The Experience of Work Rhythms in Pick-up and Drop-off Interactions in Early Childhood Education
This paper reports on an empirical research that pays particular attention to so-called “drop-off” and “pick-up” interactions that occur in early childhood institutions on a daily base, when children are being brought by their parents in the morning or picked up in the afternoon. These brief interactions between educators, parents and children are known to be complex and shaped by strong and often contradictory temporal constraints. By using video data from direct observations and collective data analysis carried out by experienced professionals, the article aims to highlight the «methods» used by early childhood educators to address such temporal constraints and shape the rhythmic properties of their encounters with parents.