“Soft governance” i förskolans utvecklingssamtal

Abstract

According to the Curriculum for the Swedish Preschool, parent-teacher conferences are important practices in the intermediate sphere and in the relations between home and preschool. This article draws on a study in which the overall aim is to explore how parent-teacher conferences are constructed and used in Swedish preschools. Using transcripts of audiotaped episodes from parentteacher conferences, the analysis reveals that the interactions are charactarised by formality in accordance with institutional talk, but also to a large extent informality. Additionally, the analyses show that the parent-teacher conferences are characterised by “soft governance” both in terms of content (what) and form (how). The teachers use various communicative techniques that govern the conversation: closeness and intimacy, the use of anecdotes, references to the common interest of the child, elements of humour and laughter, and seemingly neutral questions. The article also discuss how “soft governance” is used in the construction and the assessment of a desirable preschool child and parent.

Keywords

• assessment
• parent-teacher conference
• preschool
• soft governance