ABSTRACT
This chapter, which examines how welfare policies and regulations institutionalize parenthood, uses data from a case study from an ethnographic research project conducted in Denmark. The case study examines collaboration concerning children's transitions in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. Social psychological discourse analysis is used to explore this collaboration and meetings between parents and professionals. Parenthood is theorized as being accomplished collaboratively in and through social relations and institutions. The analytical context is current early childhood education and care policies, a key focus of which is early learning. This focus may contribute to standardizing collaboration on children based on abstract evaluative criteria and frameworks that marginalize the perspective and experiences of parents with their child, limiting their agency. The analysis will show, however, that the encounter between parents and professionals may also render the perspective of parents on their child relevant and valuable when collaborating and thus contribute to the aim of early childhood education and care. The chapter argues that doing good parenthood in ECEC means exercising parental autonomy without disrupting the institutional order.
