| 1. |
- Alexiadou, Nafsika, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Early childhood education and care policy change : Comparing goals, governance and ideas in Nordic contexts
- 2024
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Ingår i: Compare. - : Routledge. - 0305-7925 .- 1469-3623. ; 54:2, s. 185-202
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is changing across Europe, reflecting multiple policy intentions and assumptions about education in early years, and the role of the state in supporting, funding and regulating its institutions. In this article, we examine the evolution of ECEC comparatively in Finland and Sweden, and we explore the shifts in goals, governance mechanisms and policy ideas that have characterised reforms in the sector. We draw on an analysis of policy documents, and argue that the incremental changes achieved over the last 50 years have been in response to changing goals assigned to ECEC and ideas about its roles and functions as part of the welfare and education sectors. The power of ideas in effecting policy change is tempered by established institutional framings, yet is visible in the early dominance of child-centred ideas, and the later controversies over the emergent labour-market and education-driven rationales of the post-2010s.
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| 2. |
- Alexiadou, Nafsika, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Policy change in ECE in Finland and Sweden
- 2019
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Ingår i: Early years: making it count. - : European Early Childhood Education Research Association. ; , s. 215-216
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We analyse policy in Finland and Sweden in the post-1970s. Our research questions are: What are the key policies and goals for ECE, and the governance mechanisms in the sector? What are the policy and pedagogical ideas that define policy and change? Finland and Sweden invest substantially on ECE and developed delivery that is regulated by the state (Alila, 2013; Martin-Korpi, 2014). Expansion policies are underpinned by views on children’s' rights, equality and welfare (Vallberg-Roth, 2012). We examine 216 the changing policy ideas and institutional mechanisms for ECE provision and how these are affected by wider policy reforms. We combine two theoretical perspectives: A historical-policy approach on institutional formation (Mahoney & Thelen, 2010); and an examination of the role of ideas in the policy process (Schmidt, 2008). We view policy as dynamic, but also shaped by history, administrative traditions, and policy ideas that can instigate change of policy direction. We employ historical policy analysis. Our methods consist of documentary analysis and compilation of statistics (Alexander, 2000). Ethical consideration is given to a fair and balanced representation of policy documents and literature to avoid bias. Finland and Sweden have followed a similar trajectory of ECE policies, but with: a time-lag in implementation; a distinct approach to quasi-market provision; a different relation towards EU/OECD frameworks. We find that: surface similarities of policy discourses in different countries may hide differences in pedagogical assumptions about practice; and, an understanding of institutional contexts and values is necessary for the successful implementation of ECE reforms.
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| 3. |
- Hjelmér, Carina, 1956-
(författare)
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Att återföra forskning till elever, lärare och rektorer
- 2010
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Ingår i: Metoder i forsknings- og utviklingsarbeid i utdanning og lærerutdanning. - Halden : Allkopi. - 9788278253304 - 9788278253311 ; , s. 67-74
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 4. |
- Hjelmér, Carina, 1956-
(författare)
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Barns inflytande i utvärdering och dokumentation i förskolan
- 2017
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Verksamheten i förskolan ska utgå från barns perspektiv och barnen ska ha inflytande och uppleva att de blir lyssnade på. Få invänder nog, men hur gör man? I fem olika studier berättar forskare hur personalen på olika sätt kan låta barnen bli delaktiga i förskolans arbete med dokumentation och utvärdering.
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| 5. |
- Hjelmér, Carina, 1956-
(författare)
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Democracy and critical scrutiny in two upper secondary school programmes
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Sweden the fostering of democratic values has a long history in schools and since the 1990s the question has been put forward as a very important social issue for education. International-comparative studies shows that Sweden and the other Nordic countries in the aspect how to ‘live democracy' in daily school life have a broader definition on democratic education than many other countries (Birzéa et al., 2004). This paper focuses democratic education in Swedish upper secondary school programmes with different gender and social class profiles. It especially covers how democracy and critical scrutiny are presented in the teaching. The analysis in this paper is based on Basil Bernstein's (2000) theories regarding power, control and pedagogic codes, in combination with feminist theories (principally those of Arnot & Dillabough (2000), Skeggs (1997), Gordon (2006) and Walkerdine (1990)). An ethnographic field study has been carried out at a major upper secondary school in Sweden during one school year, 2008-09, with participant observations, conversations, formal interviews and document analyses. The study involves two classes with 50 students (19 males, 31 females) in school year one, one from the Child and Recreation Programme (vocational, traditional female dominated) and one from the Natural Science Programme (academic, equal sex distribution). The democratic education appeared generally to be unplanned and was marginalised in school. Democracy was presented in the form of facts about formal democracy and formal participation in democracy in the future, while a more critical attitude and possible influence strategies for youths were marginalised. The discipline of critical scrutiny was placed within different subject assignments as part of training in a scientific attitude, while teaching was rarely scrutinised. This instruction were also significant different between the classes: the Natural Science class received more extensive and clearer instruction than the Child and Recreation class, a greater emphasis was laid on the benefit of this knowledge in preparation for higher education, and it was presented with a higher level of difficulty, complexity and context independence. These differences are related to the programmes' gender and class profiles and the students' expected positions in society.
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| 6. |
- Hjelmér, Carina, 1956-
(författare)
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Democratic education for competent children? : Ethnographic research in preschools in different local contexts
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the starting point in a planned study about democracy in different preschools, this roundtable invites to a deepened discussion about power relations in democratic fostering of children and the need and value of studying their situation in preschools in different local contexts. In Sweden, as well as in other Nordic countries, preschool is the first important step for many children in the education to be a democratic citizen. The goals in the Swedish curricula are ambitious; girls and boys from different backgrounds shall, for example, have the same possibilities to exercise influence and to learn about, and “to live”, democracy in preschool (Skolverket 2010). How this should be carried out is left to the pedagogues to decide. The democratic commission in the curricula is sometimes contradictory (e.g. solidarity with others and individual freedom of choice), and research from Nordic countries reports that the commission are understood in different ways, and often seen as difficult to implement (Jansen, Johansson & Eriksen Ødegaard 2011). One often emphasized key component for children´s possibilities to participate is to be seen as competent persons. However, what is understood as competent is not neutral, for example, in Kjørholt´s (2008) study, competences that were highly valued in other cultures than the Norwegian, ran the risk of being interpreted as shortcomings. The aim of the planned study is to develop knowledge about democratic fostering in preschools in different local contexts with respect to ethnical and socio-economic circumstances. Of special interest is the content and methods used in the pedagogic practice, as well as the children´s own attempts to influence in preschool. Questions about how democratic subjects are presented in the pedagogic practice, as well as questions about how, and what, the children are promoted to, and themselves try to, influence are focused. Three preschools will be selected to cover a variety of local contexts in terms of ethnicity and socio-economic circumstances, one from a rural area, and two from big cities (one district with a large number of immigrants and one district with a majority of “middle-/upper class”). A critical ethnographic approach will be applied, and the empirical material will consist of observations, conversations, interviews and documents (two months in each preschool). The analyses will focus on power relations such as gender, ethnicity and social class perspectives, and the relation to local contexts. It is central to consider both different groups of children´s attempts to influence, and the power relations in the pedagogic practices, i.e. the relationship between agency and structures in the different environments.ReferencesJansen, K E, Johansson, E & Eriksen Ødegaard (2011). På jakt etter demokratibegrep i barnehagen. Nordisk barnehageforskning, 4(2), 61-64.Kjørholt, A T (2008). Children as new citizens: In the best Interests of the child? I: A James & A L James (eds.) European childhoods: Cultures, politics and childhoods in Europe. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Skolverket (2010). Läroplan för förskolan Lpfö 98. Reviderad 2010. Stockholm: Fritzes.
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| 7. |
- Hjelmér, Carina, 1956-
(författare)
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Democratic fostering for children´s influence in preschool?
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Sweden, as well as in other Nordic countries, preschool is the first important step for many children in their training to be a democratic citizen. The goals in the Swedish curricula are ambitious; girls and boys from different backgrounds shall, for example, have the same possibilities to exercise influence and to learn about, and “to live”, democracy in preschool (Skolverket, 2016). How this should be carried out in the daily activities is left to the pedagogues to decide. The democratic commission in the curricula is sometimes contradictory (e.g. solidarity with others and individual freedom of choice), and research from Nordic countries reports that teachers understand this commission in different ways, and often see it as difficult to implement (Jansen, Johansson & Eriksen Ødegaard 2011). This paper focuses ‘the lived democracy’ in preschools, with a special interest for children´s influence. It covers the processes when teachers invite children to influence, as well as in the children’s own attempts to influence in preschool (how and about what, and the responses of the teachers).The analysis in this paper is based on Basil Bernstein’s (2000) theories regarding power, control and pedagogic codes, in combination with pertinent feminist perspectives on democratic education (principally those of Arnot & Dillabough (2000), Arnot & Reay (2007) and Gordon (2006)). An ethnographic field study has been carried out during 2015-16, with participant observations in three preschool groups during two months each, eight group interviews with teacher teams, and eleven interviews with children in small groups. The preschools were selected to cover a diversity of local contexts in terms of ethnicity and socio-economic circumstances, from rural areas, and from districts in big cities (with a large number of immigrants, and with a majority of “middle-/upper class”). In the analyses it is central to consider both different groups of children´s attempts to influence, and the teacher’s invitations in the pedagogic practices. The preliminary result focuses, for example, if the processes of influence are individually or collectively oriented, the teachers´ attitudes to, and their expectations on, children’s´ possibilities to act, and what seem to be a legitimate way to exercise influence if wanting to reach the teachers ears. ReferencesArnot, M & Dillabough, J-A (2000). Challenging democracy: International perspectives on gender, education and citizenship. London: RoutledgeFalmer.Arnot, M & Reay, D (2007). A sociology of pedagogic voice: Power, inequality and pupil consultation. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 28(3), 311-325.Bernstein, B (2000). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research, critique (reviderad upplaga) Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.Gordon, T (2006). Girls in education: Citizenship, gender and emotions. Gender and Education 18(1), 1-15.Jansen, K E, Johansson, E & Eriksen Ødegaard (2011). På jakt etter demokratibegrep i barnehagen. Nordisk barnehageforskning, 4(2), 61-64.Skolverket (2016). Curriculum for the preschool Lpfö 98. Revised 2016. [Läroplan för förskolan Lpfö 98. Reviderad 2016]. Stockholm: Skolverket.
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| 8. |
- Hjelmér, Carina, 1956-
(författare)
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Demokratifostran i förskolan : för individen eller kollektivet?
- 2018
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- I den viktiga demokratifostran som förskolans verksamhet bygger på läggs allt större fokus på individuella val, trots att demokrati till stora delar handlar om att vara en del av en grupp. Det visar forskningen.
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| 9. |
- Hjelmér, Carina, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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Does social justice count? : 'Lived democracy' in mathematics classes in diverse Swedish upper secondary programmes
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Curriculum Studies. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0022-0272 .- 1366-5839. ; 49:2, s. 216-234
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article analyses what students attending four Swedish upper secondary school programmes with different social class profiles tried and wanted to influence in relation to mathematics teachers' pedagogic practice and responses during the year 2008/9. The theoretical framework is based on Bernstein's theories regarding power and control. The analyses draw on ethnographic observations of classes taking the Natural Science and Social Science academic programmes, and the Vehicle and Child & Recreation vocational programmes, at two Swedish upper secondary schools. Students attending different programmes tried to influence the teaching. However, what the students taking the academic and vocational programmes were able to influence considerably differed. Generally the vocational students exerted influence more successfully when they wanted to reduce the pace and difficulty of teaching, than when they wished to get more out of their education, while the opposite applied to the academic, especially Natural Science, students. Thus, the power relations reflected the programmes' social class profiles and the students' expected positions in society, despite policies at the time to promote democracy and reduce social reproduction in education. The findings support the importance of analysing not only students' voices, but also their voices in relation to the pedagogic practice they encounter.
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| 10. |
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