Parents know best, right? : Russianness in Frankfurt am Main and the quest to convey a successful life

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Parents know best, right?

Russianness in Frankfurt am Main and the quest to

convey a successful life

Sascha Sareyko

12289868

ssareyko90@gmail.com

Amsterdam – August 2nd, 2019

Master thesis submitted to the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Amsterdam, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science,

Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology.

Word count: 26.422 Supervisor: M. Veenis

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Plagiarism Declaration

I hereby declare that this thesis meets the rules and regulations for fraud and plagiarism as set out by the Examination Committee of the MSc Cultural and Social Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. This thesis is entirely my own original work and all sources have been properly acknowledged.

Sascha Sareyko 02.08.2019

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Abstract

This research examines perceptions of ‘Russianness’ visualized through ‘Russian’ education and how it is mediated through a bilingual Russian/German kindergarten in the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Founded and still managed by post-soviet migrants the kindergarten Nezabudka manifested shared values and ideas of ‘Russian’ education among post-soviet migrants as well as the framework on how those ideas are being mediated. The construction of ‘Russianness’ takes place mainly in the surrounding of the facilities and between the educational organization, the composition of parents and the employees and caretakers. However, I argue that ‘Russian’ education and therefore what all people concerned understand as ‘Russianness’ constantly is being reconstructed over the course of the thirteen years of the kindergartens existence. Different perceptions, values and ideas and the composition and fluctuation of parents and workforce of the kindergarten lead to an on-going reflection and redefining of ‘Russian’ education.

The term ‘Russian’ covers different and conflicting elements. From the first years where the term commonly referred to strict, authoritarian, achievement-oriented and obligatory education an on-going process of negotiation is set in motion. The focus of education shifts because of the initiative of the caretakers who are the first to recognize the malfunctions of the demands towards the children. The efforts of change and developing the understanding of ‘Russian’ education are met with resistance and lead to a conflicting period of tension resulting in a split and co-existing ideas of ‘Russian’ education. Although paradoxically unified in the quest and aim to set their children up for the greatest possible success in life both forms seek separate ways of achieving this goal. The older version which is closer to the original form clings onto socialist heritage and values conservative educational methods. The newer and constantly developing one also holds onto the shared cultural heritage but their educational methods revolve around openness, self-determination and a relaxed atmosphere. As such the open approach attracts an increasing amount of people with different backgrounds and this form of ‘Russian’ education mingles with cosmopolitan ideas.

[‘Russian’ education, ‘Russianness’, post-soviet migrants, identity, bilingual education, cultural heritage, cosmopolitanism]

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Acknowledgements

First and foremost I would like to thank all the people I have met at the kindergarten and the activities around it and especially those with whom I have had interviews, discussions and conversations. My research would not have been possible without their hospitality, willingness and enthusiasm to include me into their daily routine. From the first day on I felt welcomed and accepted and was given the chance to grow into the role as a member of the team of Nezabudka 1. For this possibility, experience and the countless heart-warming interactions with the children I am very grateful. I will always treasure those memories.

The time at the kindergarten could not have been possible without Alexandra, Katja and Valeria. I am thankful to Alexandra and Katja for letting me participate daily at the facility and the respective groups as well as having the freedom to switch between them. The advice and guidance they provided as well as the fruitful and in-depth information I gained in lengthy conversations with

Valeria and her contacts to parents are by no means taken for granted.

Simon and Leila both made it very easy for me to acclimate, shared their insights with me and made me aware of smaller but essential things I otherwise would have overlooked.

I would also like to thank all the people I have met in Amsterdam as well as the different staff members of the University who gave me constant input while I was working on my thesis.

Finally I would like to thank my family and my parents who supported me throughout this time with an endless amount of patience and encouragement. Without them this thesis wouldn’t have been possible and I would not be the one I am today.

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Conceptualising and founding a ‘Russian’ bilingual kindergarten 35 Implementation of ‘Russian’ education 39 Structure and activities 39 Music, numbers and letters, literature and fairy tales 40 Differences in Russian and German education systems 41 Outside perception and media representation 43 Interaction parents and caretakers 44 ‘Russianness’ and cultural heritage 47

Conclusion 48

Chapter 3 49

Introduction 49

Us vs Them 50

Separation and becoming a fairy tale 55 Preserving ‘Russian’ education: Slowo and APS 58 Balancing the poles and a cosmopolitan form of education? 61

Conclusion 67

Conclusion 68

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Introduction

When I first went to the field and arrived in Frankfurt a. M. the goal of my research was to find and get to know the Russian-speaking community of the city. Beforehand I already knew there weren’t many associations where Russian-speaking people could meet and exchange and because the

educational institutions of Slowo e.V and Nezabudka gGmbH1 are the biggest and successful ones I

reached out to them. What I expected and hoped for was to make contact with many Russian-speaking families in the environment of both of those organizations through my stay at the

kindergarten Nezabudka 1 and to furthermore be included into as many activities happening inside and outside of the facilities as possible and therefore gaining access to the community.

In the beginning it naturally took some time to acclimate but I remember clearly when I thought I reached my goal of being included and regarded as welcomed and finally would be able to dive into the depths of the Russian-speaking community around the bilingual educational establishments.

Each year one of the employees of Nezabudka 1 writes and consequently organizes the performance of a stage play. Everything from the stage setting to the costume and catering is done on a voluntary basis and the helpers and actors consist of parents and employees of the kindergartens as well as their friends and other acquaintances. Although open to the public the audience at the showings is mostly made up of relatives, friends and other members of the Russian-speaking community. I was invited to one of the performances together with another trainee of Nezabudka 1 and a recently started caretaker. As we went to the stage play and enjoyed the performance before and afterwards I not only recognized a lot of parents and caretakers but was in turn also recognized by many of them and even newly introduced to many more parents and people involved in the

organizations. In retrospective the contacts I made this evening have helped me a lot during the daily routine inside Nezabudka 1, moving around the other facilities and facilitated access and answers to many places, events, activities and questions.

While I achieved making contact with the Russian-speaking community and gained access to it through being included I however realized that neither it could be described as one community nor that they do come together under common ideas or the premises of the kindergarten.

1

A gGmbH is a non-profit, charitable company with limited liability. A company is considered to be charitable if it pursues a common good purpo se, such as a public kindergarten (see https://www.firma.de/firmengruendung/was-ist-eine-ggmbh/, last accessed 28.06.2019). Julia Zabudkin, head of Nezabudka gGmbH chose this legal form for her company after the separation with Slowo e. V. This allows her to make decisions quickly without first having to discuss them at a committee, as it was the case with Slowo e.V.

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Instead I found an on-going mixture and negotiation process between shared values of cultural heritage mediation and ideas on educational values under a once shared understanding of ‘Russian’ education which has since and still is developing at the kindergartens and beyond.

Setting

The kindergartens are all located in the city of Frankfurt am Main, centrally located in Hesse, Germany. Frankfurt am Main, often nicknamed "Mainhattan" is the first major German city where

more than 50% of its inhabitants have a migration background2. In this multi-ethnic environment, an

enormous variety of multilingual educational institutions addresses people from many different nations. The approximately 20,000 Russian-speaking migrants and approximately 7,500 inhabitants of Frankfurt, who have a citizenship of post-Soviet countries, form one of the largest groups.3 For all the children of the inhabitants, commuters and international business people living or visiting Frankfurt a. M. Slowo states that „migration-related bilingualism is a reality. [Furthermore] the promotion of the language of origin favours the learning of the second language. In this regard the task of integrating children with a migrant background through targeted support is a particular

concern of a bilingual German-Russian school“.4

One of these organizations operating multilingual educational institutions is Slowo e. V, Association for the Cultivation of Russian Culture (further: Slowo or Slowo e.V). This non-profit, denominational and political unbound association was founded by ten Russian and German parents and educators in the autumn of 2001. As they intended to support other families who experienced and struggled with integration difficulties, Slowo e. V targets everyone who wants to learn the Russian language as well as all who are interested in Russian culture and Russia.

Since its founding Slowo e. V stands for the promotion of Russian culture, education and the promotion of international understanding by promoting the general education and care of the Russian language in particular, overcoming integration difficulties in Germany and the promotion of early Multilingualism in day care centres and schools resulting in a "preservation of Russian culture through its interaction with German and other cultures".5

Initially the association was provided with rooms by various other non-related organizations. In these rooms the first smaller groups of children were being educated, not only by learning the Russian language but soon also chess, math, Russian art and Russian music. The number of children in these groups was steadily growing up to 30, forcing the association to move to a bigger location.

2_{See http://www.fr.de/frankfurt/frankfurt-haelfte-der-frankfurter-hat-migrationshintergrund-a-1302935 (last access 01.08.2019)} 3_{See http://alexander-puschkin-schule.org/ueber-uns/traeger/ (last access 23.07.2019)}

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See http://alexander-pusckin-schule.org/ueber-uns/traeger/ (last access 23.07.2019)

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In 2003 the courses were the children would learn the Russian language, are expanded to include the mediation of Russian literature and history. At the same time the already established extracurricular activities were extended by a puppet theatre and Russian fairy tales. Especially the chess team would celebrate several successes at a competitive provincial level in the coming years.

In 2005 Slowo e. V leases additional rooms to set up a preschool, a mini kindergarten and a Russian library. For the first time cultural events and Russian language courses for adults are offered. At that time the library was the first in the whole Rhine-Main area and here too the concept of bilingualism was applied through books in German and Russian.

One year after the association expanded their activities and facilities they open up the first bilingual Nezabudka kindergarten through the initiation and cooperation with a post-Soviet migrant from the playgroups. In the following years these kindergartens gained more and more success and reaching the year 2014 the now four established kindergartens combined over 220 children, 60 employees and a financing volume of around 2.5 million euros. The size of the kindergarten division within the honorary association of Slowo e. V was no longer supportable for the small association and needed readjustment because of the associated workload and accompanying responsibilities.

The further professionalization of the management and administrative structures of the kindergarten operation into a non-profit limited liability company became necessary. At the annual meeting, the board of Slowo e.V. decided in late 2014 to transfer the sponsorship for the kindergarten facilities to

a newly founded Nezabudka Kinderbetreuung gGmbH.6

Currently Slowo e.V counts „more than 300 members of different nationalities who love the Russian language and culture“.7 They still operate various facilities all over Frankfurt, like the Russian library, the German/Russian mini-kindergarten “Solnyschko”, the Russian preschool “Slowetschko”, the Russian Saturday-school “Slowo” and the complex of their German/Russian kindergarten “Skaska” and German/Russian “Alexander-Pushkin-School”. These facilities are used by more than 500 children and young people. Currently about 100 people, mostly with a Russian background, are employed in the organisation with their latest project and focus being the expansion of the bilingual

Russian/German Alexander-Pushkin-School.8

The former shared kindergartens are now organized by Nezabudka Kinderbetreuung gGmbH with Julia Zabudkin as managing director and recently they opened Nezabudka 5. All facilities are located in the central city areas of Frankfurt am Main however spread over three different parts of the town, Bockenheim, Westend and Nordend.

6_{See https://nezabudka.de/darstellung-des-traegers/ (last access 25.07.2019)} 7

See https://www.slowo-ev.org/about-us/ (last access 13.06.2019)

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About sixty people are employed over the four locations and the administration and currently there are over 220 children looked after. All kindergartens are run accordingly to an all-day principle, meaning the children are looked after daily from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm, including breakfast, lunch and various leisure activities in the morning and afternoon.

Research question and theoretical concepts

I got interested in the bilingual Russian/German kindergarten through living in Frankfurt am Main for a few years. I always enjoyed the city for its multi-ethnic environment heavily influenced by his inhabitants mentioned earlier, mainly through food and restaurants but I also often wondered how all these different people live together.

Surely there had to be tensions and conflicts not only between different groups of people but also within their new environment coming to the city, in the way they organize themselves and live their daily life. The focus on Russian was a personal matter to me as I have a Polish background myself but hardly know anything about it or had the chance to come in contact with it through my education. Wondering about those aspects led me to do three months of fieldwork in and around these educational institutions looking to answer the following research question:

How do parents and caretakers construct, negotiate and convey ‘Russianness’ in a bilingual Russian/German kindergarten accompanied by tension and conflict?

In this thesis I aim to contribute a small amount to the already existing body of literature on migration and identity.

Through the founding of the bilingual kindergartens post-soviet migrants came together under a shared perception of their identity they call ‘Russianness’. However, exemplary “for the impossibility of defining Russianness is the space Russia inhabits, as it can´t be grasped or summed up nor even properly bordered. Like Russian identity it is open to endless manipulation to imaginary re-mapping” (Franklin and Widdis 2004, 49). In this thesis Russia isn´t regarded as a nation state because the geo-political and ethno-cultural boundaries do not match. Instead it is regarded as ethnic and multi-lingual and therefore defining ‘Russia’, ‘Russians’ as citizens of ‘Russia’ “regardless of their mother tongue, religion, clothing or political aspiration (Franklin and Widdis 2004, 4f) and Russianness is a task that is done between afore mentioned geo-political and ethno-cultural boundaries of self-definition.

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When they came together in their common perception of themselves as post-soviet migrants in Frankfurt am Main they set themselves apart from other groups. The identity resulting from the consequential collective shared perceptions can be understood as both objectively as they all have a background of living in the post-soviet states and subjectively as they feel and have experienced common aspects while living and growing up in these states (Brubacker and Cooper 2000, 7). In the term Russianness those shared perceptions and the common goals through which their “national identity is constructed and sustained [be it] through texts, flags, anthems, monuments, popular heroes and educational practises in fairy tales and literature” (Franklin and Widdis 2004, 2) manifest. Furthermore the post-soviet migrants conceptualize ‘Russian’ education in the kindergarten as part of their identity through their shared strive for success and goal of mediating this success and preparation for life to their children. In the form of ‘Russian’ education they foster achievement-orientated lessons, strict discipline and many obligatory extracurricular activities are of prime importance.

However, according to Richard Jenkins identity “isn’t ‘just there’, ‘it´s not a thing’, it must always be established” (Jenkins 2008, 17) and through founding, establishing and on-going operation the post-soviet migrants at the kindergarten establish their form of identity. Extending the argument “identities are systematically produced, reproduced and implicated in each other” (Jenkins 2008, 45) and therefore the construction and reconstruction of identity is a never-ending process. That means for the kindergarten to have a starting point in establishing identity through establishing ‘Russian’ education which is most likely the founding of Nezabudka. It also means that an amount of construction and reconstruction of this form of education has taken place over the last thirteen years resulting in the changed and developed current idea of ‘Russian’ education and ‘Russianness’. While ‘Russian’ education and ‘Russianness’ represent perceptions of identity I want to exemplify how the Russian-speaking parents from thirteen years ago exhibit the same strive for success and goals as their counterparts today but differ in the understanding of the way how to achieve their goal. Over the course of this change in mediation and transfer of the same values different perceptions of identity manifesting in ‘Russian’ education have shifted and caused tensions and conflicts in the environment in and around the bilingual institution.

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Entry into the field

When I first approached the administration of the kindergartens they quickly signalled their agreement as I was not the first researcher who was interested in their organisation. They explained to me that every location of Nezabudka works on his own so that I would have to approach one of them again with my request. I chose to contact Nezabudka 1 because I hoped as the first and oldest location it would prove to be the most resourceful one to gain a complete overview and in depth insight on their history and expected to meet caretakers who worked there from the beginning. Luckily for me this assumption worked out perfectly especially when I take into consideration my visits to the other facilities. In comparison I recognized that Nezabudka 1 and 2 offered a lot more in terms of decoration, miscellaneous, symbols, experiences and notes than Nezabudka 5 which is due to the fact that the latter only opened one and a half years ago.

My first day was a guided tour of the premises and a first meeting with the staff. Since my research started immediately after the winter holidays, only a few children attended kindergarten or were still on vacation which benefitted my research because for the first days I could really engage and got to know the caretakers in a relatively quiet surrounding. For the first two weeks, I spend one week from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm and one week from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the kindergarten Nezabudka 1. This initial time schedule, agreed with the management served both me as well as the team and also the children and their parents as a phase where we were given time to settle in and to get to know each other. Also for this purpose I was asked to put up a short portrait of me and my research on the notice board and the newsletter. The spare time available to me in these first two weeks, I have used to orientate myself in the city and especially to visit other interesting facilities for my research and to collect information about them. These included the bilingual German / Russian library, the Russian preschool and the Russian Saturday School run by Slowo.

After the first two weeks, I was working full-time from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm in Nezabudka 1, where I experienced and accompanied everyday life of the caretakers. This rhythm was only interrupted or extended whenever I had interviews with parents or informants, visited other institutions or attended events inside or outside the kindergarten. The children in Nezabudka 1 are separated in two groups, the sparrow-group which consisted of mostly Russian-speaking, younger children and the sunflower-group. Usually the children spend the morning in their respective group and after the lunch break and bedtime both groups conjoined in the afternoon. Three times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays the older children would spend their mornings in an extra preschool-group called rainbow-preschool-group. I mostly worked as a trainee in the sunflower-preschool-group but due to my research interests I was depending on the activities or staff shortage switching between groups.

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Particularly noteworthy here are two people. Katja is the German-speaking part of the caretaker-duo in the sunflower-group and also acts as a substitute for the management.

She quickly prepared me with everything I had to know and do while taking care of the children but more importantly was my entry ticket for everything going on inside the kindergarten. Because she is working for Nezabudka for several years now and also was working in a German Kindergarten before she offered constant insight into the differences and particularities of Nezabudka. Furthermore she has given me many insights into the work and the processes in the background and especially at events in the kindergarten opened me many opportunities to contact the present parents. The second person is Valeria who worked on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs in the Kindergarten and was specialised in Language Education. Through her own children who visited Nezabudka and following bilingual schools she is very well connected with other post-soviet migrants throughout Frankfurt. She was fascinated by my research and eager to help me through her personal network, enabling me to contact many parents and participating in non-kindergarten related events

such as a stage play, information evenings, lectures and Russian festivals.

In addition, I was in the fortunate situation that together with me as a researcher, Simon as a Russian-speaking intern and Leila as a German-speaking educator started working in the kindergarten. Through the common acclimatization phase, we have spent a lot of time together and shared experiences and perspectives which in turn made up the lot of material for my research.

Methodology

As I worked as a trainee in the kindergarten the majority of my data is made up of participant-observation, (informal) interviews, brochures or flyers and photographs.

Because the institution required protection of their company internals during the first meeting with the managing director I signed a confidentiality statement. Another document I had to sign was to agree on not taking photos where children are recognizable and also agree on the ban of personal media equipment during working hours. The background to this agreement was that one should focus on the children and the parents would otherwise get a bad impression of the work from the caretakers. This ban included recorders or phones and applied basically all the time except when inside the breakroom for the caretakers. This made it necessary to always carry a pencil and a piece of paper and the difficulty was during conversations or activities to quickly interrupt or find something to write on when I came across an interesting thought or comment or to remember it later on.

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My usual strategy was to treat the day as two-part. In the lunch break, I summarized all the notes and thoughts that I had collected in the morning and in the evening at home, I did the same again with the data I collected in the afternoon.

Another thing I underestimated and would have made a recorder useless anyway was the noise in all of the facility. The noise level would obviously depend on how many children were present that day but in most cases there were never less than 15 children present per group. The permanent presence and attention the children needed also made it quite difficult to have lengthy conversations or interviews without being interrupted.

My solution I opted for was to find the few times per day these conversations actually were possible for example in the lunch break when all children were asleep. This also meant that the semi-structured interviews I planned often turned into informal interviews on current questions or situations. However this change turned out beneficial not only because I got a lot of information on current events and topics but also because this informal style helped the caretakers to open up and later during the work eagerly point out aspects they thought I should recognize.

Another major impact on my research and doing interviews had to do with health. Because there was such high fluctuation of parents and especially children there never was a time when everybody was healthy concluding in a circle of illness where first the children were getting sick one after another and as soon as they were well and returning to the kindergarten again the caretakers were getting sick and so on. At times this put a real strain towards the staff situation and atmosphere at the kindergarten but also strengthened the relationship among each other and gave me far more responsibility and insight than I would have gained if everybody would have been healthy.

Nearly all interviews took place in the kindergartens as this was the place for both caretakers and parents that proved the most convenient and comfortable for them. While the interviews with the head-educators of the different Nezabudkas took place in their offices after a tour of the premises the conversations with the other caretakers and employees took place wherever it was relatively quiet and undisturbed at that time. Approaching the parents for interviews was quite difficult and I settled to ask questions or start a conversation whenever I would see them which either was at different events held at the kindergartens or during the time they brought or picked-up their child.

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Thesis overview

In Chapter One I will depict the current state of the kindergartens and their concept as well as the current form of ‘Russian’ education. The chapter mainly takes place in Nezabudka 1 and covers the current processes and implementations while furthermore comparing the individual locations to provide a comprehensive overview of the common structure and applications of how to convey content. The chapter also highlights those aspects that are clearly recognizable to the observer's eye as 'Russian' and ‘Russian’ education over all facilities. Those aspects that parents and caretakers alike consider important components and points of attention when it comes to ‘Russian’ education being conveyed to their children include ‘Russian’ festivals and holidays, food, a focus on music and literature and the language usage of the children in both Russian and German.

In Chapter two I will depict the founding of the kindergarten and the original form of ‘Russian’ education which is at that time recognized by all people concerned. The chapter highlights how the initial idea came to live, the process of finding and implementing a concept, approaching the city of Frankfurt and another organisation for support and finally opening the first facility. In this development ideas and values such as achievement-orientated lessons, strict discipline and many extracurricular activities are of prime importance. These are expressly desired by the ‘Russian’ immigrants, as they have experienced this form of education themselves and want keep these values alive and pass them onto their children in their strive to set up their children for success. This effort is also connected to dissatisfaction towards the German education system. Through a comparison to the characteristics of ‘Russian’ education in chapter one the original form of those aspects and where they come from will be exposed and the chapter concludes in how this idea of ‘Russian’ actually derives from a mixture of socialist heritage and conservative educational ideas on raising children.

Chapter three is focusing on the process of change and development of ‘Russian’ education and serves the purpose of filling the developmental void between opened up descriptions of the current take on ‘Russian’ education and its original form at the founding of Nezabudka. The ongoing process showcased in this chapter emphasises the recreation of the idea of the caretakers on ‘Russian’ education and its mediation through further developing its application in the kindergarten. Furthermore the chapter visualizes the consequential reactions of the post-soviet parents towards these implemented changes and the resulting tensions and conflicts. Out of those tensions and conflicts emerge two distinct ideas of ‘Russian’ education. Both attract different groups of people paradoxically aiming for the same goal regarding the respective form of ‘Russian’ education as a road of success for their children.

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Chapter 1 Introduction

The following Chapter lays the foundation for this work by providing an understanding of Nezabudka gGmbH as an organization and its structure and functioning as well as the daily operations within one kindergarten location of Nezabudka. The immediate focus is on Nezabudka 1 which is the kindergarten that was founded first, thus exists the longest and in which I spent most of my research stay. Over the course of the chapter I will go on mentioning or comparing the other sites to provide additional information or point out location based specifics. Since Nezabudka 1 is the longest-running one and because many of its employees have been employed there since its founding, this kindergarten was predestined to find out what is uniformly understood and conveyed by all persons involved as 'Russian' aspects and education.

The chapter first deals with the spatial structure of the kindergarten, which rooms exist, how they are structured and what activities take place there. Then I go on to describe the fixed weekly schedule and the group-specific daily schedules and procedures. Here, the main focus is on the group structure and the role of the educators as well as the activities with the help of which a first understanding of 'Russian' education and features becomes visible.

In a second step, I will focus even more on those aspects that parents and educators alike consider important components and points of attention when it comes to ‘Russian’ education being conveyed to their children. Those include ‘Russian’ festivals and holidays, food, a focus on music and literature and the language usage of children in both Russian and German.

Ultimately, I then deal with the involvement of parents in the kindergarten and the cooperation and coexistence between parents and educators.

Thus, not only does this chapter provide a comprehensive overview of the structure and applications of how to convey content within Nezabudka 1, it also highlights those aspects that are clearly recognizable to the observer's eye as 'Russian' and ‘Russian’ education.

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Nezabudka 1: Weekly schedule and daily routine

Every kindergarten of Nezabudka has the same general room layout but differently applied for the buildings they are located in. This layout always includes two offices, one for the staff which also serves as a breakroom and one for the head of the kindergarten, a wardrobe, two bathrooms, again one for the staff and one for the children, a kitchen, a dining room and a large hall where sports, music and other events that require a lot of space take place. Most importantly and depending on the amount of children in the specific locations three to four rooms are used as group rooms where the children play or draw or in general spend most of their time, always observed by the caretakers. Deviating from this general layout the various locations adapted and incorporated more rooms with special purposes. Nezabudka 5 offers a room specifically for the parents to breast-feed their children in or to wait in it during the adjustment period for the child. The biggest exception and adaptation from the described layout is Nezabudka 4 as every group of this kindergarten occupies one floor with bathrooms, a kitchen and a hall for sports, music and activities on each of it due to the structure of the building. Not only in number of children but also in size Nezabudka 2 is the biggest location and the building also hosts the administration. Because of that most of the mutual corporate events, lectures or other activities for the parents take place at this site.

Nezabudka 1 is centrally located in the district of Bockenheim and is easily accessible by public transport. On two floors, integrated into a red brick building, the kindergarten is located in a small commercial area. On the lower floor is the entrance hall with the wardrobe, one bathroom, the hall for sports and music, the kitchen and dining area, a staff room for working or having a break, and the office of the management. On the upper floor the group rooms, a bedroom and another smaller washroom are located. Directly in front of the house facing the street is a wooden terrace and an outdoor playground, which is only accessible for the children of the kindergarten. It consists of a climbing combination with Wobble Bridge and slide, sandpit, stretching rods and a swing.

In contrast to the other locations, which offer cribs as well as kindergarten groups and thus care for between 45 and 50 children between the ages of one and six, Nezabudka 1 does not offer a crib. Instead, the site looks after a maximum of 40 children between the ages of three to six years distributed over three groups.

In the sparrow group are mainly the younger children, many with purely Russian-speaking parents. The sunflower group consists of many children who are four or older and the language balance is more equally distributed between Russian and German.

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Out of both groups the oldest, five to six-year-old children form the rainbow group and meet several times a week in the mornings in which the children are prepared for school. The fact that this group meets only on three days is a temporary solution due to lack of staff, the actual goal is to offer this preschool group permanently as it was done in the past.

Each group is supervised by two educators who both are present and approachable at all times. The basic classification in the kindergarten stipulates that per group one of the educators speaks only German with the children while the other only speaks Russian with them. Employees who speak both languages are sometimes used variably, but there is a fixed consistent classification based on the respective mother tongue. While most employees are able to speak and understand both languages the ones who don’t are supported through the institution via language courses. In the groups do not only the children communicate with each other through a mixture of both Russian and German, the educators do as well. Especially, in cases of difficulties in understanding one language and in situations of conflict or stress, it often happens that an educator addresses the child both in Russian and German. Sometimes the same sentence contains words in Russian and German. Noticeable was that the caretakers are deliberately overlooking grammatical or other errors in the language use. Part of this is the belief that it is much more important to encourage the child rather than correcting, educating and therefore discouraging the child in the process of learning languages.

One of the persons who was actually allowed and encouraged to speak both languages with the children at all times was Valeria. As the specialist in language education she was part of the team of employees in Nezabudka 1. Every Nezabudka facility employs a team of ten to fifteen persons each consisting of one manager, five to nine caretakers, one specialist for language education, one housekeeper who also cooks and prepares the meals and a cleaning person. Distributed across all locations, the kindergartens share a music teacher, an elderly couple volunteering for storytelling and reading, and a relief person helping out wherever and whenever it is needed. During my fieldwork in Nezabudka 1, I was integrated into the team as a trainee and together with another trainee we supported the caretakers in their work which enabled me to really look behind every

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Figure 1: The carpet in the sunflower group room where the morning circles are held

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Certain group-specific activities and scheduled events in the kindergarten are always tied to one specific days of the week. For example, Nezabudka educators are supported on a regular basis by external staff twice a week. This includes music lessons on Mondays with Tatiana, the music teacher who plays the piano and practices Russian songs and corresponding dances and games with the children. Depending on availability, but usually on Thursday afternoons, an elderly couple visits the kindergarten. The two of them belong to a program called "Granny and Grandpa Read" and accompany and support Nezabudka since its founding by reading and telling Russian fairy tales and stories in small groups of six to ten children once a week.

Wednesdays are usually excursion days, where either playgrounds, museums or parks are visited in the respective groups, the older children take swim courses or participate in traffic education or the kindergarten all together undertakes a trip. At irregular intervals there is also a fairy tale lesson on Fridays, which reads German stories to the children.

Figure 3: The daily schedule of Nezabudka 1

The day at Nezabudka 1 starts for the caretakers at 7:00 am when they first arrive to the facility and open it. Generally the parents would deliver their children between 7:30 am and 9:15 am although sometimes they are brought in late because of external language classes or doctors’ appointments. The time when the children are brought to Nezabudka 1 depends on different factors. Some children are brought in at 7:30 am because both parents are working and need to move directly on to work. These children are then allowed to occupy themselves in the large hall until breakfast itself.

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Depending on whether they are having breakfast at home or in kindergarten, most of the children come in after or during breakfast. Between 8:30 am and 9:00 am, the caretakers and children are having breakfast together regardless of their group. After breakfast and tooth brushing for the children who have eaten, the children and educators move on to their respective groups and rooms. There, after a short period in which the children can play independently, the morning circles take place. Once the morning circles are over the entire day is tightly structured along a set schedule and the educators are meticulous in keeping and enforcing this schedule on the children.

The morning circles or gatherings are a shorter version of an activity. In those gatherings the children have to get a chair and sit quietly for about half an hour while the caretaker talks to them or incorporates them into little activities or games. The content and the language spoken depend on the expertise and preparation of the responsible, alternating caretaker. Usually they are preparing themselves conscientiously explaining different topics, including rhymes, stories and songs in the language they are allowed to speak with the children. Most of the topics are related to upcoming events or festivities but there are also fixed elements every morning in these circles. It always starts with a song or rhyme, were everyone has to introduce themselves. On Mondays the children are encouraged to tell the others what they did during the weekend and on every first Tuesday of the month the children are allowed to bring a toy from home to the kindergarten and present it. Social skills and manners are treated in the morning circles as well, mediating the respectful interaction with each other, listening to authorities, tidying and keeping order and hand hygiene. The morning circles end with the caretaker selecting a bunch of children to count all attending children in both Russian and German. If the preschool group takes place they are doing their own morning circle otherwise they are divided into the other groups. In contrast to the other two groups, the children of the rainbow group are given task sheets after the morning circle to work on before they are allowed to play. Contents of these worksheets range from playful tasks such as drawing forms to learning first letters or numbers and serve as preparation for elementary school.

Afterwards in the two hour time period before the lunch breaks the children are either allowed to play on their own or the caretakers prepared a voluntary activity like tinkering or drawing in which they can participate. During my time at Nezabudka 1 it was more frequently that the children of the sunflower and rainbow group were playing independently while the caretakers of the sparrow group had prepared some activity for the younger children. However, when the weather is dry and sunny all groups are going outside to the yard and playground.

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Lunchbreak starts from 11:30 am beginning with the sunflower group and lasts half an hour for each group. After the sunflowers the sparrow group follows and if it takes place the rainbow group is eating last. Immediately after each lunch the children are encouraged to get ready to go to bed and to be quiet during their resting time. Since the youngest need the longest to put on their pyjamas, get their mattress and make their bed they eat first. During the rest periods in which almost all children sleep, there is always an educator present in each of the three bedrooms.

From 13:30 pm the children who can no longer sleep or don’t want to independently get dressed and are then allowed to play quietly so that they do not wake the remaining sleeping children. At 14:30 pm at the latest, all children are woken up and then have to dress and get their beds in order. Around 15:00 pm there will be another small snack, which usually consists of a piece of cake or biscuits and fruit and is eaten in small groups either in the dining room or directly in the group room. During the afternoon, the rainbow children are always distributed among the other two groups.

Already from 15:00 pm on the first children are picked up, since they also perceive other leisure activities such as ice hockey, chess, ballet and language lessons. Until the closing of the kindergarten at the latest by 17:00 pm there are still a few activities, all groups go out in the yard or the children are allowed to play independently in the group rooms. At 16:30 pm, however, the children who are still present clean up together and the last minutes before pickup are spent on the playground in front of the building.

Current characteristics of ‘Russian’ education

The insight I gave up to this point about the structure and routines in Nezabudka 1 now enable a following, broader understanding of the points of attention that highlight the shared conception of ‘Russian’ education of parents as well as caretakers. Furthermore these cornerstones are now subdivided by me into the recognisable aspects of ‘Russian’ festivities and holidays, ‘Russian’ food, the focus and mediation of music and literature, language and the contact between caretakers and parents.

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‘Russian’ festivities and holidays

Since the facilities of Nezabudka remain closed during the German summer holidays9 and reopen in

mid-August, the festival year for the kindergartens usually begins in September. From then on, the day-to-day life in the kindergarten is decisively determined by the preparations and celebrations of the festivals and events. From September to mid-June, up to ten festive and public holidays take place in rapid succession, lasting several days or even a whole week. In addition to these big events, birthdays, weekly excursions and smaller events have to be planned as well.

In general, the planning of the festivals and celebrations and the organization is distributed between the caretakers so that they either take care of it on their own or in case of bigger holidays in teams of two. If the celebrations are restricted to the groups, the respective caretakers are responsible for it. All Nezabudka facilities roughly follow the same sequence of events and holidays and exchange information about them. It is up to the respective teams to replace events or introduce new ones to the yearly schedule. In the following I discuss the holiday calendar and the smaller events in Nezabudka 1, of which I was able to help organize and join the celebrations of three major festivities. Usually the celebrations are reduced or changed to a meaning or activity for the children and stripped of their religious or political character as explained by Alexandra, the head of Nezabudka 1.

Alexandra: We have tried from the start to avoid anything that is more or less religious and political. The festivals might actually be religious but then we have to repack them into something rather culturally and social. For example St. Martins Day is the festivity of sharing. Religion in itself or anything that has to do with god we won´t address. More like that he was a good man who has shared his coat and then as bishop spread the good in the world simply because he was so warm-hearted. Easter as well we rather avoid the traditional customs because eggs are also dyed in Russia although without a hare and are not hidden.10

The festive year of Nezabudka starts in September with Thanksgiving and St. Martins Day where the children learn the meaning and importance of gratitude and sharing. December starts with the day of Saint Nicholas where one of the employees of the kindergarten secretly fills the boots of the children in the wardrobe with candy, nuts and little presents. The celebration of the New Year in Nezabudka 1 is actually a combination of Christmas and Jack Frost. Taking place in late December the children prepare songs and a small stage play for their parents and receive presents before they leave during the winter holidays.

9_{Usually seven to eight weeks between mid-June and mid-August}

10_{Representing all the quotes I will use in this thesis, it should be noted that all interviews and interactions were conducted in German. The quotes in English}

have been translated by me to the best of my knowledge and belief. Of course, I have taken care not to falsify the original meaning of the statements and to reproduce them as true to the original as possible. Furthermore the persons I had day to day contact with and who offered me to use their first names are indicated as such while other interlocutors are referred to by their full name.

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Every year at the end of January Nezabudka 1 celebrates the bird wedding (Ptaci-kwas) which is a Sorbian tradition in which gratitude and joie de vivre are expressed. 11 The festivity was suggested by Kathrin Franke a former employee of Nezabudka 1 and now head of Nezabudka 5, who knew it from her childhood in the GDR and thought that it would be a good match for the kindergarten. In a joint round at one of the team meetings she presented the idea and the caretakers decided to implement the festival. In a performance the children simulate a wedding of magpie and raven, which are gradually accompanied and receiving gifts by other children dressed up as birds and wedding guests. The parents who are expressly invited take over the role of the rest of the wedding party. In addition a father accompanies the children on the piano as they sing along.

February is dominated with the preparations for carnival where the children and caretakers come to the kindergarten dressed up in costumes. Each group celebrated carnival separately and without the parents as the children sang and danced their way through the kindergarten into the large hall where they played games and ate a lot of candy.

In March two large and important celebrations take place directly after one another in the kindergarten. Maslenitsa also known as the butter or pancake week, a non-religious holiday always takes place in the last week of Lent and symbolizes the beginning of spring. Because meat is forbidden pancakes (Blinis) are served at every meal throughout the week as their shape and colour are reminiscent of the sun. Parents are asked to enlist on which day and at which meal they voluntarily bring blinis to Nezabudka for everyone to eat.

The highlight in the kindergarten is the joint burning of the life-size cardboard and fabric straw doll in women's clothing. This event takes place in the morning without the presence of parents. Tinkered by the preschool children of the rainbow group over the whole week the doll is placed in a fire pit, a rhyme is said and the doll is burnt as symbol for the ending of winter.12 At the end of the week, the supporting parents who baked blinis receive a certificate of gratitude.

11_{The sorbs are a minority with their own language in Lusatia (see https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorben, last access 08.07.2019)}

12_{Unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture of burning the doll in the kindergarten. Because of the wind conditions burni ng paper and fabric pieces blew}

through the yard, the children panicked and I had to help calm them down and extinguish the doll. That's why I used a symbolic image fo r illustration https://www.123rf.com/photo_93107057_traditional-burning-of-maslenitsa-scarecrow-on-seeing-russian-winter-on-last-day-of-shrovetide-march.html (last access 01.08.2019)

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Figure 4: A burning doll during Maslenitsa celebration

Directly after the celebrations of Maslenitsa the International Women's Day is celebrated. On this day the mothers and grandmothers are honoured and celebrated. Nezabudka 1 invites the parents to the facility for a common breakfast. Afterwards, the children perform dances and songs they had previously practiced for in the groups and in the music education with Tatsiana. Already in the run-up to this breakfast, the female employees of the kindergarten receive flowers, chocolates, cakes or whole flower arrangements from each child or their parents as a sign of recognition of their work.

The year in kindergarten ends with Easter and the following summer party at which caretakers, parents and children once again celebrate together, present songs and dances and say goodbye to the older children who leave Nezabudka. Over the course of the preparations for each of these festivities the other activities in the kindergarten are largely influenced by these upcoming events. Caretakers often work with the children to prepare the decorations, paint thematically fitting pictures and explain the meaning and origin of the festivals in a simplified way in the morning circles. In the music lessons dances, songs and rhymes are practiced, which are often repeated during meals.

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In addition to these festive days, there are also other events such as visits to museums or botanical gardens, swim training, traffic education, visits to farmers, or sports stadiums.13 Usually, the educators try to stay among themselves during these activities and to refrain from the help of the parents, as the children might get too distracted or behave differently. However at these bigger events the support of the parents is needed and welcomed.

‘Russian’ food and table manners

As all kindergarten locations guarantee full catering, there is a shared breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack. If a group has day trips to a playground or other location, parents will pack a backpack with

food and the corresponding meal will be cancelled for that group.

On most days breakfast consists of Bread with butter, sausage and cheese, accompanied by sliced fruits and vegetables, such as apple, carrot, cucumber and paprika. Every now and then there are sausages for breakfast and Wednesdays are cereal day.

The lunch always consists of a main course and fruit salad, pudding or cake as dessert and a plate of vegetables and bread. The food is prepared by a regional restaurant and delivered to the kindergarten in heat containers. Arriving, the housekeeper Galina prepares the last steps and serves the food. Each month there is a list that travels from group to group from which the children can choose together with the caretakers out of a selection of what all of them will eat the following month. Every weekly schedule contains at least one soup and fish on Fridays. In addition to fish fingers, pasta dishes such as spätzle, spaghetti with meat balls and tortellini are popular among the children. 14 The given preselection of the restaurant through the list and the decisions of the children are partly providing curiosities such as leek cream soup or not really popular dishes such as spinach and savoy cabbage.

13

For example the Experiminta which is a science centre in Frankfurt am Main where contrary to other museums the exhibits are meant to be tested

14

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Figure 5: the wall murals in the dining rooms of Nezabudka 2 and 1, picturing kalabok and a fox as well as a bear and a matryoshka drinking tea from a samovar

Depending on the location, several times a month the usual lunch is replaced by a ‘Russian’ meal. While Nezabudka 2 serves these meals every two weeks, Nezabudka 1 gets these ‘Russian’ meals every week on Tuesdays. Because these meals are more expensive than the normal ones on these days the dessert usually was cancelled. Unlike the selection by the list and the inclusion of the children in case of the ‘Russian’ meals only the educators decide what food is served after discussing it in their team meetings. The delivery and preparation is similar to the rest of the week, however, the different supplier is specialized in bilingual facilities and also supplies bilingual French / German facilities in Frankfurt.

The Russian specialties were not quite as varied as the food the rest of the week. There were repetitive meals spread over the three months of my stay. One was a clear soup of carrots, cabbage, various spices and chicken patties. Afterwards siriniky, a kind of small curd cheese cake that was eaten with sour cream or jam was served as a dessert. Also popular were vareniki, cooked potato-stuffed dumplings, which were also eaten with sour cream, and Makarony po-flotski. These noodles with minced meat, the children were told at dinner, were once eaten by sailors in Russia. Because they did not have so much meat available makarony po-flotski was a quick and easy full meal. Not so popular was salad Olivier, which consists of potatoes, chicken, eggs, carrots, peas and mayonnaise.

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In addition to the lunch the snack in the afternoon which was also divided into groups featured Russian pastry on an irregular basis. In addition to fruit, cake in case of a child's birthday and biscuits Galina often baked. Among others the treats were Oladushki, slightly thicker and smaller pancakes, bulochka a hard bread pastry, pryanik with a condensed milk filling, stuffed oreschki or a honey cake Medovnik. 15

Figure 6: From left to right exemplary pictures of the food that was served on Tuesdays, varenyky, makarony po-flotski and oreschki

With every meal bread and tea is served. Simon, an intern from Kazakhstan, who started at the kindergarten the same time I did and who I spent a lot of time with, drew my attention to it.

Simon: The bread on the table at every meal is very typical of Russia it is done on purpose. I know it from home it symbolizes hospitality and is almost considered an insult if none is offered.

Overall, the atmosphere at mealtimes contrary to my original expectation was quiet and disciplined. Depending on the educator, the children were allowed to talk to each other, but the focus was rather that they behaved calmly, ate quickly and focused on their table manners. The end of the meal was always marked by the game Malchanka. After a countdown of the educator, the goal of the game is to be as quiet as possible. The children who had not made a sound were declared the winners. On the other hand children who made a noise had lost the game. Even more so the children were expected to help with every preparation of the tables and after each meal they have to clean up their used dishes and cutlery themselves and in case they left to much of a mess at their seat they had to clean it first before they were allowed to join the rest in their group again.

15_{Pastries filled with condensed milk, looking like walnuts. Sources for the images:}

https://de.rbth.com/articles/2011/10/04/wareniki_ein_unumstrittener_genuss_07061 (last access 01.08.2019) http://pro-grechku.com/recept/kak-prigotovit-makarony-po-flotski-s-farshem-vkusno/ (last access 01.08.2019)

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Mediation of music, literature and language

An integral part of the concept of Nezabudka is the implementation and mediation of musical and literary content. Every kindergarten location is equipped with a piano in the large hall.

Miroslava: Before any piece of furniture was delivered the piano was already there because it is something very important and anchored in the concept right from the beginning that all German/Russian Nezabudka institutions will have this early musical influence.

Every Monday Tatsiana the external acknowledged music educator visits Nezabudka 1 to play piano

and teach the children Russian songs and corresponding dances.

Usually the songs and dances are connected to upcoming festivities, seasons of the year or serve as activity for the children. A lot of activities in the daily life in the kindergarten are connected to songs, rhymes or rhythmic movements. Whenever there is time for example before lunch or while waiting for all children to get dresses to go outside the caretakers engage with the remaining children through these mini-activities in their respective language.

What mainly contribute to the mediation of literature are books.

Miroslava: The handling of books is something that was heavily transported from the Russian or post-soviet area to us. It plays a very important role.

As they were “tokens of appreciation” (Valeria, interview) Nezabudka encourages the use of a library, literature in general, reading, reading aloud with your children or just looking together at picture books. Again each location of Nezabudka has its own library with the biggest one in the oldest location at Nezabudka 1. These libraries are divided into different sections and address children and parents alike. Sections with guides on the topics of raising children are frequently used by parents who are taking advantage of the free loan opportunities they are presented. The library in Nezabudka 1 and its shelves are incorporated across multiple rooms. One of the two main parts is in the hallway with the guides on raising children easily accessible for parents without disturbing the activities in the other rooms. The other main part is in the dining room mostly because there is also the area where children have to wait for their parents or have to wait for the others after they have finished eating and in the meantime can occupy themselves with a book.

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The children are always allowed to read a book or ask a caretaker to read with them out of a pre-selected choice of Valeria who is managing the library and rotates her selections from time to time. There are also various books selected and rotated by Valeria in the group rooms upstairs. Many books are duplicates in Russian and German and to be easily recognized as such for the children they are marked with stickers. Most of the books are fairy tales or children stories and those are incorporated in nearly every morning circle, event preparation or bedtime stories. Demonstrating the connectivity the parents and children have to both German as well as Russian fairy tales the following pictures show the result of the project “My childhood hero” in Nezabudka 2. The importance of literature in general and fairy tales and childhood heroes in particular are depicted over four canvases separated in summer and winter. Each of them are picturing “books they love, heroic figures from books ,cartoons and childhood (Miroslava, interview) and the connectivity to Nezabudka and the city of Frankfurt.16

Figure 7: The summer painting in Nezabudka 2 done over the course of the event “My childhood hero”

16_{In both pictures the kindergarten can be seen in the centre and all over the canvas as the blue forget -me-not flowers represent their logo. Frankfurt am Main}

is depicted by the city hall “Römer” on the right and left to that the Frankfurt Opera, the fairtower and the hammering man as well as the main station and of course the river “Main”.

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Figure 8: The winter painting in Nezabudka 2 done over the course of the event “My childhood hero”

The connection to Russian fairy tales and the background of the caretakers is omnipresent in the kindergartens.17 Be it in the murals in the dining rooms, in display cases in which gifts from Russia and souvenirs are stored or in decorative porcelain.18 Every day as I would enter Nezabudla 1 I passed a mural in the hallway showing a tree where the branches consisted out of frames with pictures of children who used to go to the kindergarten. Thinking of it as a nice way to display earlier groups of children one day the caretakers mentioned to me that the tree is a white birch and actually a national symbol in many post-soviet countries. Comparable to the German oak the tree stands for protection and spring.19

17_{What follows is a selection of German and Russian fairy tale characters that can be found in the pictures. Where it was possi ble the English translation is}

provided otherwise I stuck to the German name of the fairy tale.

Cheburashka, The Sams, The scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, the Soviet version of Tom and Jerry: Rabbit and Wolf from 1974, M asha and the Bear, Zini Dorkai a poetic fairy tale, Thumbelina, Shaun the sheep, Kikoriki, Little Muck, Nimmerklug, Pinocchio, Findus and Pettson, The Little Prince, The Snow Queen, Wolf and Vixen, Baron Munchausen, Karlsson of the Roof, The Frog Prince, Tibul besiegt die Dickwänste, Czars, Russian oven with finished pierogi, mother Hulda, Bremen town musicians, Jack Frost, the three little pigs, The Robber Hotzenplotz

18

Khokhloma Painting, Dymkovo toys,Ceramics from Gschel, Tray painting from Shostovo.

19

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Figure 9: The birch tree in the entrance area of Nezabudka 1, the branches are symbolized by pictures of past children

As a bilingual German/Russian kindergarten, Nezabudka attaches importance to teaching and learning both languages. The organization not only supports the educators in learning both languages, but also the children and their parents. The educators, who, as already mentioned, communicate mainly in their native language, must also be able to communicate with the purely German or Russian-speaking children and parents. Therefore in addition to the everyday bilingual interaction in the kindergarten Nezabudka offers language courses in both languages as well as the counselling and support by speech therapists. Nezabudka 1 is visited by about 50% of bilingual Russian or German speaking families and each 25% only German and only Russian-speaking families. This composition requires a holistic and pervasive bilingualism.

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For this reason, the educators complement each other as soon as they realize that it comes to difficulties in understanding and often repeat in the other language what has just been said. The elementary components of the morning circle or other activities are also practiced in both languages, such as introducing oneself and counting. In addition lettering on the bookshelves, name badges on the children's wardrobe and drawers, posters on the wall and information on the bulletin board or the newsletter are bilingual. Although this type of passive language learning takes longer than active language lessons, it can be integrated much better into the everyday life of the kindergarten.

Involvement of the parents and relation to caretakers

Previously, I have already mentioned at which festivals and events the parents are integrated and in which the educators with the children remain with each other. The big events, which also require some help, always attract many especially Russian-speaking parents. In addition to the usual photographing and filming of their children, they are, above all, emotionally involved. Whenever the opportunity presented, they ask their children to show them what they painted or what they participated in. Especially in performances where the children sing and dance, these parents sing or dance along. In the general dealing with the caretakers, they are the ones who want to find out the most about the progress made by their pupils and how to further improve.

Many parents and caretakers know each other so that it is especially when picking up the children that form groups are formed in which they talk to each other and exchange news. This relationship comes not only because the parents are involved in the support association of the institution but also because the organization itself demands and promotes the involvement of the parents. Some parents are hired by the organization and support the teams in various positions and apart from the day-to-day life in the kindergarten Nezabudka organizes some events, not only on how to raise your

children but also to promote the kindergarten community, such as theatre plays and festivals.20

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