Blå måndagar på förskolan: Förskoleveckans rytmer och rutiner

Sammanfattning: The peaks and dips of the week has been the focus of both research, folk lore and popular culture. Research has been carried out in many different disciplines such as psychology, economics and medicine just to name a few and spawning the Day-of-the-week-effect, the Thank God it’s Friday-phenomenon and the Blue Monday-hypothesis. However, research concerning these weekly matters set in a preschool context is scarce or nonexistent. The present state of the Swedish preschool bear hard on both personnel and children. Using the rhythm of the week as a starting point for discussions can be a fruitful way to address these matters.The aim of this study is to reach an understanding of weekly rhythms in preschool by focusing on Mondays and Fridays. The research questions of the study is: 1) Which are the characteristic features of the preschool planning that is prominent in Mondays and Fridays? 2) How do preschool personnel reason about Mondays and Fridays? 3) How are Mondays and Fridays made in the preschools organizing of activities and in the interaction between children and colleagues?This study’s empirical material consists mainly of group interviews with preschool personnel but also written weekly plans from the preschool groups. The theoretical framework for the analysis is built on the concepts of rhythm, liminality and schedule provided by Lefevbre, Zerubavel, Fraenkel and Turner. The study indicates that the days of the week are affecting the preschool personnel and also how the organizing of the week is made. Much of the planned groups and activities are scheduled for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, thus leaving Mondays and Fridays on their own on each side of the weekend. This way Mondays and Fridays stands out, whether it has to do with the Blue Monday/Thank God it’s Friday-phenomenon’s or not. Perhaps Stormy Monday would be a more accurate description of the Monday in a preschool setting? This study has merely scraped the surface of the subject, which could be further looked into by examining the children’s view or making a more in-depth examination of how the rhythms of the preschool week is appearing in the daily activities.