ABSTRACT
“Agency” is not only a (childhood)-sociological concept, but, in connection with the concept of “children as competent actors”, has also become a normative idea shaping the professional work of educators. The educators are meant to recognise the children's learning activities and document their specific capabilities. In this chapter, this process is illustrated through the example of two photographs from a German kindergarten. From an institutionalist perspective, photographs serve as the symbolic visualisation of the kindergarten as institution. Both photographs can, however, be read as illustrating forms of agency that actually contradict the intentions of the educators expressed in the accompanying captions. In actual fact, the photographs make visible desirable forms of agency. This contradiction and its institutional context are discussed under the concept of “generational order”.
