Child care and pre-schools in Sweden: an overview of practice, tendencies and research.

Abstract

The system and policy for child care and pre-school education in Sweden are overviewed: its structure and goals in the context of the Swedish society and its general welfare system are described. New challenges and actual problematic tendencies revealed by national evaluations and research are identified: the increasing quality variation, the broader attendance, the lack of qualified teachers, a narrowly interpretation of the curriculum, the rising numbers of children identified as having special educational needs. Some interpretations of the relationships among these emerging factors are suggested.