A Mother and a Friend. Differences in Japanese and Swedish Mothers' Understanding of a Tale

• A narrative like The Giving Tree can be interpreted in various ways by readers from different cultures depending on differences in life-word apprehension. The study asked 193 Swedish and 344 Japanese mothers about what they felt as they heard this tale, what the tale was about and what children could learn from the tale. The responses were analysed according to the phenomenographic method. Six qualitatively different conceptions were found, describing some kind of relation. The categories were related to differences in age, where differences between Japanese mothers indicate a change in Japanese society. The categories are also related to differences in cultural background. Japanese mothers see a hierarchical relation, Swedish mothers see a mutual relation. A comparison between Swedish children and mothers show striking similarities, Finally, differences in interpretations can be related to differences in Japanese and Swedish children's life-world.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

Keyword

ECE

children

tale

Japan

Sweden

preschool

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)