Academics as Play and the Social as Discipline: School Readiness in Denmark

Denmark has a tradition of kindergarten pedagogy focused on children's play, sociality and individual interests. Political emphasis on global competition, however, has led to reforms in early childhood education and care (ECEC) since 2004. Based on ethnographic fieldwork at three kindergartens, we analyse how the ECEC-reforms have affected the priorities of parents and pedagogues regarding school readiness. To understand how this is negotiated, we draw upon Lareau's distinction between childrearing as 'concerted cultivation' or as 'the accomplishment of natural growth' (Lareau, A. 2003. "Unequal Childhoods. Class, Race and Family Life." London: University of California Press). We show that parents and staff consider "the social" as the most important thing for kindergarten children to learn and as something that the adults must cultivate -- often in a disciplinary manner. Meanwhile, parents and pedagogues state that "academic" competences are not important to cultivate because an interest in academics will naturally grow. Adults just have to support academic activities through play when the children choose to engage in them. However, "academic" competences are actively cultivated in practice.