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Sammanfattning

The purpose of this thesis is to study how preschool teachers can reach the goal of the swedish educational plan to prevent traditional gender roles for children ages 3-6 through drama in education.

This is answered by four hypothesis based on Judith Butler's queer theory, George Herbert Mead's social psychological theory and Gavin Bolton and Dotothy Heathcotes drama pedagogical theories. The hypotheses are tested against four teachers' examples of their work.

The hypotheses are

Hypothesis 1: By using the expert's mantle and active observation in teacher-in-role in

drama educational exercises, we can see how the children internalize the heterosexual

matrix and the outline of the internalized other.

Hypothesis 2: By using the "mistakes" that occur when children repeat performative

acts that do not fit with the heterosexual matrix, these other possible behaviors can be

strengthened

Hypothesis 3: Through drama exercises that are not normative teachers can widen the

heterosexual matrix

Hypothesis 4: Through drama pedagogical methods like teacher-in-role teachers can

provide possibilities of other performative acts and the creation of a more tolerant

internalized other.

The analysis show that the respondents work within all these hypotheses in different ways and that

hypotheses 2 is the one with the weakest support in the interwievs. The examples are also weak

regarding the use of Boltons drama pedagogical methods, but that there are a number of other

methods in use.

Some of the conclusions are that more theoretical knowledge in the preschool drama pedagogics to

counteract traditional gender roles and patterns, as well as the drama of educational theory need to

be linked to queer and social psychology research. There is also no monitoring of the long term effects of the work.