Førskolelærere om barns oppholdstid i barnehagen.

The objective of this study is to examine social pedagogues’ understanding of children’s time at daycare centres and what consequences these understandings have for parents and children.
This objective is in the light of an ambivalence between a historical scepticism in Norway of children being at daycare centres full time, and a present-day context where both parents work outside the home and therefore depend on daycare centres during the week. At the same time, in an institutional context there has been a movement towards principles on New Public Management and user customisation. This creates the framework for the understandings the study is aiming to elucidate.

The analysis shows that arguments about the children’s time at daycare centres either centre on kindergarten arguments or family arguments. For instance, this means that the children must spend less time at the daycare centre, because they get tired (kindergarten argument), or because it has greater value to be in the family (family argument). The reasons for children to have short days in daycare centres are: 1) that the children become tired; 2) that the quality of daycare is too poor; and 3) that the children benefit more from being with their families. The reasons for children to have long days, are: 1) that they enjoy the learning and developmeThe reasons for children to have short days in daycare centres are: 1) that the children become tired; 2) that the quality of daycare is too poor; and 3) that the children benefit more from being with their families. The reasons for children to have long days, are: 1) that they enjoy the learning and development at daycare centres; and 2) that some children experience more caring at the daycare centres than at home.nt at daycare centres; and 2) that some children experience more caring at the daycare centres than at home. Overall, the understandings are characterised by many ambivalences and have a very broad spectrum. This gives reason to discuss the role of social pedagogues as professional experts, which is connected with user customisation arguments, where ultimately the parents, who are responsible for choice of care practice and social pedagogues, do not appear as responsible. Thus the children can be said to be risk bearers of their parents’ choice, and it is an open question how the social pedagogues as professionals can relate to this.

The study works qualitatively with social pedagogues’ understanding. Data material consists of 75 questionnaires and four in-depth, semi-structured interviews on lifeworlds, elaborating the
categories in the questionnaires.

Johansen, B. (2009). Førskolelærere om barns oppholdstid i barnehagen. Nordisk barnehageforskning, 2(3), S. 99-113.