New State Policies and Everyday Life in Danish Kindergartens

This presentation discusses significant changes in Danish policies on preschool curriculum and their effects on everyday life in kindergarten. This change is often conceptualized as neoliberal governance and consists of an increased focus on learning, documentation and evaluation. Grounded in an empirical project focusing on pedagogues’ dilemmas in kindergartens and comparisons with past research, this paper discusses in what ways and to what extent these changes have been manifested in everyday life. Findings point to a not surprising inertia in the everyday life – but also to changes: in parents – pedagogues’ relation, in the amount of staff time devoted to documentation and management and in an increased focus on children’s learning and performativity. The project is based on a broad range of qualitative research methods, including ethnographic inspired observations and interviews with pedagogues and children in 7 different day care facilities.