REPORT ON THE SYMPOSIUM ON PRESCHOOL-THE FIRST STEP IN EDUCATION

Childhood Education, Summer 2008 by Grafwallner, Rolf

House of Sweden, 2900 K St., NW, Washington, DC

According to a recent OECD report, Starting Strong, Sweden ranks as one of the most successful school systems in the world, largely because of a well-designed universal early childhood system. This past fall, I was fortunate to attend an event sponsored by the Swedish Foreign Ministry that took place at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, B.C. The focus of the symposium was to present the Swedish model of early education and care. The one-day symposium included presentations by Christer Toftenius, Senior Administrative Officer of the Ministry of Education and Research, Marianne Bloch, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Gunilla Dahlberg, from the Stockholm Institute of Education. In addition, John Bennett, senior researcher at the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), and Jill Höjeberg, a preschool teacher from Stockholm, spoke at the seminar.

The Swedish preschool system has been in the making since the mid-1970s, with the passage of First Preschool Act, which provided free preschool for 6-year-olds. The law entitled 6-year-old children to receive 525 hours of preschool, either at a child care center, nursery, or family child care home. The authority of the program was delegated to the municipalities. In the late 1990s, the focus of the preschool changed from family to education policy. At that time, the Swedish government viewed preschool as contributing to "improving the important early years of the compulsory school." As a result, the Municipal Act brought new state responsibilities for preschool education to the Ministry of Education. At the same time, school-age child care also was integrated into the Ministry. The new reform impacted preschool for children ages 1 through 6. Part of the reform entailed the introduction of a statewide preschool curriculum with goals and learning objectives that encompassed not only preschool teachers, but also family child care providers. The term "preschool" replaced "child care center" or "nursery school."

The funding for the reform effort was based on heavy subsidies and parent fees, based on a sliding fee scale and number of hours of care provided. As a revision to the reform law, free universal preschool was introduced for all 4- and 5-year-olds. In early 2000, the ministry addressed the level of consistent quality across all programs in terms of teacher qualifications, class size, teacher-to-child ratio, compensation, and other professional credentials.

The concept of a professional learning community became categorized by providing differentiated post-secondary education programs for school teachers, preschool teachers, and leisure-time, or schoolage, care teachers. The rationale for that strategy was based on the fact that almost all children ages 6 and 7 are enrolled in preschool for part of the day. At 6, children attend leisure-time centers. At age 7, they are enrolled in 1st grade and leisure time-centers. Thus, the pedagogical perspective and learning progression of children had to be coordinated among the three professional groups. Preschool classrooms fall under the auspices of the state's education system, while programs for 1- to 5-year-olds are regulated by the state ministry, but operated independently by municipalities.

At the symposium, John Bennett, senior researcher at OECD, provided a comparative analysis of major policy developments in 12 OECD countries. He pointed out that the infrastructure of early childhood education in the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, all of which rank relatively high on the international PISA studies, have become an integral part of the education system. The early notions from the 1970s that child care should be a part of the welfare system, and serve as a support function as more women joined the workforce, is reflected in the daily program structure. The leisure-time centers support the working family, as they are integrated in the educational and social network of the education system.

The symposium was attended by a diverse group of early childhood advocates, educators, and researchers. Handouts describing the Swedish system, translated in English, were distributed to the audience. More information can be obtained from Britt-Marie Forslund at britt-marie.forslund@ foreign-ministry.se.

-Rolf Grafwallner

For further details on the seminar, and an interview with the author, please visit www. skolutveckling.selin_english/children_first/