Early Childhood Early Childhood Educators' Perspectives of the Swedish National Curriculum for Preschool and Quality Work.

The purpose of this study is to examine preschool teachers’ attitudes towards the revised national curriculum for preschools in Sweden. Furthermore, the study investigates whether preschool teachers find that the revised curriculum enables them to carry out systematic quality work at preschools.

The study shows that the surveyed preschool teachers and child care workers generally have a positive attitude towards the revised national curriculum. They emphasise, among other things, that the revision of the curriculum has strengthened the image/status of their profession in society. Furthermore, the study shows that 62 respondents believe that it was necessary to revise the curriculum, and therefore they consider the revisions advantageous. 55 respondents believe that the curriculum supports them in their work with children with special needs, and just over half (36) of the respondents find that the curriculum contributes to developing and improving preschool activities.

A closer look at the factors believed to influence the quality of preschools reveals that all the respondents selected my own attitude as the most important factor, followed by the number of children in the group, and then the teacher-to-child ratio. 58 respondents believe that these factors are of great importance for the quality of preschools. The working climate at preschools, the relationship between adults and children, pedagogical leadership, and a common value system are also factors which rank high among the surveyed preschool teachers and child care workers.

Data collection was based on a web-based questionnaire, which was sent to all municipal preschool teachers and child care workers (n = 111) in one Swedish municipality. 65 preschool teachers and child care workers from 11 preschools responded to the questionnaire, which gave a response rate of 58.6%. The questionnaire was built around eight main themes with an additional 54 sub-questions, some of which asked the preschool teachers and child care workers about their workplace and basic education, whereas others focused on the revised national curriculum (usefulness, complexity of the curriculum, complexity of the objectives in the curriculum, curriculum outcome). Finally, the preschool teachers and child care workers were asked about factors they found relevant for the quality of preschools.

Brodin, J. & Renblad, K. (2015). Early Childhood Early Childhood Educators' Perspectives of the Swedish National Curriculum for Preschool and Quality Work. Early Childhood Education Journal 43(5), 347-355.