Free play, free choices? – Influence and construction of gender in preschools in different local contexts

Figures & data

Table 1. Distribution of observations and interviews in the preschools studied.

Local area	Preschool/age children	Observations, all*/free play	Group interviews, children**	Group interviews, teachers***
Rural	Raven/1–6 Rabbit/1–3 + 4–5	80 hours/~45 hours	2 (1b+1g; 3g)	1 (3 teachers) 1 (2 teachers)
Immigrant	Impala/4–5 Ibis/1–3	70 h/~40 hours 70 h/~30 hours	8 (4x2g; 2b; 2x1b+1g; 2b+1g)	1 (3 teachers) 1 (3 teachers)
High-income	Horse/1–3 + 4–5 Hawk/5			1 (3 teachers) 1 (2 teachers)
Total		220 hours/~115 hours	10 group interviews	6 group interviews

*Includes everything that happens during a day (from 9:00 am to 15:00 pm), e.g. meals, free play, theme work, circle time, formal situations.

**b = boy, g = girl. The number and gender of children in the different interviews are shown in brackets.

*** All teachers interviewed were female.