Parental reasoning on choosing the mobile preschool: Enabling sustainable development or adjusting to a neoliberal society?

The study investigates how Swedish middle-class parents justify their choice of placing their children in mobile kindergartens and their perceptions of what skills they believe their children will achieve there. The research questions are: 1) What factors are important in parents' choice of kindergarten? 2) What skills do they think their children will gain by being part of this type of kindergarten?

When it comes to choosing a kindergarten, parents saw mobile kindergartens as an opportunity to promote sustainability, especially ecological sustainability. Parental choices were also influenced by societal and pedagogical discourses about what children should learn. The parents claimed that their children will develop independence and ‘tough’ skills in mobile kindergartens. They also believed that mobile kindergartens gave children a deeper and holistic understanding of sustainability and care.

The data material consists of interviews with fifteen parents who had children in five different mobile kindergartens in five Swedish cities. The parents (ten women and five men) came mainly from a middle-class background and ranged in age from 25 to 41. Most had a university degree or equivalent level of education. The interviews were semi-structured and designed as discussions around specific topics.

Ojala, M., Ekman Ladru, D. & Gustafson, K. (2021). "Parental reasoning on choosing the mobile preschool: Enabling sustainable development or adjusting to a neoliberal society?". Early Childhood Education Journal, 49(3):539-551.