This paper examines the importance of pedagogical leadership preserving and acknowledging cultural diversity in kindergartens, the characteristics of the role of pedagogical leaders, and refugee parents’ experiences with parental cooperation and the encounter in kindergarten in Norway. 

Migration resulting from poverty, war, and conflicts are the reality for many people, and many have found their way to Europe to seek asylum. In the crisis year of 2015, more than 1 million refugees came to Europe across the Mediterranean, while 30 000 found their way to Norway (SSB). Although there are far fewer asylum seekers and refugees today than in the crisis year 2015, welfare institutions such as kindergartens will continue to face responsible tasks facing children and parents who come to Norway as refugees.[1]

[1] Figures from Statistics Norway show 188 100 persons with a refugee background in 2015. In 2021, the number of persons with a refugee background was  240 239 (SSB)

Leadership is seen as relationships and interactions and is positioned in research on leadership in the kindergarten sector, understood as distributive leadership  (Heikka, 2014; Heikka & Hujala, 2013; Heikka & Waniganayake, 2011; Heikka et al., 2013). In analysing pedagogical leaders’ constructions of cultural diversity, and refugee parents’ experiences with parental cooperation and the encounter in kindergarten, Bourdieus (1977: 1995; 1996) conceptual apparatus on illusio, habitus, cultural and symbolic capital, and Berry (1997, 2005) concepts on acculturation are applied. The following research questions have been prepared: How is the kindergarten managed, emphasising cultural diversity, and how do refugee parents experience cooperation and the encounter with kindergarten?

The study is based on qualitative methodology and combines different types of data material; fieldwork in 4 kindergartens, group interviews with twenty educational leaders, interviews with four kindergarten managers, and twelve minority parents with refugee backgrounds (Fangen, 2010; Grønmo, 2019; Thagaard, 2013; Tjora, 2017; Wadel, 2014). In addition, relevant government documents and the kindergartens’ plans have enriched the data material.

Findings from the study show that pedagogical leaders’ diversity construction is expressed as three different understandings: difference, equality and diversity (Lund, 2021a). In addition, the diversity structures form the basis for three types of kindergarten communities that characterise the different kindergartens’ ways of understanding cultural diversity: Difference, equality and diversity community. The leaders’ actions are described as distributed and positioned and are shown as three distinct management categories: administrative, equality and reflective leader. Their leadership practices can also be linked to understanding and constructing cultural diversity (Lund, 2021b). The refugee parents’ narratives show they are mainly satisfied, but communication and cultural differences can challenge parental cooperation. Also, the majority capital on parenthood seems dominant within the kindergarten. In the acculturation process, the refugee parents seem to strive towards “being Norwegian” while staff on their part try to “help” them into “Norwegian parenthood.” The study may contribute to research-based and empirical knowledge about how different forms of pedagogical leadership are essential for preserving and acknowledging cultural diversity and the inclusion of refugees into the kindergarten community. I argue that kindergarten staff need to broaden their perspectives on parenthood to achieve this. They need to be aware of how their practices may inhibit the acknowledgement and belonging of minorities through a more culturally sensitive approach and integration s a liquid (Skrobanek & Jobst, 2019) as a more fruitful way to analyse these processes.

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