In his latest book, Peter Moss argues passionately and eloquently for a new way of thinking about education, shifting away from stories of standards, competences and known outcomes towards a more d...

Transformative change and real utopias in early childhood education: a story of democracy, experimentation and potentiality

This book is a much needed collection on the role of childcare markets in the provision of early childhood education and care services. Whilst some papers have emerged on the issue of childcare mar...

Childcare markets: can they deliver an equitable service?

Basically we subscribe to the view that there is such a thing as a Scandinavian or Nordic (welfare) model or type (or welfare regime), characterized among other things by the general adoption of the principle of
universalism. The questions we shall discuss are: what is meant by universalism? When did the (defined) principle of universalism become embedded in the Nordic welfare states? Why did it, with some exception for
Iceland (see Chapter 12), become so important in Scandinavia and
‘Norden’? Who promoted the principle, with which arguments? Is universalism still a major component of recent social and welfare policy reforms
in the Nordic countries?

The Nordic welfare model and the idea of universalism1

Despite being the first country in the world to introduce paternity leave in 1978, Finland’s current national leave scheme is complex with regard to incentivizing fathers’ take-up. Taking the uniqu...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244019885389

Fathers’ Leave Take-Up in Finland : Motivations and Barriers in a Complex Nordic Leave Scheme

The aim of this dissertation was to examine and reflect how institutional early childhood education (ECE) has developed in cross-cultural settings from the early 1990s until now. More precisely, the study focused on sociocultural changes regarding institutional ECE, its implementation and pedagogy, the changed role of the parents and the perceived changes in parent-teacher co-operation. So far, knowledge and research concerning the described cross-cultural changes in ECE has been limited. The dissertation in hand seeks to fulfil this gap. To pursue its aim, the study was conducted in three different sociocultural contexts: the USA, Russia and Finland, each representing a variety of ECE policy options. In all of the studied societies, ECE systems differ greatly in their origins, governance and demands. In the United States, institutional ECE is market driven, and child care choices are dependent on the family’s preferences and financial resources, without federal or state interference. On the contrary, in Russia and Finland, the services rely on the principle of universality, and the majority of ECE is publicly provided. The dissertation is compiled with three sub-studies, each having its own, yet interrelated, set of problems. The data for the dissertation was obtained from three different phases – 1991, 2011 and 2014 – with multiple methodological strategies. During the period studied, the increased complexity of global ECE services and the growing body of knowledge about cross-cultural methodologies created a need to react to these changes and to further develop the research design. After the second data collection phase in 2011, an epistemological shift was taken concerning the methodology. The quantitatively acquired data was used as a stimulus material for focus group discussions. In each studied society context, child care centre directors analysed the quality evaluations collected from the parents and teachers by surveys, and reflected what had possibly changed in their ECE and why. The aim of the developed and applied reflective emic analysis (REA) method was to enhance the knowledge production process, and secondly, to increase the cross-cultural sensitivity of the study through the use of cultural informants. The findings of this study indicated interrelated changes in the studied societies concerning the task of ECE, the pedagogical goals, the roles of parents and changes in co-operation between parents and teachers. The societal expectations and demands towards ECE were shown to have grown in each society context, reflected not only through reformed policies and research but also through the expectations of the parents. The results suggest that the internal educational goals of ECE and the pedagogical aspirations of the professionals differed to some extent from the expectations of ECE set by the society. However, this notion was perceived differently in each of the studied societies. In the USA, the pressure to increase children’s learning outcomes and the demands for teacher accountability were seen to contradict with the pedagogical aspirations of the teachers. In Russia and Finland, the emphasis on children’s individuality had been strengthened in the level of curricula, yet the insufficient societal investments towards ECE prevented professionals from working in accordance with this ideal. Furthermore, the role of parents as clients of ECE was perceived to have changed in each studied society. The increase in the perceived customer orientation of the parents and the demands to increase parental participation in ECE create a need to redefine the goals for co-operation in the ECE. In addition, the new perception of parents’ active agency in ECE challenges the field and calls on professionals and politicians to define what the agency of the parents’ means in ECE. The perceived changes call for strong professionalism within both teachers and directors, along with the ability to apply new types of educational thinking. The cross-cultural approach of the dissertation may be helpful in enhancing understanding of ECE both at national and international level from the point of view of ECE decision-making, the future development goals as well as the outcomes of ECE. Setting the results to a wider social, cultural and historical framework will help to understand how national early education systems have been formed and thus help to better identify the strengths and development targets of each system.

Reflecting Changes in Early Childhood Education in the USA, Russia and Finland

In Finland, early childhood education and care (ECEC) is traditionally publicly provided. However, private ECEC provision has increased during the past decade, largely as a result of financial supp...

/pdf/rationalising-public-support-for-private-early-childhood-4sq6a29wvd.pdf

Rationalising public support for private early childhood education and care: the case of Finland

In accordance with the Nordic welfare model, the Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) system has traditionally been based on public provision and the idea of universalism. However, ove...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/20020317.2021.1911161

Selectivity of clientele in finnish private early childhood education and care

Varhaiskasvatus- ja lastenhoitoratkaisut yksivuotiaiden lasten perheissä : CHILDCARE-kyselytutkimuksen 2016 perustulokset

Abstract The marketisation and privatisation of welfare services such as early childhood education and care (ECEC) have been a global trend in recent decades. Earlier research suggests that market-based ECEC provision often leads to inequalities and stratification of service users. In Finland, as in other Nordic countries where provision of ECEC has traditionally been a public responsibility, ECEC services have also been undergoing marketisation and privatisation. Until now, especially in Finland, little has been known about service users of public and private ECEC or parental decisions between public and private ECEC. This study addresses that gap by showing that the clientele of private and public ECEC differ in their socioeconomic attitudinal characteristics. It appears that the combination of marketisation and privatisation of ECEC extends processes of educational and social distinction into the early childhood. 

Ville Ruutiainen

Papers

Rationalising public support for private early childhood education and care: the case of Finland

Selectivity of clientele in finnish private early childhood education and care

Varhaiskasvatus- ja lastenhoitoratkaisut yksivuotiaiden lasten perheissä : CHILDCARE-kyselytutkimuksen 2016 perustulokset

Socioeconomic and attitudinal differences between service users of private and public early childhood education and care in the Finnish context