Child Life in the Hands of the Welfare State is a research-based debate book that criticizes the current upbringing conditions for our youngest children. The book describes the development and needs of young children for present and attentive adults - and the crucial importance this has for the child's development of social cognition, language, empathy, self-esteem, and much more in both the short and long term. However, when looking at the quality of Danish daycare institutions, it appears that some of them are not at a sufficient level to meet the needs of the children.
A group of parents therefore want to take on this task themselves. They take the consequences and choose to look after their child at home. For home care, parents have the opportunity to be the constant, present, and attentive adults in the child's life who can create lasting close and secure relationships with the child. In this way, the parents regain the opportunity to give their child what their parental instincts tell them to. However, such a decision has consequences for career and finances, and it requires political support and action.
The book gives a voice to stay-at-home parents. And based on this, research on the development of young children and the quality of Danish daycare institutions, some concrete proposals are presented on how we can change the conditions for the youngest children and their families.
In our modern society, where the focus is often on evidence-based practice and measurable outcomes, talking about love in connection with education can seem intangible or even controversial. Nevertheless, love plays a crucial role in both the pedagogical and didactic work with children.
Therefore, this chapter with perspectives from modern philosophy, psychology and educational research, illuminate how the phenomenon and concept of love appears in pedagogy and pedagogical practice.
Teachers and caregivers organize children’s everyday life in early childhood settings to support children’s well-being, learning and development. Teachers’ organizational decisions (e.g. daily schedule, arrangement of furnishings, activities, behavioural expectations) are influenced by a set of ideas, norms and values which they may or may not be conscious of at the time. The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how democratic, caring and disciplinary values are communicated and negotiated between adults and children (from birth to five) in crèche and preschool settings, with particular attention to whether these values are animated in isolation (e.g. separately from one another) or in a more unified fashion. The conceptual framework for this study is based on previous theories and research on democracy education, communicative action, educational content and children’s democratic formation, caring values and disciplinary values. The researchers analysed video recordings of interactions between children and teachers during lunch, circle time and free activities. The findings reveal the nature and extent to which teachers expect children to follow and participate in the social order that adults have established for them, as well as ways in which empathic practitioners create space for children to influence changes in the social order.