Toward a democracy of translations? Local evaluation actor networks in Finnish early childhood education

Abstract

This article examines the local evaluation and assessment practices of Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) based on Actor–Network Theory (ANT). We employ the concept of translation to discuss how evaluation and assessment practices unfold in networks and how actors come together in negotiations and contestations that seek to orient these networks. ANT approaches society as being formed of networks and directs attention to non-human actors, such as technical and material resources. In this article, we discuss how local evaluation and assessment networks are formed by translations connecting different actors. This article examines three cases in which various assessment tools were used locally by Finnish ECEC. The results highlight the arbitrariness and elasticity of the networks in the translation process. Thus, we introduce the concept of democracy of translation to examine the flexibility of assessment networks and the extent to which actors in these networks can re-negotiate and re-orient the practices taking place.