In Sweden, child rearing has since long been considered as a duty for women, performed in the private sphere. The institution of school, on the other hand, has grown from a common interest of the state and the church and is thus associated to a patriarchal tradition. In pre- school, concepts of care are emphasised, while the tasks of school are described in terms of teaching, learning and socialisation. During the last decades, there have in Sweden been changes in organisation and management as well as in curricula for both institutions. Both are today sorting under the Ministry of Education, and discourses of learning seem to be more frequent in the context of pre- school. Using a gender perspective, this study examines those changes and connections to an asymmetric gender order in society. Is there a process of masculinisation of content and values involved in those changes? Changes of organisations and goals have consequences for staff, in what is considered as professional tasks and professional competence, and for the socio-material conditions framing their everyday work. The aim of the project is to study such changes of task and organisation in pre-school and school, using a critical approach based on gender theory and with a socio-historical perspective. We are planning to study both discourses and socio-material conditions using a multiple case design.