“Reflections on the Revised National Curriculum for Preschool in Sweden – interviews with the heads”.

The purpose of this study is to examine how four preschool managers reflect on the national curriculum and the quality of preschools. The research questions are: How do managers interpret the curriculum and the systematic work on quality in preschools and reflect on these? How do managers interpret their own role and responsibility?

The interviews showed that the managers are positive toward the revised curriculum, and that the curriculum has strengthened the status of their profession. Moreover, the managers believed that the most important factors for implementing the revised curriculum are: qualified staff, working with attitudes and values, and developing a systematic approach to work on quality in preschools. With regard to the quality of preschools, the managers believed that the most important factors are: qualified staff, enough time for planning pedagogical activities and for actually being together with the children, as well as low staff turnover rate. The managers felt that the best way for them to affect the quality of the preschool was to hire staff with pedagogical training. Furthermore, the managers point out that other important factors for their own role are knowledge and understanding of the ‘mission’, working systematically and setting targets for improvement.

The empiricism in this study builds on focus group interviews with four managers of 11 municipal preschools in a Swedish municipality. The population of the municipality in which the empirical data was collected was approx. 10,900 in 2012, and there were 573 children (1-5-year-olds) in the 11 municipal preschools, and 175 children in independent preschools. In the first two group interviews, the managers were encouraged to emphasise what they find is important with regard to work on quality in the revised curricula. The third and fourth focus group interviews were more in-depth; the main question addressed in these interviews was how the managers believed the revised curricula would affect the quality and development of the preschools. During interviews 3 and 4 , the managers also discussed what constitutes quality, and what their role as a manager is.

Brodin, J. & Renblad, K. (2014). “Reflections on the Revised National Curriculum for Preschool in Sweden – interviews with the heads”. Early Child Development and Care, 182(2), 306-321.