liu.seSearch for publications in DiVA
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • oxford
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
‘Charging their batteries’. Preschool teachers’ perspectives on children’s touch in early childhood education
Linköping University, Department of Thematic Studies, Department of Child Studies. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4531-0400
Linköping University, Department of Thematic Studies, Department of Child Studies. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4580-3002
2025 (English)In: Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, ISSN 0031-3831, E-ISSN 1470-1170Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

This study explores preschool teachers’ perspectives on child-initiated touch in early childhood educational settings in Sweden. Touch is an inevitable and integral part of everyday life in early childhood, where it is important for development, care, and the formation of trusting social relationships. While prior research has predominantly examined adult–child touch, limited attention has been given to teachers’ perspectives on child-initiated touch. This study uses an elicitation interview method aiming to examine preschool teachers’ notions concerning the functions and purposes served by child–educator and children’s peer group touch episodes in preschools in Sweden. The data consist of interviews with 15 educators, analyzed using thematic discourse analysis. The findings show that children’s touch is seen as a flexible tool used to communicate different needs, establish independence, set boundaries, and affirm social relations.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2025.
Keywords [en]
Interpersonal touch, early childhood education, child-initiated touch, elicitation method, preschool teachers
National Category
Social Work
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-217436DOI: 10.1080/00313831.2025.2550270ISI: 001562606600001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105015095958OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-217436DiVA, id: diva2:1995342
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2020-03978
Note

Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council [Vetenskapsradet] [2020-03978]

Available from: 2025-09-05 Created: 2025-09-05 Last updated: 2025-10-19

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(976 kB)60 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 976 kBChecksum SHA-512
9ca42b4dee6ce9d0432873737bbfd5380ad17e99ac4462a258d67e227588a6a2209a6af6a5e7eed418f9191ebca4a4f455731c9812fc1ea0c96bddaee330246f
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Wirzén, MadeleineČekaitė, Asta

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Wirzén, MadeleineČekaitė, Asta
By organisation
Department of Child StudiesFaculty of Arts and Sciences
In the same journal
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research
Social Work

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 61 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 95 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • oxford
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf