Statens eller familiens børn? Tvang og omsorg i mødet mellem nytilkomne familier og danske daginstitutioner

Abstract

ResuméNytilkomne familier bliver mødt med mange krav fra den danske velfærdsstat. Et af kravene er, at de skal sende deres 0-6 årige børn i dagtilbud, så forældrene kan gå på sprogskole eller komme i praktik. Artiklen belyser nogle af de dilemmaer, der opstår i forældresamarbejdet i mødet mellem pædagoger og nytilkomne familier. Disse dilemmaer udspringer af den myndighedsrolle som pædagogerne har, samtidig med at de ofte får en tæt relation til forældrene, og har et oprigtigt ønske om at hjælpe både børn og forældre til at kunne navigere rundt i det danske samfund. Artiklen bygger på etnografisk feltarbejde i fire kommuner, og de valgte eksempler viser, hvordan pædagogerne navigerer mellem omsorg og magtudøvelse, og hvordan magtrelationen mellem forældre og pædagoger kan være uklar for forældrene og i nogle tilfælde også for pædagogerne selv. Artiklen giver ikke svar på dilemmaerne, men peger på behovet for en stadig professionel refleksion over de pædagogiske udfordringer i forældresamarbejdet samt over den politiske kontekst, som forældresamarbejde med nytilkomne familier indgår i. AbstractChildren of the state or children of the family? Care and coercion in the encounter between refugee families and Danish day-care institutions. Newly arrived families in Denmark are faced with multiple requirement by the Danish welfare state and it is mandatory that they send their children to Danish day-care institutions. Based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in four day-care institutions in Denmark this article sheds light on some of the dilemmas that arise in the encounter between refuge families and Danish pedagogues. More specifically we focus on the notion “forældresamarbejde” – a term which connotes the widespread idea that parents and institutions must communicate in an intimate way and work together to create the best circumstances for the concerted cultivation of children. Through concrete ethnographic cases we discuss how pedagogues attempt to manage the dilemma between caring for children without disempowering their parents and argue that the pedagogical task requires tact and sensitivity faced with dilemmas that admit no easy resolution since they are inherently contradictory.

States of Intimacy: Refugee Parents, Anxiety, and the Spectral State in Denmark

“…Immediately upon arrival in Denmark, refugees are expected to take part in an integration program, and children must be enrolled in day-care or school (Bregnbaek et al 2017). As in other Scandinavian countries, day-care is regarded as an integral part of the healthy development of children.…”

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“…Mikkel Rytter has argued that in Denmark, the expectation that immigrants should adapt as fast as possible to the cultural norms of sameness, paradoxically works to reinforce their otherness (Rytter, 2018). In the context of day care institutions, anthropological studies have shown that educational and institutional practices rationalized with reference to, for instance, health, well-being or learning, often reflect the middle class values and practices of the white majority (Bregnbaek et al, 2017;Palludan, 2007, Jørgensen & Martiny-Bruun, 2019Sparrman et al, 2016). Expectations of sameness mean that social differences related, for instance, to language or parenting practices, are considered problematic.…”

“…Expectations of sameness mean that social differences related, for instance, to language or parenting practices, are considered problematic. As a result, minority children and parents are met with "language tones" (Palludan, 2007) and patterns of cooperation ( Bregnbaek et al, 2017) different from those involving majority children and parents, hereby creating and reinforcing processes of exclusion rather than inclusion. Nature education, we argue, is one area in which such exclusionary processes are at work.…”

“…In other words, discussions about access to nature experiences and nature education become framed by and entangled with societal mechanisms of exclusion. Furthermore, in line with a more general global and national trend, the term naturfremmed reflects an increasing tendency for state agencies and other actors to place the responsibility for problematic societal developments with the parents, creating a need for early intervention in relation to problematic parenting practices (Bregnbaek et al, 2017;Faircloth & Murray, 2015;Houmøller, 2018). When Peter explained his choice of buying a halal-slaughtered chicken, he described the children involved in the activity as growing up in families of low socio-economic status, who attach great importance to religion.…”

“…On the other hand, as famously argued by the Norwegian anthropologist, Marianne Gullestad, equality in Scandinavia is often conceived as sameness in everyday life practices (what she refers to as "imagined sameness"), and this cultural valuation of sameness has had a strong influence on the reception of immigrants (Gullestad, 2002; see also Bruun, 2018). In the field of early childhood education, a number of ethnographic and cul turalanalytical studies have shown that in spite of the ambitions of equal access 3 and social inclusion, expectations of cultural same ness in interactions between early childhood social educators and children and their families result in processes of exclusion from participation (Bregnbaek, Arent, Martiny-Bruun & Jørgensen, 2017;Bundgaard & Gulløv, 2008;Palludan, 2007;Prins, 2019).…”