Sukupolvisuhteet, hallinta ja subjektifikaatio : etnografinen tutkimus lasten ja aikuisten suhteista vuorohoitopäiväkodissa

Abstract

This ethnographic study examines intergenerational relations in a day-care center with extended opening hours. The theoretical starting points of the study draw on Michel Foucault’s concept of governmentality. Therefore, this dissertation aims to generate insights into intergenerational relations in a day care with extended hours from the viewpoint of governance. The data for the study were collected from one Finnish day-care class through observation and half- structured interviews. The day-care class was part of a municipal day-care center with extended hours; the center was open from 5.30 am to 10.30 pm. Children would be present depending on the working hours of their parents. There- fore, the children’s daily schedules were unique and varied from day to day. Analysis was carried out in two phases. The first phase concentrated on the governing techniques, that is, analyzing the ways in which children were governed and how they self-governed within the social settings in the day-care center. The second phase entailed an investigation of wider rationalities constructing these techniques of governance. The rationalities were identified as education, welfare, homelike atmosphere, and equality. Each rationality links to a certain mode of power such that they support different kinds of positions for both children and adults. The results of the research suggest that day care with extended opening hours provides diverse and often flexible contexts for child-adult relations. For example, because of the changing child-adult-ratios, early mornings and late evenings can especially facilitate relations that would not otherwise emerge in early childhood and care (ECEC) settings. However, tensions between different rationalities may present challenges to early-childhood education pedagogy. The goals of the national core curriculum for ECEC should be achieved even if children attend day care during nonstandard hours.