Triadic conflict mediation as socialization into perspective taking in Swedish preschools

Publication date: Available online 31 October 2019Source: Linguistics and EducationAuthor(s): Asta CekaiteAbstractThis paper is a video-ethnographic language socialization study that examines the discursive, linguistic and embodied features of the teachers’ and children's ways of conflict mediation and resolution. The study describes the ways in which young children (three to five-year olds) in several preschools in Sweden are being socialized into the interactional competences and perspective taking necessary for managing conflict situations. It is shown that teacher-guided conflict resolution was accomplished through triadic interactions involving the teacher as a mediator. Teachers used questions to encourage and direct children to convey their volition, wants, and wishes to their peers, and requested the other children to listen. It is argued that such discursive practices socialize children to perspective taking, and that this socialization is linked to wider societal norms of Swedish preschools and Swedish society, namely democratic values of equality, agency, individualism, and solidarity.
Source: Linguistics and Education - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research