Meeting young children’s physical care needs while safeguarding their privacy: exploring accounts of preschool educators

Preschool educators are responsible for providing young children with physical care by meeting their needs for cleanliness, comfort and safety while also respecting their privacy. Drawing on concept of ideological dilemmas, the aim is to produce an empirically grounded account of how preschool educators in Sweden describe and make sense of young children’s bodily care in relation to questions of privacy, with a particular focus on the tensions and considerations that emerge in their accounts. Fifteen interviews with educators working with children aged 1–3 years were analysed using thematic analysis. Three themes were identified: Supporting children’s independence, Transferring and maintaining children’s power and Creating safety through structure and routines. The analysis shows how educators draw on different, sometimes competing, values concerning care, autonomy, protection and social norms. They seek to support children’s agency by encouraging self-care, explaining their actions, asking questions and offering choices, while retaining responsibility for necessary care and socialisation. Bodily care thus emerges as a relational, professional and pedagogical practice in which privacy and integrity are not fixed principles but are continually negotiated through everyday interactions and institutional conditions.