Britannia Hotel and surroundings

Transcription

1 Britannia Hotel and surroundings The venue of the conference, the Britannia Hotel, is situated in the middle of the city (Midtbyen), a five minute walk from the town square. Address: Dronningens gate Trondheim Tlf: Conference website 1

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3 Welcome to the conference The Norwegian Centre for Child Research (NOSEB) wishes you all a warm welcome to our city! Our international conference The Modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market: Exploring Early Childhood Education and Care is the closing conference of an interdisciplinary project conducted at NOSEB: The Modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market. Institutionalization and individualization of children's lives in modern welfare societies. The project commenced in 2004 and terminates with this conference. The conference aims to shed light on new research related to the welfare state, childcare policies and small children s everyday lives in early childhood education and care. It offers a variety of perspectives on children s lives in modern welfare societies, such as Policies of Early Childhood Education and Care, Childcare, Welfare and Parental Leave, Kindergarten as a Lived Space for Children, Kindergarten, Childhood and Nature, Inclusion and Diversity and Dilemmas in Kindergarten. I am pleased that our Centre can provide researchers in the field opportunities to meet across professional interests and academic disciplines. This mix of different approaches is highly valuable and will encourage interdisciplinary discussions and develop new knowledge and perspectives. My hope is that you will experience the conference as fruitful and inspiring. I wish you all a pleasant stay in our city. Anne Trine Kjørholt Director Norwegian Centre for Child Research 3

4 Norwegian Centre for Child Research Norwegian Centre for Child Research is an international, interdisciplinary centre. It was founded in Since 1999 it has been organized as a department at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). NOSEB does basic and applied longterm research on childhood and on the activities and conditions of children s lives. The centre offers an international, interdisciplinary masters programme, MPhil in Childhood Studies, and a PhD programme in interdisciplinary childhood research. NOSEB strongly encourages international collaboration. The centre s numerous research conferences are a vital part of this. Its hosting of Childhood, the leading journal within the field of childhood research, published in collaboration with Sage Publications Ltd., is another example. NOSEB s international profile is also developed through the centre s participation in several research networks and its membership as a key institution in Childwatch International. The centre both hosts temporarily and employes several internationally acclaimed child researchers. Its masters and PhD courses also have a strong international profile. On a national level, NOSEB emphasizes the development of the field of child research through participation in networks within similar scientific fields, including geography, social anthropology, sociology, history and pedagogy. The centre s journal Barn is an important national and Nordic channel of mediation for this interdisciplinary child research. Presently NOSEB s staff consists of two professors, two associate professors, four adjunct professors, one senior researcher, one researcher, two post doctoral fellows, 12 doctoral students in house and five external students affiliated with district colleges in Norway, one research assistant, one office manager, one higher executive officer, and one senior executive officer. Visiting address: NTNU, Dragvoll Campus Pavilion C, Loholt allé 87 Mailing address: Norwegian Centre for Child Research, NTNU 7491 Trondheim, Norway Phone: Telefax: noseb@svt.ntnu.no Website: 4

5 Conference hosts Norwegian Centre for Child Research Scientific committee: Anne Trine Kjørholt, Associate Professor and Director Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Tora Korsvold, Senior Researcher Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Randi Dyblie Nilsen, Professor Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Elin Kvande, Professor Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Peter Moss, Professor Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London, UK Jens Qvortrup, Professor Dep. of Sociology and Political Science, Adjunct Professor Norwegian C. for Child Research, Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Norway Vebjørg Tingstad, Associate Professor Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Berit Brandth, Professor Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Allison James, Professor Department of Sociological Studies, Sheffield University, UK Adjunct Professor Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway Michael Sebastian Honig, Professor Université du Luxembourg Faculté des Lettres, des Sciences Humaines, Luxembourg Gudný Björk Eydal, Associate Professor Department of Social Work, University of Iceland, Iceland Harriet Strandell, University Lecturer and PhD Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki, Finland Gunilla Halldén, Professor Tema Barn, Linköpings University, Sweden Eva Gulløv, University Lecturer School of Education, University of Aarhus, Denmark 5

6 Organizing committee: Anne Trine Kjørholt, Associate Professor and Director Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Tora Korsvold, Senior Researcher Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Barbara Rogers, Office Manager Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Christian Dreier Eriksen, PhD student Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Gudný Björk Eydal, Associate Professor Department of Social Work, University of Iceland, Iceland Randi Kojen, Executive officer Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Norway Kjell Tore Næsgaard, Higher Executive officer Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Norway Conference coordinators: Anne Trine Kjørholt and Tora Korsvold The Modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market: Exploring Early Childhood Education and Care would like to thank The Research Council of Norway. 6

7 Contents General Information.. 8 Social programme. 10 Programme. 11 Keynote Detailed session programme.. 15 Abstracts. 23 List of authors 71 7

8 General information Dates and conference venue The Modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market: Exploring early childhood education and care will be held at the Britannia Hotel in the centre of Trondheim, Norway, April 29-30, Language All sessions will be held in English with the exception of session 9. Conference rooms/sessions rooms All meeting rooms will be located at the Britannia Hotel. Presentations Power point will be available for all presentations. Please bring a copy of your presentation on a memory stick or CD as backup. Badges/Name tags Your personal badge is your entrance ticket to all conference sessions. Please always wear your badge. Lunch and coffee breaks Lunch and coffee will be served at the Britannia Hotel. Wireless internet Britannia Hotel is equipped with a wireless internet connection. Please contact the reception at the hotel for more information. to get to the city is by bus. These are parked right outside the terminal building and leave every 15 minutes. It takes 40 minutes to the central station, 45 minutes to the town square. The bus also stops at the nearest bus stop to Thon Hotel Gildevangen (38 min + 3 minute walk), P Hotels (38 min + 5 minute walk) and Britannia Hotel (38 min + 6 minute walk). There are also local trains leaving every half an hour to an hour (40 min. to the central station, Trondheim S). Taxis are of course also available, but quite expensive. Public transport in Trondheim The centre of Trondheim is small and easy to get around in by foot. You can buy a single bus ticket for NOK 30 or a 24 hour pass for NOK 70. To get to the university (Dragvoll) you should take bus 5, leaving from Dronningens gate (D3) or bus 9, leaving from Munkegata (M5). Tourist Information The tourist information office is located at Munkegata 19 (town square). For more information about Trondheim please visit: Travel information From the airport to the city: Trondheim is served by the airport Værnes situated about 30 km northeast of the city. The easiest way 8

9 The hotels Britannia Hotel The venue of the conference, the Britannia Hotel, is situated in the middle of the city (Midtbyen), a five minute walk from the town square. Dronningens gate 5, 7401 Trondheim Phone: Homepage: britannia@britannia.no Thon Hotel Gildevangen Søndre gate 22B, 7010 Trondheim Phone: Fax: Homepage: gildevangen@thonhotels.no P-Hotels Trondheim Nordre gate 24, 7010 Trondheim Phone: Homepage: post@p-hotels.no Both Thon Hotel Gildevangen and P- hotels Trondheim are situated in the city centre (Midtbyen), approximately 300 meters from Britannia Hotel. 9

10 Social programme Reception, Tuesday 28 April All participants are welcome to join us at Café To Tårn (Kongsgårdsgata, vis á vis The West Front Square at the Nidaros Cathedral). This is located within 5 minutes walking distance from Britannia Hotel (see map on page 1). No transport between the hotel and the reception will be arranged. Gala Dinner, Wednesday 29 April All participants are welcome to join the Gala Dinner at Britannia Hotel in The Mirror Room (Speilsalen). The dinner will commence with the serving of an aperitif in the lounge/bar area of the hotel at hours. Britannia Hotel: The reception will commence with a brief historical storytelling outdoors on the Square weather permitting and continue indoors in the café with words of welcome, tapas/finger food and refreshments. Café To Tårn (only in Norwegian): llside.asp?thisid= The West Front (Façade): cathedral/vestfronten.asp The Archbishop s Palace: hopspalace/ 10

11 TIME TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY Registration and coffee Opening second day Conference opening KEYNOTE: KEYNOTE: Peter Moss Anne Trine Kjørholt Break Break LUNCH LUNCH KEYNOTE: Martin Woodhead Break Session 1 (3) Session 2 (3) Session 3 (3) Break Session 8 (3) Session 4 (3) Session 5 (2) Session 11 (2) Session 15 (3) Session 12 (2) Session 16 (2) Session 13 (3) Session 17 (3) Session 14 (3) Session 18 (3) KEYNOTE: Eva Gulløv CLOSING Registration Britannia Hotel Reception at Café To Tårn at Nidaros Cathedral s Visitor Centre Session 6 (4) Session 7 (4) Session 9 (4) Session 10 (3) GALA DINNER Britannia Hotel 11

12 Keynote Wednesday 29 April Early childhood education and care: flexibility, freedom of choice and social investment Anne Trine Kjørholt Early childhood education and care (ECEC) represents an important space for childhood and young children s everyday lives. Time and place are important dimensions of the social space that is constituted by political discourses, since they represent and produce images of childhood and what it means to be a child, as well as particular understandings of learning, knowledge and care. Contemporary neoliberal discourses on flexibility, individual choice and user-orientation are closely intertwined with rights discourses, conceptualizing young children as customers and social actors with rights to participation. Discourses on flexibility are also reflected in recent changes in the architectural style of kindergarten buildings in Norway. At the same time discourses on children as human capital and ECEC as a space for social investment and learning have become increasingly powerful. Included in the discussion are perspectives and analyses conducted within the research umbrella: The Modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market. Institutionalization and individualization of children s lives in modern welfare societies. Contemporary discourses and their possible implications for children will be critically examined. As part of the concluding discussion I will present reflections and challenges related to future research on young children and early childhood education and care (ECEC). Wednesday April 29 The Modern Child in Global Contexts: Insights from the Young Lives project Martin Woodhead The main focus of early childhood research is on relatively rich Western societies, and these are also the major source of the theories and concepts about children s development, needs and rights. But early childhood care and education is now a global phenomenon, with an estimated 20 million extra enrolments between , especially in S & W Asia (67% increase) and sub-saharan Africa (61% increase) (UNESCO Global Monitoring Report, 2009). The Young Lives longitudinal study of 12,000 children growing up in relative poverty in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru and Vietnam offers a comparative perspective on modern constructions of early childhood, including young children s experiences of kindergarten settings. I will report on data for 2,000 children in each country studied at six years old, when they were around the age for starting school. Young Lives research confirms the impact of Education for All goals, in terms of enrolment in education (including in pre-school and kindergarten) for children and families, but also the challenges of ensuring basic equity of access. Perspectives are offered on quality and on the transition into primary school, as well as sources of diversity related to rural/urban location, poverty, ethnicity, gender etc. Discourses of the modern child are pervasive even in some of the poorest communities, with a strong utilitarian 12

13 emphasis amongst parents and children on the potential of early education to contribute to well being, and to becoming somebody. High aspirations combine with realization that primary education delivers as many drop-outs as successes. At the same time, discourses of the modern child sit alongside more traditional expectations for young children, as contributors to their household, and as future sources of labour and income generation to support family livelihoods, especially during periods of economic hardship. Thursday 30 April Early childhood education and care: dangers, possibilities and choices Peter Moss The present global policy interest in early childhood education and care is driven by a recurring belief in early intervention as a solution for economic and social problems, the child as redemptive agent, and the institution as a place for producing predetermined outcomes through the application of powerful human technologies. At the same time, a neoliberal climate favours marketisation as the means for providing and delivering services. Everything, as Foucault observed, is dangerous, and the dangers of the current dominant discourse include stronger governing of the child and increased atomisation of society. There are, however, alternatives, other ways of thinking about and practicing early childhood education and care; one alternative, that I will explore, views kindergartens as places of encounter for citizens and collaborative workshops, and sites for democratic experimentalism. There is an urgent need to reclaim early childhood education and care as a subject of and space for democratic politics, confronting citizens with collective choices about policy, provision and practice. Thursday 30 April Civilizing institutions: A discussion of early childhood education in Denmark Eva Gulløv A strong belief in early intervention as a solution to meet future social problems has resulted in intense political interest in day-care institutions and preschool arrangements. From being a place where small children could stay while their parents are at work, day-care institutions are looked upon as a societal investment in human resources and an outpost combating, and hopefully preventing, inequality and social unrest. This development has been explored and discussed as the result of neoliberal currents absorbed into different countries political strategies and public administration. In this keynote presentation, I want to discuss this development in a Danish context by drawing on the notion of civilizing missions inspired by the work of Norbert Elias. Civilizing missions refer to the ambitions that relate to the process of teaching children norms and values of society in order to transform them into proper social persons. This process of personal and social transformation entails an array of interests and undertakings directed towards incorporating young people into society and molding them to particular ideas of proper personhood and citizenship. The rising political interest in the childcare sector reflects a will to hold and exercise the authority to define the 13

14 process of transformation and to control and measure the effects and outputs of institutional practice. Demands on detailed documentation, descriptions of objectives and pressure to organize daily activities in learningcentred ways are just some of the new interventions that have reduced the institutional space to develop an educational focus based on local premises. To some degree, early childhood education has been reconceptualized in a rather instrumental way. Looking more closely at the practices of everyday life in institutions it is, however, evident that the social dynamics of everyday life are characterized by a high degree of complexity. Processes of integration and segregation among children, of learning and identity formation, of incorporating good behavior and preparedness for school, are far less predictable than indicated by the official demands framing day-care institutions. With an outset in several fieldworks in Denmark, I will discuss the discrepancy and potential conflict between the political aspirations to child raising in institutions and the social, cultural, and historical complexity of everyday processes of interactions resulting in a variety of embodied civilizing standards and forms. 14

15 Detailed session programme Wednesday 29 April Session 1: Children and Childhood Constructions Time: Room: Meeting room 9 Chair: Allison James Child constructions between school and home in Danish policy text Niels Kryger University of Aarhus, Denmark Understandings of Children and Childhood in Working-Class Families Kari Stefansen NOVA - Norwegian Social Research, Norway Early childhood beyond generational orders. A research outlook Michael Honig University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Abs no Session 2: Policies of Early Childhood Education and Care I Time: Room: Meeting Room 4 Chair: Jens Qvortrup The Political Construction of Early Childhood - Childcare Policy in the Process of Transforming the German Welfare State Thomas Olk Martin-Luther-University, Germany Child-care politics and child-care dilemmas- Norway and Sweden after 1945 Tora Korsvold Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway Cash-for-Childcare Policy in the Nordic Welfare Regime Minna Rantalaiho Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway/ Nordic Gender Institute, Finland Abs no Session 3: Childcare, Welfare and Parental Leave Time: Room: Meeting room 6 Chair: Harriet Strandell Equal rights to earn and care- the case of Iceland Guðný Björk Eydal University of Iceland, Iceland Childcare policies and gender equality in parental care practices Berit Brandth and Elin Kvande Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Parental leave and the father s quota. Welfare benefits, work life arrangements and cultural aspects of care Gunhild R. Farstad NOVA - Norwegian Social Research, Norway Abs no

16 Wednesday 29 April Session 4: Childcare, Welfare and Working Life Time: Room: Meeting Room 7 Chair: Eva Gulløv Norwegian Family Policy, Child Care and the Flexible Work Life: dilemmas and paradoxes in the governing of Norwegian parents Birgitte Johansen Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway The Finnish child home care allowance Katja Repo The University of Tampere, Finland Contested the nanny care in Thailand Promjawan Udommana and Carollee Howes University of California, USA Abs no Session 5: Kindergarten, Childhood and Nature I Time: Room: Meeting room 8 Chair: Randi Dyblie Nilsen Playing in Nature Environments: Gendered and Non-Gendered Positioning Eva Änggård Stockholm University, Sweden Auspicious Childhood: Images of the Child, Nature and Outdoor Environment in Förskolan, the Magazine for Swedish Preschool Teachers Disa Bergnéhr Linköping University, Sweden Abs no

17 Wednesday 29 April Session 6: Children in Childcare Institutions Time: Room: Meeting room 4 Chair: Allison James The Terrible Twos? - Toddlerhood in Institutional Contexts Niina Rutanen University of Jyväskylä, Finland Lines of flight created by toddlers pedagogical possibilities? Ninni Sandvik Østfold University College/Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway Children s Time Off? Discourses and Practices Shaping School Children s After-school Time Harriet Strandell University of Helsinki, Finland The "new" child protection service in Norway Edgar Marthinsen and Peter Thorpe Sør-Trøndelag University College, Norway Abs no Session 7: Exploring Early Childhood Education and Care (panel session) Time: Room: Meeting Room 6 Chair: Gunilla Halldén Some observations on Preschool Pedagogy and Young Children during the 1940 s in Norway Anne Greve and Jan-Erik Johansson Oslo University College, Norway Caring for participating small children in day care centres. Some challenges and dilemmas Nina Winger Oslo University College, Norway Participation, democracy and the one year old in Norwegian day care centres Karin Hognestad Oslo University College, Norway Children s redefinitions of the material culture in a kindergartens daily life Simen Mæhlum Oslo University College/Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway Abs no

18 Wednesday 29 April Session 8: Kindergarten as a Lived Space for Children I Time: Room: Meeting Room 7 Chair: Michael Honig Lived Space as Learning Space in Kindergarten Raija Raittila University of Jyväskylä, Finland The role of play in children s development Helene Guldberg Open University, United Kingdom Kindergartens as pedagogical space(s) for toddlers play and learning Thomas Moser, Marianne T. Martinsen, Harald Janson and Ane Nærde Vestfold University College, Norway Abs no Session 9: Session in Norwegian: Mat og måltider som sosialt og kulturelt fenomen i barnehage og skole Time: Room: Meeting Room 9 Chair: Vebjørg Tingstad Mat, måltider og matglede ved Jakobsli barnehager Berit Lian Jakobsli barnehager, Norway Hvilke oppfatninger har foresatte og personalet i barnehagen om barn og helse? Barnehagen som arena for helsefremmende arbeid Kathrine Bjørgen Queen Maud s College, Norway Skolemåltid på Selsbakk skole Øyvind Johan Andersen Selsbakk Lower Secondary School, Norway Touching places, touching food; Material-discursive practices in Early Childhood Nina Rossholt Vestfold University College, Norway Abs no Session 10: Kindergarten, Childhood and Nature II Time: Room: Meeting Room 8 Chair: Anne Trine Kjørholt The Use of Woodlands and Green Spaces by Kindergartens Inger Hilmo and Kari Holter Oslo University College, Norway Natural childhoods in Norwegian day-care centre? Randi Dyblie Nilsen Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway How Natural Environments afford Play Habitats and promote Healthy Child Development Ingunn Fjørtoft Telemark University College, Norway Abs no

19 Thursday 30 April Session 11: Inclusion and Diversity I Time: Room: Meeting Room 4 Chair: Eva Gulløv Logics of segregation in early childhood: how spaces of social geography, regional distributions of kindergarten, staff recruitment and preschool educational practice makes the carousel of segregation go round Bent Olsen Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Understanding the construction processes regarding children with disabilities as a cultural category in Norwegian day-care centres. Methodological challenges Karianne Franck Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway Abs no Session 12: Media, Consumption and Child Culture Time: Room: Meeting room 9 Chair: Vebjørg Tingstad Commercialized childhood? A study of commercialization and everyday practices in small children s every day life Gry Mette Dalseng Haugen Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway How Do Children Use Recorded Music in their Everyday Lives? Ingeborg Lunde Vestad Hedmark University College, Norway Abs no Session 13: Kindergarten as a Lived Space for Children II Time: Room: Meeting Room 8 Chair: Guðný Eydal The Modern Child and the Flexible Day Care Centre. An Ethnographic Study of Everyday Life in Light of New Discourses on Children and Childhood Monica Seland Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway Capitals and fields in a kindergarten: Towards a Bourdieusian analysis of children's interaction Mari Vuorisalo University of Jyväskylä, Finland After-school Centres in Reykjavik: An Institutional Perspective and Children s Perspective Kolbrún Þ. Pálsdóttir University of Iceland, Iceland Abs no

20 Thursday 30 April Session 14: Child Centeredness and the Child I Time: Room: Meeting room 6 Chair: Anne Trine Kjørholt Child centeredness and the child: the cultural politics of nursery schooling in England Allison James University of Sheffield, United Kingdom Quantity and quality in Norwegian day care centres Lars Gulbrandsen and Aina Winsvold NOVA Norwegian Social Research, Norway Curriculum Models and Political Positions Anna L. Ottosen Hedmark University College, Norway Abs no

21 Thursday 30 April Session 15: Policies of Early Childhood Education and Care II Time: Room: Meeting Room 4 Chair: Berit Brandth Focusing on Children? Recent Developments in Early Childcare in Germany Maksim Hübenthal and Anna Maria Ifland Martin-Luther-University, Germany Policies of Early Childhood Education and Care Subjectification and Negotiation in a Policy Process Jesper Olesen University of Aarhus, Denmark Division of labour, labour of division? On education, educational assistants and social care workers in Danish day care centres Bent Olsen Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Abs no Session 16: Inclusion and Diversity II Time: Room: Meeting Room 6 Chair: Randie Dyblie Nilsen Cultural identity and the day-care centre Kirsten Lauritsen University College of Nord-Trøndelag, Norway Inclusion and Diversity in a Net of Regulations in Norwegian Contemporary Day Care Centres: Regulations intersecting preschool teachers professional knowledge Bente Ulla and Ann Sofi Larsen Østfold University College, Norway Abs no Session 17: Child Centeredness and the Child II Time: Room: Meeting room 9 Chair: Gunilla Halldén Crying and Caring in Kindergarten Else Foss Vestfold University College, Norway The Rights and the Realities of Children in Ethiopia: An overview of situations from Early Years to Adolescence Shumete Gizaw Woldeamanuel Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia An Analysis of Social Mobility and Social Capital amongst Children in Foster care or Institutions Veronica Haug Finnmark University College, Norway Abs no

22 Thursday 30 April Session 18: Dilemmas in Kindergarten (panel session) Time: Room: Meeting room 8 Chair: Anne Trine Kjørholt Dilemmas in kindergarten contextual and handled in practice. Preliminary empirical findings Kim Rasmussen, Jan Kampmann, Tomas Ellegaard and Dina Danielsen Roskilde University, Denmark Discourses on perceived dilemmas between the individual and the group in the Danish kindergarten/early childhood services Kim Rasmussen, Jan Kampmann, Tomas Ellegaard and Dina Danielsen Roskilde University, Denmark Researching children s actions and preschool teachers dilemmas some reflections on methodology and observational challenges Kim Rasmussen, Jan Kampmann, Tomas Ellegaard and Dina Danielsen Roskilde University, Denmark Abs no

23 ABSTRACTS 1. Child constructions between school and home in Danish policy text Niels Kryger, University of Aarhus, Denmark This paper presents findings from the research project: Home school cooperation in Denmark a cultural given (granted by the Danish Research Council for Culture and Communication). It presents findings from two parts of the project a) findings from an analysis of changing discourses of the child-adult relation in home-school relations in policy documents and in educational debates in Denmark from 1990 to to-day (in short it will e argued that the rhetoric of the self-governed child has been replaced by the rhetoric of adult-governed-child in Danish political rhetoric. At the same time, currently, a mix of neo-liberal and neo-conservative understandings of child-constructions can be recognised in education and child care). The approach is to consider the construction of a child in a generational perspective. This implies that the child is considered a relational concept, which is understood and produced - in relation to its opposite, the adult (adult-position). In this view the notion of the child, the notion of childhood and the generational orders are not seen as fixed notions and structures but they are perceived as products of the generationing process. In school home relations this includes a view in which teachers (and other adult representatives from the school) and parents are considered adults having an important function together in the generationing process as important adult positions in the child s shaping of an child-(and pupil)identity. 2. Understandings of Children and Childhood in Working-Class Families Kari Stefansen, NOVA - Norwegian Social Research, Norway Drawing on a qualitative study where 58 Norwegian families across different class and ethnic backgrounds have been interviewed this paper will explore cultural understandings of children and childhood in working-class families. The parents in these families were interviewed when their child was aged approximately six to twelve months. Follow-up interviews were performed with a sub sample when the child was around two (n=19) and again when the child was around three (n=11). In this context working-class families are defined as families where neither parent has higher level education, and both have working-class jobs, i.e. do skilled or unskilled manual work or simple clerical work. The paper will explore working-class parents understandings of children and modern childhood by analyzing how they talk about informal and formal care for children under the age of three: When and how should formal day care be introduced in the care chain? How do they talk about the day care centre and their interaction with the staff? How do they portray their child and the child s everyday life in the formal day care setting? On a theoretical level the paper will discuss how these parents understandings of children and the challenges of modern childhood relate to constructions of the modern child/childhood found among middleclass parents in the same sample (explored in Stefansen, 2008 and Stefansen and Aarseth, forthcoming) as well as in research on pedagogical discourses in early childhood education. 23

24 3. Early childhood beyond generational orders. A research outlook Michael Sebastian Honig, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg The NOSEB project The modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market conceptualizes early childhood education and care in the intersection point of children s everyday life and child care policies. The Project gets over the perspective of institutions for children. It analyzes the institutionalisation of generational orders. At the same time it points to the limitations of these orders. Flexibility and free choice are no categories describing generational relations; they are categories of benefit optimization focussing the individual. The thesis of the paper is that further research on early education and care has to analyse generational orders as a dependent variable. Policies and labour markets are integral but in no case exclusive, if anything they are not the impulse generators of the early years. To flesh out the thesis, the paper compares the everyday life of Luxembourgian and German children. It examines categories and dimensions of the construction of care arrangements. The intent of the paper is to outline a conceptual fundament of a social monitoring of early childhood. 4. The Political Construction of Early Childhood - Childcare Policy in the Process of Transforming the German Welfare State Thomas Olk, Martin-Luther-University, Germany The central point that I would like to make is that the current process of modernising the existing system of ECEC especially by extending spaces for the under-3 year olds is one of the most important parts of the transformation process within the German welfare state. However, this does not mean that this policy is exclusively child-oriented. The aim of the paper is to reconstruct recent trends in early childcare and education in Germany and its effects on the political construction of early childhood. Like in other countries this transformation process started to increase mothers' employment. However, in Germany there is a very specific mixture of political motives and rationales. Some of these rationales are child-oriented and some are not. Whereas in the first period the focus was on reducing the opportunity costs especially for better educated women to motivate them to have more children, in the meantime the focus shifted towards an investment approach. After the so-called PISA-shock the modernisation of the system of ECEC was a means to invest in the early development of children and especially to improve competencies of disadvantaged groups of children. The main logic is to improve school readiness and not so much to strengthen children's rights in accordance to the UN-CRC. On the other hand there is a strong tradition in Germany to separate the system of ECEC from the school and to conceptualise kindergartens as spaces for children to play. However, during the process of modernising the system of ECEC in all federal states (Bundesländer) educational curricula and specific legislation were implemented. In contrast to the level of political concepts on the level of pedagogical concepts there is an irritating blurring of rationales and motives. All curricula point to the self-learning child as well as to cognitive competencies (literacy, mathematical skills) which shall indicate school readiness at the same time. By a content analysis I intend to reconstruct the shift within social constructions of childhood in the German system of 24

25 ECEC by analysing tensions between the social construction of the child as a bearer of rights and the social construction of the 'autonomous learning child' as the predecessor of the 'citizen worker of the future'. References Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (2006): Siebter Familienbericht. Zwischen Flexibilität und Verlässlichkeit. Berlin Esping-Anderson, Gosta (2005): Children in the Welfare State. A Social Investment Approach. DemoSoc Working Paper, Paper Number Land, Hilary (2007): Children, Families, States, and Changing Citizenship. In J. Scott, J. Treas, M. Richards (eds.) The Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Families. Blackwell Publishing: Moss, Peter (2006): Farewell to Childcare? National Institute Economic Review, 195(70): Child-care politics and child-care dilemmas- Norway and Sweden after 1945 Tora Korsvold, Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway The expansion of childcare, in particular child- care centres in Norway and Sweden, depended greatly on the labour market situation (Korsvold 2008). Today it is taken for granted that a strong relationship between early childhood, a stay in a child-care centre and the child s parents participation in the labour market stimulate promising national developments in a globalized economy. European welfare states are diverse in respect of early childhood education and care policies, with different origins, different priorities and developments. In the first section of the paper I will focus on some of the aspects of the transformation of the labour market that took place in post-war time and the following decades. Together with a comparative perspective (Esping-Andersen 1990) and by using a historical perspective on source materials, the aim is to obtain greater insight into how modern welfare states work. Scholars like the historian Karl Gustav Hammarlund (1998) state that the field of childcare developed into a complexity of different factors and social formations, characterized by sharp differences of opinion and conflicts. A battle was fought over what was in best interest of the child or what a good childhood ought to be. The aim of my research is therefore to search for the track of some of those dilemmas over childcare, and how they have been solved, and how children and childhood have been represented (Korsvold, forthcoming). Contrasting Norway and Sweden, which both had social democratic governments in the forming post-world War II period, though in different senses (Sejersted 2005), may be a useful approach in obtaining an understanding of significant but not immediately obvious differences between similar welfare states. Moreover, the outcome in each country has been essentially the same: a new care contract between the state and familiy. In the last section of the paper I reflect on the new challenges facing the labour market today and discuss some of the changed circumstances. The individual s free choice as a key value also acquired great influence over reforms of child care in the1990s, at least rhetorically. 25

26 Developments in the recent two decades have been characterised by increases in differentiation, individualisation and the freedom to choose. According to Nicolas Rose the neo-liberal ideology implies techniques of governing the subjects while it seeks to shape individuality (Rose 1999). In Sweden and Norway the notions of solidarity, security and public welfare were challenged by the current support for citizens individual free choice and selfrealisation (Korsvold 2009, forthcoming). The weight on freedom of choice in public policy confirms the increased individualisation. A new trend can be identified towards neo-liberalism, although flexible service oriented institutions were seriously discussed in the 1960s, due to the demand of the industry. Assuming a new type of link between the labour market and its new demands, the changed circumstances have a new impact on childcare and on children s lives. References Esping-Andersen, G. (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press. Hammarlund, K. G. (1998) Barnet och barnomsorgen: Bilden av barnet i ett socialpolitisk projekt. (Diss.) University of Gothenburg. Korsvold, T. (2008) Barn og barndom i velferdsstatens småbarnspolitikk. En sammenlignende studie av Norge, Sverige og Tyskland Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Korsvold, T. (2009, forthcoming) The best Interest of the Child. Child Care and Preschool Education in Norway and Sweden since In K. Hagemann et al. Time Policies: Child Care and Primary Education in Post War Europe. New York, Oxford: Berghan Books. Korsvold, T. (forthcoming) Dilemmas over childcare. Norway, Sweden and West Germany after In: T. Kjørholt and J. Qvortrup (forthcoming): The Modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market. Child Care Policies and Practices at a crossroads? New York: Palgrave. Rose, Nicolas (1999): Powers of Freedom. Reframing political thought. New York: Cambridge. 6. Cash-for-Childcare Policy in the Nordic Welfare Regime Minna Rantalaiho, Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway/ Nordic Gender Institute, Finland In comparative welfare policy studies Nordic countries have been grouped together as representatives for a Nordic welfare policy model or a regime (Esping-Andersen 1990). This has been taking place also in family policy centred studies, in which long parental leaves of high compensation level together with public daycare services of high quality and easy access, are interpreted as features that unite Nordic welfare states and distinguish them from other welfare states (e.g., Hantrais & Letablier 1996). Moreover, the Nordic way of practising extensive family policy is often considered to explain the from an international perspective high level in women s labour market activity, children s wellbeing and fertility. And the universal public daycare services, in particular, have been argued (e.g., Esping-Andersen 2002) to play key role in welfare policy strategies that aim at a success in sustaining of acceptable levels of welfare also in future. 26

27 Yet, more concerned discussions on family and childcare policy have emerged that lead to also somewhat less orthodox interpretations about the Nordic welfare policy model (e.g., Mahon 2002). Both Finland (1990) and Norway (1998) have introduced cash-for-childcare schemes that offers a choice between a (low) cash payment and public day-care services for parents of small children. In feminist welfare policy research cash for- childcare schemes have been criticised of having negative effects on gender equality that has been considered as one central principle in the Nordic welfare policy model. Despite of its gender-neutral outfit, cash-for-childcare payments are used by women and have thus a tendency to prolong women s departures from the labour market. Other kind of public critique underlines the positive effects of daycare for children (from immigrant families and families with special needs in particular) and refers to cash-for-childcare scheme as a plausible barrier for children s attending to day-care activities. In Finland and Norway arguing for cash-for-childcare has taken place in discourses that articulate it as an alternative and arranging of childcare as a matter of (autonomous) choice. Recently, cash-for-childcare policy has emerged also in Denmark and Sweden, and to some extent also in Iceland. Approaching of Nordic cash-for-childcare schemes more closely seems thus both interesting and important. In the conference paper, I will thus introduce a comparison of the Nordic cash-for-childcare policy schemes with a particular focus on policy arguments for and against such a policy measure. Based on such a comparison and some European research discussions on childcare, welfare state change and the rationale of choice, I will further consider plausible explanations for emerging of cash-for-childcare policy (also) in the Nordic welfare policy context. References Esping-Andersen, Gøsta (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Cambridge: Polity Press. Esping-Andersen, Gøsta (2002) A child-centred Investment Strategy, in Esping- Andersen Gøsta with Duncan Gallie, Anton Hemerijck and John Myles, Why We Need a New Welfare State, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hantrais, Linda and Marie-Thérèse Letablier (1996) Families and Family Policies in Europe, London: Longman. Mahon, Rianne (2002) Child Care: Toward What Kind of Social Europe?, Social Politics, 9(3): Equal rights to earn and care- the case of Iceland Guðný Björk Eydal, University of Iceland, Iceland Comprehensive childcare policies are one of the main characteristics of the Scandinavian or Nordic welfare model (e.g. Bradshaw & Hatland, 2006; Crompton & Lyonette, 2006; Ellingsæter & Leira, 2006a; Kangas & Rostgaard, 2007). The goal of the Nordic welfare systems has been to promote the dual-earner/dual-carer family, where both parents participate in work and care of their children (Leira, 2006). 27

28 Policies on care and gender equality are regarded as the key explanatory factors for the high labour market participation of women in general and mothers in particular in the Nordic countries. Yet, at the same time, the policies have not ensured the participation of fathers in the care of their young children nor has women s position in the labour market equal to that of men. Iceland provided less support to families than the other Nordic countries during the post-war period, but during the past two decades public support for the care for young children has been increased. Daycare services have been expanded and the law on parental leave from 2000 enhanced the rights of parents to paid parental leave. The stated aim of the 2000 legislation was twofold: to ensure that children enjoy the care of both parents and to enable both women and men to coordinate family life and work outside the home (Act on Maternity/Paternity and Parental Leave no. 95/2000). In other words, the policy defines it as the state s role to actively encourage fathers to participate in the care of their young children by earmarking part of the parental leave for fathers. The statistics shows that take-up rates of fathers are high and that in most cases they are taking three months paid parental leave. The aim of this paper is to examine the influences of these changes. Are parents dividing the work outside the home and the care of their young children more equally after the law came into force, thus reaching the twofold goal of the law on paid parental leave from 2000? How do parents of children under three years old organize the care of their children? What care options are there after the parental leave ends? Are other care policies supporting the aim of the law on paid parental leave? 8. Childcare policies and gender equality in parental care practices Berit Brandth and Elin Kvande, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway In this paper we analyze two different policy measures concerning re-familisation of childcare, and ask what their effects on gender equality are. The father s quota is based on a vision of a universal caregiver since it builds on the idea that both the mother and father should be able to combine care for small children with employment. The cash-for-care scheme may be termed a caregiver-parity model (Borchorst 2008) as it seeks to re-evaluate child care in the home and strengthen the family as a care producer by providing cash benefits. The father s quota was also introduced as a gendered policy because weeks of the parental leave period were reserved for the father. Cash-for-care is designed to be gender neutral, working parents can choose who of them are to say at home. What gender equality effects the different logics of these two policy measures may have, is analysed by means of interview data from two studies, one on parental leave and one on cash-for-care. We find that a special quota for fathers has had positive effects on gender equality in childcare. The cashfor-care system does not, however, challenge the existing gender practices of childcare. References Borchorst, A (2008): Woman-friendly policy paradoxes? Childcare policies and gender equality visions in Scandinavia. In K.Melby et al (eds): Gender equality and welfare poltics in Scandinavia. Bristol: Policy Press. 28

29 9. Parental leave and the father s quota. Welfare benefits, work life arrangements and cultural aspects of care Gunhild R. Farstad, NOVA - Norwegian Social Research, Norway The father s quota in the parental leave system is used by the great majority of fathers in Norway. Still we know little about what using the right to parental leave for the father means to parents, and how it is integrated in parents different care projects. On the basis of interviews with Norwegian couples (N: 58) in the NOVA project Care and daily life for children under the age of three (financed by the Norwegian Research council), I will present some work in progress analysis focusing on three relevant factors in choosing child care arrangement: 1) welfare benefits available to the family 2) working life arrangements and 3) cultural aspects of care. By presenting two contrasting cases I will illustrate how these factors covariate in different ways in different families. In the interviews I identified some differences relating to class; both when it comes to the perceived need for a father s quota in the parental leave system, and the way the parental leave is organized and reflected upon in the families. In the paper I employ a perspective on the structures of opportunity and constraint parents face in terms of welfare benefits and work life arrangements. Additionally I take into consideration the cultural models of care constituting a framework within which parents shape their parenting practices. These differences will be presented and discussed in order to shed light on the relationship between family policy, especially the father s quota, and parenthood practices. 10. Norwegian Family Policy, Child Care and the Flexible Work Life: dilemmas and paradoxes in the governing of Norwegian parents Birgitte Johansen, Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norway The paper is a presentation and discussion of the main finings in the PhDproject Family Policy for a New Working Day. The PhD- project is part of the larger project The Modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market: institutionalisation and individualisation of children in the light of changes in the welfare state run by NOSEB and it had the discussions of what kind of family policy is fit for a new work life as the point of departure. Through the PhD- project four papers has been developed based on different empirical material. Interviews, survey texts and policy documents have formed the base of analyses. The papers in varying ways show the dilemmas and paradoxes found in the meeting point of parental practices, the flexible work life and Norwegian family policy, particularly related to time and time use. Themes brought to the fore in the papers are: moral and gendered understandings of the good parenthood, female part time work, day care practices, neo- liberal discourses in the field of Norwegian day care and the pre- school teacher profession on the theme of time spent in day care, the neo- liberal, entrepreneurial and gendered individual of present day work life, the non responsibility of labour markets towards (child) caring and the employable person produced on Norwegian family policy on a discursive level. Theoretical perspectives used to make sense of the data are gender perspectives and a Foucault inspired governmentality- perspective. These 29