Identification, Silence, Separation, and Imagination: Children’s Navigations of Christmas in a Religiously Diverse Norwegian Kindergarten
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authorsoverall: interesting manuscript. Fills a gap in the field.
Some minor changes are recommended.
See file for some details.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Many sentences are very long and complex. The reading will be easier if you divide some of them into shorter sentences.
As far as I can see, there are some faults in the use of genitive.
there may also be other necessary improvements that I haven't commented on
Author Response
Thank you for your positive feedback and constructive comments.
As suggested, I have pointed out my research question more distinctly in the introduction. In addition, I have made some implicit consequences of the research question more explicit to show the relevance of the staff’s actions for the research question. The introduction to the discussion part is adjusted accordingly.
One relevant observational surprise was that I was not able to assess to what extent the children’s explanations of Christmas preparation in their homes reflected their families’ preparations. I have elaborated on that point later in the article. I have also tried to show more clearly how the categories were established based on observations described in the result section.
I see your point about the disposition and have moved it a bit back and forth. However, after asking other readers for their opinions, I ended up keeping it to help the reader to keep the categories in mind through the result sections.
In addition, I have got help from a native English speaker to edit the manuscript. This also led to some other minor clarifications.
Due to comments from the other reviewer, I have also extended the background section about Christmas to counter Christian privilege and added some information about holidays from other religions in the context of kindergarten.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI found the paper compelling and well-written. It provides ethnographic evidence of how Norwegian kindergarteners who are not Christian navigate belonging when Christmas takes up much of the curriculum.
Providing a brief definition/description of Christmas in the introduction would counter Christian privilege by no assuming everyone is familiar with the holiday. This definition might include Advent as it is mentioned in the findings.
In the theoretical framework, a more clear explanation of Brekhus (1998) and its connection to group labeling is needed.
On p. 5, a citation is needed after the claim that the value of member checking is contested.
I found the methods to be especially clear.
In the findings, the authors mention children, “sang Christian Christmas hymns, secular Christmas songs, and song unrelated to Christmas” (p. 6). It would be helpful to know it these unrelated songs were related to other religions.
I believe an explanation of Santa and his relationship to Christmas is warranted on p. 6.
On p. 6, the author’s write, “The Christmas preparations were involving, engaging and all-encompassing, contin-267 uously inviting participation.” Based on the description of Christmas curriculum, I think they might add it was connected to community organizations.
I found the analysis of silence and separation to be nuanced, bringing in notions of agency and taking up space.
The authors offer some possible implications of the work in the Conclusion (uncover more differences between children, consider to what extent Christmas should shape the curriculum, and support children’s navigation of belonging). Throughout the paper, I kept wondering if Muslim holidays (and other religious holidays) might ever become part of the curriculum. It is strange to me that this never came up in the paper.
Author Response
Thank you for your positive feedback and constructive comments. Much appreciated!
As suggested, I have added a brief description of Christmas in the introduction. I’m particularly grateful you pointed this out to me, considering the subject of the article. To avoid the introduction becoming too long before stating my aim, I have placed the explanation of the word Advent when introduced in the findings section. I have tried to explain my use of Brekhus more clearly, and have added a reflection about how I as the observer and author also tend to view the marked and unmarked differently.
As suggested, I have also incorporated some information about the role of religious holidays from other religions in Norwegian kindergartens. This led to slight changes in the presentation of previous research, and in the conclusion section. I have however not elaborated on Santa, as I have previously published an article about the framing of figures from religious vrs popular cultural traditions in kindergarten based on material from the same fieldwork. I will include a reference to that article in the un-anonymous version.
On p. 6, I have clarified that I meant involvement, engagement and participation from the children, rather than community organizations. While a representative from the church were invited on one occasion, the children participated in daily Christmas activities.
Thank you for also taking the time to include comments about the contribution of the article, and what parts you found particularly nuanced.
