Recognition through dates: Eid al-Fitr in Norwegian Kindergartens

This article examines what can foster the emergence of recognition when working with Eid al-Fitr in kindergartens. Situated within a superdiverse context and drawing on Critical Multicultural Pedagogy and Honneth’s theory of recognition (1995), the study explores how recognition may emerge through everyday pedagogical practices and the conditions that support such processes. The empirical material derives from a participatory action research collaboration with two Norwegian kindergartens. The analysis focuses on three key events involving the use of dates during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, as well as reflections from departments where the Eid initiative stalled. The findings suggest that recognition was fostered when children’s and families’ religious experiences became part of shared pedagogical encounters in which their knowledge and experiences were treated as meaningful contributions to the kindergarten community. The findings further suggest that recognition is supported by both pedagogical practices that create opportunities for shared experiences and institutional conditions that enable collective engagement with religious diversity.