CONCEPT VS. CONTEXT - RECONCEPTUALISING PROFESSIONAL WORK OF DANISH EARLY CHILDHOOD PEDAGOGUES

The symposium focuses on the influence of standardized concepts in public Danish daycare institutions (0-5 years). Danish kindergartens, their play-based curriculum and history of focusing on formation in a broad continental tradition, emphasizing care and development based on everyday life and democracy, has long been admired and looked upon as something to work towards in ECE research, development and policies. Whereas kindergartens and pedagogues have a history of being predominantly self-managed, leaving curriculum and quality discussions to local communities and professional autonomy and judgement, the tradition is challenged these years as the area is becoming increasingly marketized, and new relations of
economic interests, research focusing on ''what works'' and policy are evolving. The knowledge that pedagogues are expected to base their practice on is increasingly something that can be bought and sold in terms of various tools, models, manuals and programs, legitimized in evidence based research.