What functions do the Austrian kindergarten teachers ascribe to the kindergarten in the present socio-economic conditions?

SUMMARY The discussion of preschool fostering of three to six-year old children centres on the aspects of education and care. The Charlotte Bühler-Institute for Practice-Oriented Early Childhood Research conducted an Austrian-wide kindergarten study to investigate the conditions in kindergarten which foster or hamper development. A integral part of this study addressed the question: what functions do the Austrian kindergarten teachers ascribe to the kindergarten in the present socio-economic conditions. From the perspective of kindergarten teachers, the results clearly document that kindergarten is no longer seen as merely an education-providing institution. Though one half of all kindergarten teachers continue to recognise the double mandate of education and care, one fourth of kindergarten teachers consider it as the main task of kindergarten to act as a substitute for family care. Frustration has reached such a level that one fifth of kindergarten teachers claim that kindergarten has neither an educational nor a care function.