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SummaryNorway s population was in April 2016 estimated to be 5 223 300 persons (SSB, 2016b). The Norwegian Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDI), estimated that in 2015, 13% of the entire Norwegian population were people with a migration background (IMDI, 2016); many of these being preschool aged children. With 90.4% of all children between the ages of 1 and 5 participating in day care (SSB, 2016a); many migrant children are represented among the day care population. Even though the body of research in relation to diasporic, migrant and mobile childhoods is growing, there are reasons to be critical as much of it fails to capture the situated and contextualised nature of newcomer migrant children s negotiations of identity, home and belonging .In Norway, early childhood day care is promoted as one of the best integrational arenas in which migrant children (including those seeking asylum and refugees) can receive early intervention aimed at easing their transition into future school and society. However, with an intervention focus on future integration, entering an ethnic and culturally diverse early childhood environment, such as day care, can be cha llenging for many reasons. Accessing peer group interaction, whether play or other forms of social interaction, and becoming socially included, presupposes competencies that exceed the basic linguistic ability of saying hello .At an overall level, this thesis positions itself within the tradition of social work, addressing day care as an integrational and environment for newcomer migrant girls. The research approach is anchored within the interpretivist/constructionist research paradigm and in line with the underlying principles of the sociology of childhood. The theoretical background draws on but is not limited to sociology, cultu ral studies and social With particular interest on how, in everyday life, newcomer children s personal problems are interlaced with structural issues , the thesis highlights the complexity of in particular ii these two girls everyday social struggles, adapting to a highly dynamic and evolving environment. This thesis reveals the girls as being active participants in their multilayered and complex transition s characterised by continuous negotiations of identity, home and belonging.The overarching aim of this thesis is to contribute to the early childhood migration discourse, using its findings as a means to strengthen the care environment for newcomer migrant children and building respect for childhood diversity. Through detailed qualitative analysis of small sample sizes of selected empirical data, the data are used to illustrate aspects of the two newcomer girls everyday worlds. The four articles written for and presented within the thesis address the intersection between what facilitated the girls integration and inclusion in everyday social reality by highlighting how equal opportunities for integration and inclusion depended on not only the girls ability to negotiate identity, home and belonging with both peers and practiti...

Taking a critical stance on day care as a social site for democratic practice, this article focusses on practitioners' attitudes regarding including newcomer migrant children in the assessment of their needs and decision-making processes in Norwegian day care. Considering the needs-discourse as a way of conveying both policy makers' and practitioners' conclusions about the requirements of migrant children's childhoods, we reveal how the individual agency of practitioners is captured by developmental culture-bound norms regarding what an ideal childhood should be. Keywords: migrant children, day care, needs, participation, agency policyWhen newcomer migrant children enter day care, it can become apparent that cultural norms related to childhood as well as practitioners' ideas about what constitutes a healthy childhood diverge considerably across both time and space (Christensen & James, 2008;James, Jenks, & Prout, 1998). Adults, both parents and caregivers, and children alike are required to make considerable psychosocial and cultural adjustments involving cognitive, social and emotional dimensions (Vogler, Crivello, & Woodhead, 2008). The adult-child relation is highly structural and powerful (Alanen, 2001;Mayall, 2015), and in this article, we are interested in exploring how practitioners govern newcomer migrant children's lives with rules, regulations and permission seeking (Thomas, In view of how needs-statements (see Berg et al., 2015;Kunnskapsdepartementet, 2010aKunnskapsdepartementet, , 2010bKunnskapsdepartementet, , 2011 are The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we explore needs-discourse as a practical and efficient approach to convey both policy makers' and practitioners' conclusions about the requirements of migrant children's childhoods (Woodhead, 1997). Second, exploring how practitioners' agency policies and relational attitudes affect when and how migrant children can participate in decision-making processes, we take a critical stance on day care as a social site for democratic practice that gives children the right to participate at its foundations. 3Drawing from the above-mentioned perspectives, the following interrelated research questions are explored in the article: How do needs-statements relate to practitioners' agency policies? How do practitioners' agency policies and relational attitudes affect when and how migrant children can participate in decision-making processes?This research is based on an ethnographic study investigating the everyday social reality of two newcomer migrant girls in a Norwegian day care institution. Throughout the course of nine months, participatory observation in both formal and informal settings was combined with participatory methods (see Kalkman, Hopperstad & Valenta 2015, 2017. This supported the participants in reflecting and acting upon important aspects in relation to their immediate lives (Hart, 1992). The goal of this article is to draw attention to practitioners' viewpoints and practices. It draws on data from two individual semi-struc...