The everyday lives of young fostered children are rarely studied. Using an ethnographic approach including interviews, walks, observation and photomap making, this article reports on the findings from a unique pilot study of the social and educational lives of young foster children (aged 0‒4) in an inner London borough. The following findings are presented: (1) what foster carers do: everyday lives and education; (2) foster carers’ meanings and perspectives on early education; and (3) foster carers as ‘everyday experts’ in meeting complex needs. The findings demonstrate how foster carers fulfil multifaceted roles as they navigate complex everyday life with their young children. Ways in which foster carers may provide a ‘stimulating’ environment and the barriers and difficulties they encounter are discussed.

中文翻译：

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复杂的“日常生活”与多重网络相遇：寄养儿童及其寄养人的社会和教育生活

很少有人研究年幼的寄养儿童的日常生活。本文采用人种学方法，包括访谈、散步、观察和照片地图制作，报告了一项独特的试点研究结果，该研究对伦敦内城区的寄养儿童（0-4 岁）的社会和教育生活进行了独特的试点研究。研究结果如下： (1) 寄养者做什么：日常生活和教育；(2) 寄养照顾者对早期教育的意义和观点；(3) 将照顾者培养为满足复杂需求的“日常专家”。研究结果表明，寄养者在与年幼的孩子一起度过复杂的日常生活时如何发挥多方面的作用。讨论了寄养者可以提供“刺激”环境的方式以及他们遇到的障碍和困难。