected themes: play, meal and story time—provide sufficient empirical basis in order to achieve the purpose of the present studies.

4. Considerably more empirical sequences are analyzed in Kultti (2012) than in the present study. To achieve the aim of the present study an analysis is carried out that focuses on few empirical sequences and in-depth analysis of these sequences using theories and prior research on the investigated phenomenon. Use of theories and previous research in the analysis enables the purpose of the present study is achieved—even if it is empirically based on only one study (Kultti, 2012).

5. In Kultti (2012), the terms teacher (in preschool) and pre-school teacher refer to people with a teacher degree at university and are used synonymously (Kultti, 2012, 16).