Current Politics and Economics of Europe ISSN: 1057-2309

Volume 26, Number 2 © 2015 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Development of Quality in Child

Care in Denmark - Legislation,
Culture, and Daily Practices

Grethe Kragh-Miiller*
Aarhus University, Faculty of Arts, Department o f Education, Denmark

A bstract

This article presents a discussion of quality in child care in Denmark,

where 98% of all children attend child care while both parents work to
support the family. It is considered important for children, especially
underprivileged children, to attend child care in order to support their
development and socialisation. Traditionally, child care in Denmark has
been based on the legacy from the German philosopher Froebel, with a
focus on care, self-initiated play and outdoor facilities for development
and learning. The focus is on growth-promoting relationships and
children’s right to have an influence on their everyday life.
As the OECD reports showed that Danish children do not perform as
well as expected, a new law on child care was passed in Parliament in
2007. Resent research shows that in some areas, the new law supports the
practices and culture in Danish child care. In other areas, the law has
brought changes. There is an increased focus on centralised political
goals, learning objectives, tests, accountability and documentation. There
is an ongoing debate in Denmark on whether children benefit from these
changes, especially as at the same time, a series of financial cutbacks
have hit the public sector in Denmark. Parents, child specialists and
researchers are debating how much academic training should be imposed
on small children, and how children are affected by being looked at in
terms of not who they are at this point of their lives, but rather in terms of

Associate professor, Cand. Psych., Authorised as clinical pcychologist, Specialist in Child

Psychology, Supervisor in Child Psychology at a specialist level. Tuborgvej, 164. 2400
Copenhaven NV. Denmark. Tlf. 87163898. E-mail: grkm@dpu.dk
152 Grethe Kragh-Miiller

achievement and future goals. On the basis of the ongoing debate and a
research study on quality in child care in Denmark and the United States
from 2010 this article discusses the factors that constitute quality in child
care.

Introduction

Child care is intertwined with society in general. Political decisions

concerning who establishes and operates child care, makes related laws, and
how child care is financed, therefore have a great impact on daily life in child
care. The first part of the article will, for this reason, present a short
introduction to Denmark and child care in this country. This will be followed
by a presentation of a research study of quality in child care performed in
Denmark 2007 to 2009 by Kragh-Miiller (Kragh-Miiller, G. 2010; Kragh-
Miiller, G. & Gloeckler, L. 2010; Kragh-Miiller, G. & Isbell, R., 2011). This
will be used as the basis for a final discussion on what factors are important
for quality in child care.
Denmark is a small country in Scandinavia inhabited by 5.5 million
people. One million people live in Copenhagen - the capital city. Denmark is
known for its social welfare model, which is financed through relatively high
taxes. Most people pay between 45% and 55%, but those with higher incomes
pay up to 70% in tax. VAT is 25%, but VAT on a new car is as high as 150%.
Most Danes accept paying tax because of the benefits received in return. Still,
most people feel they pay too much.
Most public services in Denmark are funded by tax - that includes, for
instance, schools, hospitals, other medical services, nursing homes for elderly
people and education (including all higher education, e.g., universities). Some
services, such as dentists, chiropractors, and child care, are only partly funded
by tax.
In Denmark, Parliamentary elections are held every four years. The
Danish Parliament comprises 8 to 10 different political parties. For 10 years, a
Conservative government remained in office, but after the election in
September 2011, the Social Democrats are now in power, led by Denmark’s
first female prime minister. The ten years of Conservative policy brought
many changes in public services, as during the ten years, the government
reduced expenses in all areas, including child care, while increasing control
and documentation requirements.
 Development of Quality in Child Care in Denmark 153

Child C are in D enmark

Denmark has a long-standing tradition of child care services. Women

began working outside the home during the early industrialised period at the
beginning of the 20lh century. Many charity organisations worked to establish
child care facilities to keep poor children off the streets while their mothers
were out. These child care facilities were called asylums and were mainly for
children from low income families. Later, “boemehaver” (“children’s
gardens") were established by high-income families who wanted their children
to attend child care in order to learn more and enjoy the opportunity to play
and spend time together with friends in this special setting created for children.
These “boemehaver” were inspired by German philosopher F. Frobel’s ideas
of the importance of children’s rights to a childhood where they could play
and enjoy themselves as the basis for later life. During the 1960s, the two
different forms of child care were placed under the same political legislation
and given the same financial conditions.
During the same decade, a three-year education programme was
established for child care teachers called “pedagogues”. Today, child care staff
consists of both trained pedagogues and assistants —some untrained and some
with IV2 years of training. In this article, the term teacher is used rather than
pedagogue as the word teacher is more common in an international context.
Previously, mainly children from poor social backgrounds or children
from well-off families attended child care. Today, basically all Danish children
attend child care because both parents work outside the home. In Denmark,
women’s liberation has been quite powerful, and 96% of all mothers work
outside the home. Another reason why most women work is that it is difficult
to provide for a family in Denmark with only one income. As providing for a
family requires two incomes, 98% of all children in Denmark attend child care
from the age of one.
During the 1990s, the social democratic government passed a law
guaranteeing all parents a child care place for their children from the age of
one. Politically, this has resulted in a focus on child care as a place where
children are looked after while parents work, and less on child care as a place
for educational purposes.
The Government defines the rules and standards for child care. Child care
facilities are established and run by local communities. Child care is partly
funded by tax, with the remainder paid for by parents up to a maximum
statutory 35% of the costs. Low-income families are given a discount or not
required to pay at all. If parents are unemployed, children still attend child
154 Grethe Kragh-Muller

care, as it is considered an important part of their education. It is seen as

particularly important for children from poor social backgrounds, and their
parents may be told by the local communities that their child must attend child
care. Even the children from the royal family attend public child care.
Some 1 to 3 year olds are looked after in private homes approved by local
communities. These are funded in the same way as child care centres, only
they are cheaper. Here, caregivers are untrained, but the curriculum must be
carried out in the same way as in ordinary child care centres. Trained staff
members supervise these places to a certain extent.
Opening hours in child care are typically from 6:30 in the morning until
5:30 in the afternoon.
Children attend child care from the age of one. Until then, parents are
entitled to maternity leave for one year - 14 weeks with full salary, and the
rest with a reduced salary. Fathers have 2 weeks of paternity leave when the
child is born, and it is strongly recommended politically that fathers and
mothers share the maternity leave, though relatively few fathers do so. At the
moment, politicians are debating whether paternity leave should be
compulsory - which would mean that if the father does not take the leave, the
actual maternity leave will be shorter than one year.

Child Care Legislation

Child care legislation, passed by the Danish government, states the

purposes of child care, adult/child ratios, rules on sq m per child, playgrounds,
field trips, parents’ influence and all other matters concerning everyday life in
child care.
Within basic legislation, the quality of child care varies from region to
region in Denmark. For example, the adult/child ratio varies depending on
where you live in Denmark - in some local communities, children’s welfare is
given higher priority than in others. On average, the ratio of children per adult
was once 3 children per adult for 0-3 year olds, and 5 children per adult for the
3 to 6 year olds. This is changing. From 2006 to 2007 alone, the change was
2.9% more children per adult for 3-6 year olds. Now we have 6.9 3 to 6 year
olds per adult (government figures), but as the government has allocated many
other assignments to the teachers, the actual number of children as an average
is 9.5 - 11 children per adult for 3 to 6 year olds. Typically, in the morning
three adults attend to a group of 24 children aged 3 to 6 years and two, or even
one adult, look after the children in the afternoon. Often untrained staff
 Development of Quality in Child Care in Denmark 155

members attend to the children while the trained teachers work on the
curriculum, attend meetings with parents, attend courses, evaluate child care or
complete paperwork.
In Denmark it is considered very important for children to play outdoors,
and to go on field trips. As public transport is available, field trips are very
common. Staff can take children on field trips whenever they wish without
asking parents, but do need parents’ general consent if they want to transport
children in their private cars.
During the 1990s, the PISA reports concluded that Danish school children
do not perform well in reading compared with other western countries. Danish
politicians were shocked — and a new law for child care was passed by
Parliament in 2007 to try to ensure that child care centres prepare children
properly so that they will perform better in school. The dual purposes of child
care as stated by this law are - as in other countries - to look after the children
while the parents are working and to create an environment that provides
children with good opportunities for development and learning.
As stated by the new law, the main purposes of child care in Denmark are
now (Dagtilbudsloven, Lov nr. 501; 06.06.07. Velfaerdsministeriet (Law on
Child Care in Denmark, Ministry of Welfare, 2007):

1) To promote children’s wellbeing, development and learning.

2) To provide families with flexibility and choices concerning child care
facilities for their children.
3) To prevent negative social inheritance and promote inclusion of
children with special needs.
4) To create continuity from child care to school.

Basically, sections 7 and 8 of the law state the purposes for 1 to 6 year
olds. Section 7 states that child care must provide children with an
environment that promotes their wellbeing, development and learning. Child
care staff must care for children, make them feel secure and support their
independence, feelings of self-esteem and social competences through play
and planned activities. Likewise, the teachers must listen to the children, give
them an influence on their everyday lives and promote their understanding of
democracy.
Section 8 emphasises children’s possibilities for learning. This is the new
aspect of child care legislation —that all centres must have a curriculum -
learning plans, which must include the following 6 areas:
156 Grethe Kragh-Muller

1) Language (vocabulary, pronunciation, literacy, rhymes, the existence

of numbers and letters and the use of these, IT/media and
communication).
2) Social Competence (social interaction, show feelings of empathy and
respect for others, work with others, knowledge of democracy).
3) Personal competence (a sense of worth and self confidence, boundary
setting, fantasy, feelings, making choices, motivation and
perseverance).
4) Nature and nature’s phenomena (respect for and knowledge of nature
and its phenomena, environment, logical thinking and knowledge of
categories such as weight, shapes and amounts).
5) Cultural expression and cultural values (knowledge of different
cultural expression and cultural values, use of senses via music,
drawings, theatre, play dough and other materials).
6) Body and movement (health, nutrition, physical exercise, control and
use of fine and gross motor function, knowledge of physical
possibilities of the outdoor areas of the child care centre, and of the
local community).

The curriculum - learning plans as described in section 8 - must be

described once a year for every child care centre and for every child, and must
be accepted by the local authorities. Evaluation and documentation are also
required. This basically means that according to the law, more weight is put on
the requirements stated in section 8.
The new law also requires that children’s views of everyday life in child
care must be collected by the teachers once a year. This information must be
posted on the Internet for parents and future parents to see children’s opinions
and feelings about their daily activities, the adults and other children
(Dagtilbudsloven, lov nr. 501; 06.06. 2007. Velfaerdsministeriet (Law on
Child Care in Denmark, Ministry of Welfare, 06.06. 2007).

A Study of Q uality in Child C are

As described, policies and conditions in child care have changed during

the last decade. How have these changes influenced daily child care practices?
Together with a demand for higher quality in child care, financial cutbacks
have been made. The societal and financial conditions for developing quality
have therefore made it difficult to actually achieve this quality in everyday
 Development of Quality in Child Care in Denmark 157

practices. The new law with the centralised purposes for child care reflects
what is considered quality in child care in the eyes of politicians. But what do
teachers, parents and children consider represents quality in child care? What
constitutes quality in child care and how can this be accomplished given the
present conditions?
To investigate this, a research study - “Perspectives on Quality in Child
Care” - was performed from 2007 to 2009 in Denmark and the United States
(Kragh-Miiller, G. 2010; Kragh-Miiller, G. & Gloeckler, L. 2010; Kragh-
Miiller, G. & Isbell, R., 2011) to address the question of curriculum and what
should be the focus in child care. Quality in child care was examined in two
different cultures - Denmark and the United States, as cross-cultural studies
allow researchers to study the same thing - in this case quality and culture in
child care in two different cultural settings. This makes it possible to reflect on
different cultural ways of practicing child care and noticing things that are
considered natural that may now appear cultural, as they are thought of
differently in the two countries.

Quality in Child Care and the Purpose of the Study

The term quality comes from Latin “qua litas” and means “from what”. In
this way, quality describes the characteristics of a particular subject. In
everyday language, quality also refers to something being good - that we want
these characteristics to be in a certain way that is better than other ways.
Quality in child care can be studied in different ways. A range of scales
have been developed, mainly in the United States, to measure quality in child
care, e.g., the Eckers Scale (Karby, 1993), the ACEI Scale (www.acei.org/
education/guidelines), the NAEYC Scale (www.naeyc.org/accreditation
/search) and several more. These scales were developed by groups of experts
drawing on research in developmental psychology and can be used by teachers
and researchers to measure aspects of quality in a given child care facility.
However, there can be many different perspectives on quality in child
care. For example, politicians may view it differently to the experts. Teachers
may consider quality in still another way, and parents may consider different
aspects of quality important for their children. If you ask the children
themselves, their perspectives may vary to those of the adults.
In the present study “Perspectives on Quality in Child Care” the purpose
was to investigate what teachers, parents and children consider quality in child
158 Grethe Kragh-Miiller

care in order to explore the concept of quality from different perspectives and
in different cultural settings. Also to investigate how quality can be developed
in everyday practices, given the present conditions laid out for child care in the
two countries.

Theory and Method of the Study

The theoretical approach of the study was framed within socio-cultural

theories on children’s development. In this theoretical framework, children are
considered active participants of society and culture in which they are born.
Based on Vygotsky’s theory (Vygotsky, in Lindquist, 2004), developed further
by Holzkamp (Holzkamp 2005) and Dreier (2008), children’s development is
intertwined with society and culture at a given time in history. As society
today - infonnational society - is very different from society 50 years ago,
children need to develop different competences to succeed in life. As children
now spend part of their time with peers and teachers in child care, parents,
child care staff and peers have an impact on children’s development. Also
cultural artefacts, discourses, values and ways of thinking influence everyday
practices in both families and child care (Kragh-Miiller, 2010).
Loevlie Schibby’s theory on acknowledging relationships (Loevlie
Schibbye, 2002) was used as a further background to understand the
relationships between the children and staff in child care.
Qualitative methods were chosen for this study. With qualitative methods,
the aim is to gather in-depth understanding of a given topic (Kruse, 2001). In
qualitative studies, information is gathered from a fewer number of
participants, as opposed to quantitative methods, where you can get systematic
information on bigger groups.
Data was collected in two different child care centres, one in Denmark and
one in the United States. The methods chosen were observation and
interviews. As there is variability in quality between centres in both countries,
five additional centres were visited in both countries to allow the researcher to
acquire additional information on the cultural ways of doing child care.
The observations took place over five whole days in each centre on the
basis of an observation guide focusing on the following areas: Indoor and
outdoor facilities, staff/children ratio, activities, purpose of activities,
children’s engagement and influence in activities, relationships
teachers/children, peer relationships, conflicts and conflict solving.
 Development of Quality in Child Care in Denmark 159

In each child care centre, focus group interviews were conducted with all
teachers in the centre and with the parents of the children who were
interviewed. Four children - two boys and two girls - were interviewed
individually. Likewise, focus group interviews were conducted with a group of
three children in each centre. Focus group interviews were conducted to give
the participants the opportunity to support each other in the interview. To
support the interviews, the 4-5 year old children were asked to create a
drawing of their likes and dislikes in child care.
During the interviews, the researcher utilised active listening methods,
such as restating the participants’ words to ensure that the data collected
accurately represented the participants’ perceptions. Interviews were recorded
and written down by the researcher and summarised after the interview. The
tapes were transcribed after the interview.
Data from the observations was analysed according to the “activity setting
analysis” method described by Farver (1999). “Activity setting analysis” is a
method constructed to analyse cultural differences in different settings for
children.
The interviews were analysed individually to identify the participants’
perspectives, whereby the responses were summarised within a number of
themes that were analysed and discussed. Triangulation of methods was used
to obtain more study validity. Validity was also obtained by using the chosen
theory in interpreting the data. The different approaches allowed the researcher
to compare, contrast, and strengthen their understanding of the different
perspectives on quality in child care.
Concerning reliability, Kvale & Brinckmann (2008 ) claim that reliability
has a different meaning in qualitative studies than in quantitative studies, as
the topics in qualitative studies are often dynamic issues that can change
(Kruse, 2001). This means that if a second interview was conducted with the
same persons, some of their answers would be different. Soendergaard (2006)
claims that as qualitative studies produce information on the particular case
that is studied, the results of the study can be generalised to similar areas to the
extent that insight and understanding are offered to similar practices, in this
study, child care in general.

Results of the Study

The Danish teachers described nurturing care and acknowledging

relationships as the most important indicators of quality in child care. They felt
160 Grethe Kragh-Muller

it important for the children to feel at home and secure in child care, just as
they do when at home with their parents. Acknowledging relationships were
underlined as important because this was seen as the way in which children
develop a ‘self, and a feeling of self-esteem and social competences.
Likewise, daily routines, self-initiated play and having the opportunity to form
friendships with the other children were considered important. The Danish
teachers found that an equal relationship with parents as well as the children
was a basic indicator of quality.
Concerning the new law on plans for learning, the teachers found that to a
certain degree, the law helped them to focus on learning. As such, they were
not opposed to plans for learning, but found that the centralised goals and
requirements of paperwork took up so much time that it was difficult to find
the time to develop acknowledging relationships with children and care for the
children. They found this very frustrating and stressful and felt this prevented
them from developing the kind of quality in everyday life that they found most
important - growth-promoting relationships with the children to promote the
children’s development of personal and social competences, and researching
the environment together.
The American teachers also pointed to the relationships between teachers
and children as the most important indicator of quality in child care, but at the
same time underlined the importance of giving the children the opportunity to
learn. A focus was put on establishing stimulating learning environments
where the children could learn through play. One day a week was spent on
planning the curriculum and daily practices, based on a constructivist approach
inspired on the Italian Reggio Emilia programme. The focus on the children’s
learning possibilities were seen as both providing the children with the
required competences and giving the centre and the teachers more status in
society.
For the Danish parents, the most important quality factor was a personal
relationship between their child and the teacher. It was important for them to
feel that the teacher liked their child, made the child feel welcome, and had
positive feelings about the child. They also mentioned the importance of the
children having time to play with friends, and the centre provided the children
with good outdoor play facilities. Concerning the learning plans, it was not as
important for them as the children’s possibility to have an enjoyable
childhood. They stated that it was OK for the children to learn, but it was
important that it was not like school. They expressed concern about the present
conditions for developing quality in child care because of the financial
cutbacks.
 Development of Quality in Child Care in Denmark 161

The American parents agreed with the Danish parents although more
emphasis was put on learning. Safety was their top concern. They also
mentioned the importance of a good child/teacher ratio, so that the teachers
would have the time to provide nurturing care and close relationships with
each child individually. They stated that without a secure and personal
relationship, no learning would take place.
Quality for both the American and the Danish children meant time and
opportunity to form friendships and play with friends. The American children
remarked that they were happy to have many nice areas for playing and many
toys to play with, whereas the Danish children said that it would be nice to
have more things to play with and more variety both indoors and outdoors.
They mentioned conflicts about where to play, with whom to play and what to
play with.
Another aspect that was very important to the children in both countries
was “nice teachers” - adults that “have nice faces and look kind” (an
American child), teachers that “give you influence, sometimes says yes” (a
Danish child), and adults that “sometimes play with you, tell stories, make fun
and do not always follow rules” (a Danish child). The worst aspect of child
care for both groups of children were angry teachers - both groups describing
how some teachers were nice and some very strict and cross. Some American
children stated that the worst aspect of child care was when they were put in
the office and forced to talk to a teacher about conflicts that have occurred -
“when I’ve been bad”, while Danish children said that the worst aspect of
childcare was when a teacher dragged you inside and made you sit in the
corner “when I have not done anything. That is because Anna has such a bad
temper”. The Danish children also said the teachers got more upset when they
were stressed out.
Finally, especially the Danish children pointed out the importance of
having an influence on their own everyday life in child care as an indicator of
quality.

C ulture in Child C are in D enmark

In the study of quality in child care (Kragh-Muller, 2010), the performed

observations were analysed to understand the culture in child care in Denmark
and the United States. Different societies develop different cultural ways of
exercising child care. A child care culture can be defined as special ways of
162 Grethe Kragh-Muller

thinking, talking about and arranging everyday practices in a child care setting,
based on cultural goals, scripts, discourses and values.
The method used for analysing the data from the observations was the
“activity setting analysis” (Farver,1999). The method defines a strategy for
analysing the culture in different settings for children within five components:
1. The personnel present and their availability for the children throughout the
children’s daily routines. 2. The nature of the activities and the tasks being
performed. 3. The purpose of the activities and tasks. 4. The scripts and
discourses that guide the children’s participation in activities, tasks and daily
routines. 5. Salient goals and beliefs. After conducting an activity setting
analysis of the child care centres, several differences emerged between the
USA and Denmark.
In Denmark, observations revealed only short interactions between
children and teachers. The communication between the children and the
teachers typically consisted of a remark from the teacher to a child, an answer
from the child to the teacher and finally a response from the teacher. Very
informal relationships were found when observing the interactions between the
children and the teachers. The children addressed the teachers much as they
would address their parents and called the teachers by their first name. The
teachers focused to some extent on children speaking properly to each other
and the staff, but there was not a lot of focus on how the children behaved. It
was rare to observe a child misbehave. If the children showed feelings,
sometimes the teachers would name the feelings for the child, helping him/her
to cope. Sometimes, an adult might get upset herself and was seen scolding the
children, e.g., if a child had attacked another child.
During observations, the children were engaged in self initiated play
which meant, that it was up to the children to decide with whom to play, where
to play and what to play. Much of the time the children could be found
outdoors in the playgrounds, playing with sand, riding bicycles, on swings,
some children just walking around. While the children were playing, the
teachers were busy doing office work, answering the telephone, tidying or
planning activities. Two adults would supervise the children playing outside.
Inside, a few adults would supervise the children’s play, addressing the
children if conflicts arose that the children could not solve by themselves, or if
children hurt themselves and needed consolation.
The play rooms looked like home, with sofas, dining tables and highchairs
for the children. There were not that many play materials and these were
available in boxes on shelves for the children to take out and put back when
 Development of Quality in Child Care in Denmark 163

they had finished playing. Materials for creative purposes were not available
for the children at all times, but were administered by the teachers.
The teachers explained that the reason why the children spent so much
time playing with peers was partly because it was considered important for
their development and partly because it allowed the teachers to do
administrative work, as fewer teachers were needed to look after the children
when they were playing. Peer relationships were considered by the teachers to
promote the children’s social skills. Spending time outdoors was thought of as
important for the children’s health.
Examining the discourses (ways of thinking about and speaking about a
certain matter), child care was thought of as the child's second home. Because
Danish children spend much of their day in child care, responsibility for the
development of the children was considered shared by parents and teachers. In
the interview, the teachers stated that they wanted the children to feel just as
secure and at home when in child care as they felt at home. Also, there was
much resistance to talking about schools, classrooms, teachers and learning
when it comes to child care. The teachers stated that learning takes place
through every day practices and routines. Indeed, the teachers would object
both to talking about child care as schools or preschools and to being called
teachers, as the tradition in Denmark has been to talk about boernehaver
(gardens for children) where pedagogues, sharing the responsibility with
parents, focus on the primary development of the children (attachment, care,
personality development, cognitive, social and language aspects). Schools
traditionally take care of the children’s secondary socialisation — academic
learning in preparation for vocational training. The training to become a
pedagogue also differs from the training to become a teacher.
Everyday life in boernehaver in Denmark has traditionally been based on
the legacy from the German philosopher F. Froebel, with a focus on care, self-
initiated play and outdoor facilities for development and learning. Also
growth-promoting relationships are considered important - equal relationships
where the child’s and the adult’s opinions are seen and heard on an equal
footing. The children are granted influence on aspects of their own everyday
life, as it is considered important that children develop an understanding of
democratic values.
In the USA, teachers set up learning centres where the children can learn
through play. While the children were playing, the teachers were present,
observing and supervising the play or interacting with them in order to expand
their play and scaffold their learning. The relationships between the teachers
and the children were observed to be friendly but more formal than in
164 Grethe Kragh-Miiller

Denmark. The children addressed the teachers as Miss or Mrs and then the
teacher’s first name. An everyday activity was circle time, where the children
listened to story telling and were taught about different subjects. At the end of
circle time, the children could choose the centre in which they wanted to play.
Sometime in the afternoon, the children spent some time outdoors. In the child
care centre studies, teachers described that much time was spent on the
NAEYC accreditation process, but they still reported having time to spend
with the children.
In the interview, the teachers stated that care for the children, nurturing
relationships, and respect for the children as small individuals were the most
important aspects of quality in child care. Also learning opportunities for the
children were noted as very important, and the learning centres were set up
with a focus on specific, planned activities to support learning through play -
as play was considered the best way of learning for small children. Beyond a
focus on learning, another observed focus was on making the children behave
properly and on trying to get angry or upset children to put their feelings into
words (“use your words”) or on letting the child spend time alone on a “time
out” chair or some other place to cool down.
Examining the discourses, it was clear that child care in the USA was
talked about as school, the settings as classrooms and the staff as teachers.
The teachers reported that this was partly because they found it important for
the children to be well educated, but they also found that talking about schools
rather than child care gave more status to child care as an important place for
children’s development and to them as teachers.

A C omparison of Q uality in C hild C are in

T w o Cultures

Comparing the results of the study revealed many similarities between

teachers, parents and children and even between the two cultures concerning
their views on quality in child care. In both countries the teachers found it
important to develop growth promoting relationships between staff and
children, but in both countries, for different reasons, it received less attention
than learning.
A growth-promoting relationship consists of different aspects and was not
described in the same way in the two countries. The Danish teachers, referring
to the Norwegian psychologist Loevlie Schibbye (2002) pointed to
 Development of Quality in Child Care in Denmark 165

acknowledging ways of being with the children. Looking at other research

studies, a study by BUPL (2010) revealed that in most Danish local
communities, acknowledging relationships is considered the main goal for
child care facilities. Teachers and parents therefore described the child/teacher
ratio as very important.
However, because of the new law on learning plans and other
administrative tasks, the Danish teachers found that they did not have enough
time to actually develop these relationships with the children in everyday life.
In fact, the observations showed that the teachers did not spend much time
together with the children. The Danish teachers saw the danger of getting into
subject-object relationships with the children, where they were forced to assess
and test the children, thus looking at them as objects instead of creating
subject-subject relationships with the children. As described by Loevlie
Schibbye (ibid), subject-subject relationships between adults and children are
the basis on which children’s development of self and sense of self-esteem are
promoted.
The American teachers, as opposed to the Danish teachers, spent more
time with the children and had office time to plan activities and the curriculum
- something they found very important for the quality of their work with the
children. Still the teachers in America found that time for relationships and the
development of social emotional skills was too limited, as they found this
important.
Looking at the differences, more emphasis than in Denmark was put on
children’s learning possibilities in child care in America, both by parents and
teachers - a variation that is likely to be related to the different cultures in
Denmark and the United States. Observations in the United States showed an
emphasis on establishing stimulating learning centres and on specific planned
activities to support learning. The learning centres provided the children with
many different possibilities for learning through play - possibilities that they,
as expressed in interviews, appreciated. It was observed that proper behaviour
was expected, and expressing feelings in inappropriate ways was discouraged
or not allowed.
Though the new law for child care in Denmark emphasises the importance
of learning and require this to be evaluated and documented, parents and
teachers found learning less important. They found it was fine for the children
to learn provided it was not like in school, but found that play, being with
friends and outdoor facilities were more important. Likewise, as mentioned,
they found that a relationship with the teachers that allowed the children’s
development of self, self-esteem and social competences was important. This
166 Grethe Kragh-Muller

meant that the Danish teachers and parents had different priorities than the
politicians and to a certain degree the teachers found that the new law,
although it helped them clarify leaning objectives in child care, also prevented
development of quality as they spent much time doing paperwork and less
time with the children.
The observations revealed that the Danish children spent much more time
on their own, away from the teachers than the American children. Much of the
day the children were observed engaged in play with peers outdoors or
indoors. This was considered important by teachers and parents, partly because
play promotes social competences, but also because the children enjoyed it. In
the interviews, the children confirmed that the best aspect of child care was
when they could play with friends. It was observed that some children were
more successful at finding friends to play with, while other children were left
on their own. The interviews with the children showed that the children
excluded from play often disliked going to child care.
The American children did not choose whom to play with, but where to
play. After circle time the children were asked to choose a learning area to go
to, where they would play with the other children who had also chosen this
corner. The interviews with the children revealed that also the American
children had friends that they preferred to play with, but it was not so
important for them to have a close friend in child care as it was for the Danish
children.
When children, like in Denmark, have to find friends on their own, decide
what to play and engage in play with peers, this can promote their
development of independence and social competences. But it also requires that
the children already possess these competences, which is not always the case.
Furthermore, finding a position in a large group of children depends not only
on the individual child’s competences. It also depends on the group of children
and on the way that the teachers relate to that group of children (Ahnert,
2006). It can be concluded that it is very important that teachers are present
and actually spend time with the children not only during activities and daily
routines but also when the children are playing. This is important not only for
developing growth-promoting relationships with the children, but also for the
children’s ways of playing and communicating with each other, and for their
possibilities for establishing friendships with peers. Likewise, the teachers are
important to set up stimulating settings for play - something that the Danish
children expressed in the interviews that they needed.
There were many similarities concerning what the children in the two
countries described as quality in child care. Playing with friends, nice teachers
 Development of Quality in Child Care in Denmark 167

and the possibility of having an influence on everyday life in child care were
mentioned by all the children. Walkerdine (2004) distinguishes between
“being” - referring to children’s right to a childhood in its own right with the
possibility of enjoying life here and now and “becoming”, which refers to
looking at children in terms of what they must achieve to do well in the future.
Quality for the children meant being able to enjoy life and have a good life
here and now (“being”) - a perspective they shared especially with their
parents. This is only natural. Children cannot be expected to reflect on what
they need to learn in order to do well in future society. This is the
responsibility of the adults.

Q uality in Child Care - Summary and D iscussion

During the 1990s, the Pisa reports concluded that Danish children do not
perform well at reading compared with other western countries. A new law for
child care was passed by Parliament in 2007 to promote learning in child care.
It features an increased focus on learning plans, together with demands for
evaluation, documentation and testing of children.
The new law, which contains many benefits, has imposed a series of
changes on child care. Parents are secured a place for their child in child care
and the law highlights promoting children’s development in many important
areas. But moving from the intentions of the law to everyday life in child care
has caused a series of issues to emerge both because of the different priorities
in the law and because the new law has been passed while the government’s
financial policy has meant a radical reduction in expenses in child care, thus
making the possibilities to develop quality in everyday practices in child care
difficult.
The presented study of “Quality in Child care” showed how child care is
closely connected to the society and culture of which it is a part. The results
showed how culture and daily practices in child care in Denmark are built on a
long historical tradition and on the legacy from the German philosopher F.
Froebel, with a focus on children’s right to a happy childhood in its own right,
given the freedom to play with friends and learn through play in child care
(kindergarten - a garden for children).
The study also showed differences from culture to culture in what is
considered quality in child care. Still, the study also showed that some
indicators of quality were the same across cultures. The parents in the two
countries investigated noted that the relationships between the children and the
168 Grethe Kragh-Muller

staff were the very basis of the development of the children. Without this, no
learning would take place. Teachers pointed to the importance of growth-
promoting relationships - in Denmark explained as acknowledging
relationships, promoting the children’s social competences and development
of self and self-esteem. Likewise, play and friendships were considered
important for quality in both countries.
The study showed differences concerning the importance of learning from
an early age in child care. More focus was put on the importance of learning in
the American centre than in Denmark where the teachers found that the new
law helped them clarify the importance of learning. However, at the same time
they also found that the new law had negative consequences for everyday life
in child care. For instance, the American teachers found that the law “No
Child Left Behind” in the United States has caused a shift in focus toward a
more teaching-based, academic-oriented approach. The same was found for
“Learning Plans” in Denmark.
Thus the law in Denmark has increased the focus on centralised political
goals, specific learning objectives, testing of children and accountability,
whereas before, every child care centre could plan its curriculum
independently. Another issue following the law is that the teachers now spend
quite a lot of time planning, evaluating and documenting, and are therefore
inaccessible to the children, who are left to play on their own for long periods
supervised by one or two adults.
There is increased concern that this will negatively influence children’s
development so that the law - which was intended to create more quality -
actually reduces the quality of everyday practices in child care. A range of
research indicates that teachers are spending less time with the children and
more time on paperwork. Thus a study (Bureau 2000, 2011) showed that the
adult/child ration changed from 6,9 child pr adult in 2007 to 9,5 child pr adult
in 2008, because the learning plans meant that that teachers spend more time
doing paperwork and less time with the children. In a study of 1-3 year old
children in child care, Hansen (in print) has found that a child is typically in
contact with an adult for 15 minutes per day. Some researchers suspect that the
reason why many children are referred to psychiatrists due to the suspicion of
ADHD can be connected to the children not having enough contact with child
care staff during the first years of their lives (Hansen, 2002, Rasborg, 2011).
Another issue debated is the increased focus on academic training and
testing of children. In the article “From Childhood to Invoice”, addressed to
the new minister of Childhood and Education in Denmark, a group of Danish
researchers and child specialists argue that it is of course important that
 Development of Quality in Child Care in Denmark 169

children acquire the competences that allow the children to do well in life and
Denmark to do well in international competition, but that it is likewise, and
maybe more important, to reconsider childhood. To reconsider if Denmark, as
a nation, values children as children and not only as future capital. To
reconsider if childhood in itself is of value. The researchers point to the
importance of securing children the right to a happy childhood here and now
(Joergensen et. al. 2011). They also argue that the increased testing of children
constitutes a problem for their development.
Other researchers have also expressed their concern regarding how
children will be affected by being assessed, tested and perceived in terms of
not who they are and what they are engaged in at this point of their lives, but
rather in terms of what they might be able to accomplish if we push them a
little harder (Kragh-Mtiller and Gloeckler, 2010). It is discussed that learning
is very important for children, but also important is growth-promoting
relationships that allow the children to develop self-regulation (emotion
regulation, attention and mentalisation). It is further argued that focusing on
the children “being” is as important as their “becoming”.
Comparing child care in different cultural setting sheds light on one’s own
cultural practices that are otherwise thought of as natural. This creates an
opportunity to reflect on one’s own cultural practices and - as is the focus in
this article - perceptions of quality in child care. This also points to the fact
that what is considered quality in child care is not necessarily the same from
culture to culture.
Some factors of quality can be recognised across cultures, for example a
warm, nurturing, personal and growth-promoting relationship between
children and teachers, the opportunity for children to form friendships with
peers and to play - both just for the fun of it and as a way of learning.
Children’s right to influence their everyday life was found to be an important
part of Danish child care culture.
As mentioned, when analysing daily practices in Denmark and the United
States, it becomes clear that the Danish child care culture is built on historical
traditions and values in Denmark. This is rooted in everyday practices, the
understanding, discourses and attitudes underlying this practice. For this
reason, it is not an easy task to change these everyday practices solely through
passing new laws. Change can also be difficult as the components of child care
culture sometimes exist subconsciously. Finally, the teachers and parents may
have different opinions as to what is important for their children. It seems
important to clarify what aspects of cultural practices create quality in child
care in a given country so that these practices can be maintained, as well as
170 Grethe Kragh-Mliller

reflecting and changing other practices that may appear negative for the
development of quality.
Learning from the American way, it seems important that Danish teachers
should reflect and clarify their concept of learning and enhance small
children’s possibilities for learning at different ages. Creating play/leaming
centres seems a possible way of promoting quality in Danish child care.
Furthermore, it seems important that Danish teachers are given “office time”
where substitute teachers take care of and interact with the children, so that
they are not left on their own for longer periods of time while the teachers do
administrative tasks. A child/adult ratio with a sufficient amount of teachers to
interact with the children seems imperative. Another issue to address is the
question of the size of a child care facility. If too many small children attend
the same centre, this is likely to decrease quality, as the teachers spend more
time coordinating everyday life.
Looking at priorities in the new child care law and the many requirements
for testing and assessing the children to push their achievement and learning,
the results of the study indicate the importance of the adults (politicians, local
communities, teachers, parents, child specialists and researchers) reflecting on
the balance of children’s rights to both have a happy childhood (“being” here
and now), also listening to children’s own perspectives, and have the
possibilities to develop the competences needed to succeed in life
(“becoming”).
A discussion about what constitutes quality in child care is important on a
national basis - so that the voices of teachers, parents, children, child
specialists, researchers as well as the politicians can be heard and contribute to
developing quality in child care.

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