NOVA Rapport 3/2002

All parents were pleased that the facility was free of charge, although
many would if necessary have paid for it. Quite a number would have sent
their children to a day care centre even in the absence of an experimental
arrangement. Others (about the same number) said they would not have done
so, on grounds of expense.
The abiding impression is that the parents were satisfied with the
facilities offered by the experimental day care centre. They were particularly
pleased with the staff. Parents with an immigrant background were especially
concerned with their children’s development and Norwegian language skills.
Many were pleased with the progress made by their children in this area.
However, a number were disappointed with the standard of Norwegian
attained by their children, and found it difficult to see how children can learn
Norwegian when there were almost no ethnic Norwegian children at the day
care centre, and only a minority of the staff had Norwegian as their mother
tongue.
Having a child at a day care centre may affect families’ diurnal rhythm
and daily schedule, present new teamwork challenges (e.g. between father
and mother), and have a bearing on (generally) the mother’s work situation.
For mothers who do not have younger children than the four- or five-yearold
at the day care centre, the facility represented an opportunity to take a
language course. Two-thirds of the non-Norwegian mothers in the sample
did not speak Norwegian. In other words, the scheme had reached a target
group the authorities were aiming at. About one-third of the mothers started
attending Norwegian courses as a result of the day care facility. Several were
on the waiting list, but were dependent on a place on a course that offered
child supervision.
The staff’s main strategy for collaboration with the parents was to
create confidence. Confidence must be nurtured. This was achieved partly by
providing «confidence-inspiring» experiences (for example that the staff
took good care of the children). And partly by building emotional ties with
the persons on whom the confidence depended (that the children and/or
parents acquired a good relationship to one or more of the staff).
Creating confidence between strangers requires more than if the participants
know each other and have a lot in common. Coordination of activities
within an institution may make this easier. An institution has norms and rules
for what and how things are done. This makes the participants’ behaviour
more predictable. When the participants are strangers, the way they come
across (manner, clothes and the like) is particularly important. Many parents
and children see in the staff-team features and cultural modes of expression
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– NOVA Rapport 3/02 –