1. Dilemmas and contradictions in institutional life in kindergarten
Kim Rasmussen, Jan Kampmann, Tomas Ellegaard & Dina Danielsen
The Modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market:
Exploring Early Education and Care
th of April 2009

2. 3 presentations Historical review on litteratur
Metodological reflections
Examples and findings

3. Roskilde University – Department of Psychology and Educatinnal Studies
Institutional life in Kindergarten Children´s everydaylife, actions and needs and kindergarten teachers work and dilemma´s
Trondheim april 2009
The Modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market: Exploring Early Education and Care
Roskilde University – Department of Psychology and Educatinnal Studies

4. Presentation: The diversity of the Kindergartens
A gaze at the indoor and outdoor environment

5. Entrance – the ”face” of the day-care institution. 4 examples

6. Cloakroom – a place for childrens (semi-) privacy

7. Playground – an invitation to children´s actions, play and culture
Playground – an invitation to children´s actions, play and culture. 4 examples

8. Toilets - privacy or public? An issue of intimacy or the opposite

9. Indoor environment Context for institutional life and dilemmas in time & space

10. Curriculum and documentation new law (2004) and different ways to answer it

11. Reflection on methodology Our way to research and the methods we use - produce our ”results” and findings:
Keyterms:
- Institutional life
- Kindergarten teachers works and dilemmas
- Childrens everydaylife, action, play and culture
Organizational approach - 4 steps and 4 methods:
- a) studies of Danish kindergarten-litterature
- b) participant observations
- c) survey: 400 professionals
- d) interviews with the professionals
Theoretical approach:
- Critical theory, Social interactionism, a.o.
- Each phase some differences:
- a) critical hermeneutic
- b) phenomenological observations

12. From preunderstanding to research-experiences
Everybody knows what dilemma means
– it is a common term in everydaylife
BUT: what is a dilemma as a social phenomenon in an interdisciplinary study observing kindergartens and and kindergarten teachers work?
You can research and understand dilemmas in a rational way and from reading and interpretate texts
You can research dilemmas empirical by observations and interviews – or can you?
What does a dilemma look like in the social reality?
Is a dilemma a social phenomenon which primary is reflected - or felt - or both?

13. Complexity and challenges
How to understand the different aspects of the dilemma
How to
research the phenomenon empirical

14. Kindergarten teachers´ dilemma: viewed from outside – experienced from inside
After second research phase:
Many fieldnotes and descriptions of institutional life
Many fieldnotes and descriptions of kindergarten teachers work
But do we have any descriptions of dilemmas?
Can you observe another person’s dilemma?

15. Our dilemma
We can describe many dilemmas from institutional life and kindergarten teachers’ work as we have experienced them
We are not sure if our descriptions are connected to the experiences of the kindergarten teachers themselves
When we speak about dilemmas, they speak about ”problems”
Taking departure in the empirical material:
Can we allow ourselves to speak about dilemmas in kindergarten teachers’ work if they don´t recognize and use the term?