The aim of this article is to explore democracy and agency for children with diverse backgrounds in Icelandic early childhood education and care. In the last decade, Icelandic society has become more multicultural, as reflected in the increasing number of children in preschools with a home language other than Icelandic. Hence, this article also aims to promote a discussion of how Nordic traditions can be reflected in preschool practice, especially in relation to multicultural education. The ideas, theories and methods when multicultural education is planned seek support from similar concepts, such as democracy, power relations, social justice and children’s agency. The learning stories of two boys with a cultural background other than Icelandic were documented in accordance with the New Zealand curriculum, Te Whāriki, illustrating the boys’ communication and power relations in their preschools by foregrounding their competencies. The study supports other research showing that immigrant children struggle as they participate in play and are sometimes on the verge of being marginalized in their preschool group. The findings reveal that, in the boys’ learning stories, their competence appeared clearly – they were seen to develop their participation and sometimes their agency emerged. The power relations in their groups were not in their favour; they were marginalized in the group of children. These results suggest that, in line with Nordic policy, preschool teachers might work against the marginalization of children from multicultural backgrounds by building on children’s competencies, listening to them, and relying on their ways to interact and find solutions.

中文翻译：

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支持所有儿童的民主和代理权：两个移民男孩的学习故事

本文的目的是探索冰岛幼儿教育和保育中具有不同背景的儿童的民主和能动性。在过去十年中，冰岛社会变得更加多元文化，这体现在越来越多的幼儿园儿童使用冰岛语以外的母语。因此，本文还旨在促进讨论北欧传统如何反映在学前教育实践中，尤其是在多元文化教育方面。规划多元文化教育时的思想、理论和方法都从类似的概念中寻求支持，例如民主、权力关系、社会正义和儿童能动性。根据新西兰课程 Te Whāriki，记录了两个具有非冰岛文化背景的男孩的学习故事，通过突出他们的能力来说明男孩在学龄前的交流和权力关系。该研究支持其他研究，表明移民儿童在参与游戏时会挣扎，有时在学龄前群体中处于边缘化的边缘。调查结果显示，在男孩的学习故事中，他们的能力明显地显现出来——他们被视为发展自己的参与，有时他们的能动性也出现了。他们群体中的权力关系对他们不利；他们在儿童群体中被边缘化。这些结果表明，根据北欧政策，学前教师可以通过培养儿童的能力、倾听他们的声音并依靠他们的互动方式和寻找解决方案的方式来对抗来自多元文化背景的儿童的边缘化。