Early childhood education in the Nordic countries: innovative initiatives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33010/ie_rie_rediech.v14i0.1911Keywords:
Active learning, childhood, educational institutions, Nordic countries, educational innovation, skillsAbstract
This article gives an overview of how early childhood education is developed in the Nordic countries and describes innovative experiences of early childhood education in each of them. The Nordic countries include Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland together with their dependent territories, i.e. Greenland and the islands of Svalbard, Jan Mayen, Faroe and Åland. The educational innovations described in each of the countries are not unique to that country, but they all form a framework for the development of so-called 21st century skills. All the initiatives are developed around the child as the protagonist of the teaching-learning process; active participation, reflection, communication, creative problem solving and the use of thinking tools are some of the skills developed by these initiatives in favour of the concept of education as human capital, where children are seen as fundamental resources for the formation of an egalitarian, autonomous, proactive society, and part of a systemic whole.
References
Arkki (2023). Completo programa de educación creativa en Finlandia. https://www.arkki.com/es/educacion-creativa-de-finlandia/
Axelsson, K., Hägglund, S., y Sandberg, A. (2015). Entrepreneurial learning in education: Preschool as a take-off for the entrepreneurial self. Journal of Education and Training, 2(2), 40-58. https://doi.org/10.5296/jet.v2i2.7350
Becker, C., Lauterbach, G., Spengler, S., Dettweiler, U., y Mess, F. (2017). Effects of regular classes in outdoor education settings: A systematic review on students’ learning, social and health dimensions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(5), 485. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14050485
Bølling, M., Otte, C. R., Elsborg, P., Nielsen, G., y Bentsen, P. (2018). The association between education outside the classroom and students school motivation: Results from a one-school-year quasi-experiment. International Journal of Educational Research, 89, 22-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2018.03.004
Creative Classroom (2023). Creative classroom by Arkki International. https://www.creativeclassroom.fi/courses/creative-classroom-demo
Dean, S. (2019). Seeing the forest and the trees: A historical and conceptual look at Danish Forest Schools. International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education, 6(3), 53-63. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345140754_Seeing_the_Forest_and_the_Trees_A_Historical_and_Conceptual_Look_at_Danish_Forest_Schools
Einarsdottir, J. (2017). Opportunities and challenges in Icelandic early childhood education. En C. Ringsmose y G. Kragh-Müller (eds.), Nordic social pedagogical approach to early years. International perspectives on early childhood education and development. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42557-3_4
Escuelas en el Bosque (s.f.). Kids gone wild [video]. https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/628862019760/dateline-23216-kids-gone-wild
Expansión (s.f.a). Economía y datos de los países. Datos macro.com. https://datosmacro.expansion.com/paises
Expansión (s.f.b). Desempleo. Datos macro.com. https://datosmacro.expansion.com/paro
Expansión (s.f.c). Pirámide de población. Datos macro.com. https://datosmacro.expansion.com/demografia/estructura-poblacion
Finnish National Agency for Education (2019). Finnish National Agency for Education’s (EDUFI) website. https://www.oph.fi/en
Gobierno de Islandia (s.f.). Ministry of Education and Children. https://www.government.is/ministries/ministry-of-education-and-children/
Government Offices of Sweden (s.f.). Ministry of Education and Research. https://www.government.se/government-of-sweden/ministry-of-education-and-research/
Gunnarsdottir, B. (2014). From play to school: Are core values of ECEC in Iceland being undermined by ‘schoolification’? International Journal of Early Years Education, 22(3), 242-250. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2014.960319
Heggen, M. P. (2016). Education for sustainable development in Norway. En J. Siraj-Blatchford, C. Mogharreban y E. Park (eds.), International research on education for sustainable development in early childhood (pp. 91-102). Springer.
Henderson, K., y Tilbury, D. (2004). Whole-school approaches to sustainability: An international review of sustainable school programs [Informe del Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES)]. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
Hoppe, M., Westerberg, M., y Leffler, E. (2017). Educational approaches to entrepreneurship in higher education: A view from the Swedish horizon. Education and Training, 59(7-8), 751-767. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-12-2016-0177
Jónsdóttir, S. R. (2018). Exchanging curriculum ideas for 21st century education: Australian ‘technologies’ and Icelandic ‘innovation education’. 2018: Netla - Ársrit. https://doi.org/10.24270/netla.2018.7
Jönsson, I., Sandell, A., y Tallberg-Broman, I. (2012). Change or paradigm shift in the swedish preschool? Sociología. Problemas e Práticas, (69), 47-61. https://journals.openedition.org/spp/815?lang=en
Kapadia, S. (2014). Childhood into the 22nd century: Creativity, the Finland example, and beyond. Childhood Education, 90(5), 333-342. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2014.952214
Kjær, B., Bach, D., y Dannesboe, K. I. (2020). Academics as play and the social as discipline: School readiness in Denmark. International Journal of Early Years Education, 28(3), 246-261. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2020.1806044
Kjørholt, A. T. (2002). Small is powerful: Discourses on ‘Children and Participation’ in Norway. Childhood, 9(1), 63-82. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568202009001005
Kragh-Müller, G. (2017). The key characteristics of Danish/Nordic child care culture. En C. Ringsmose y G. Kragh-Müller (eds), Nordic social pedagogical approach to early years. International perspectives on early childhood education and development (pp. 3-23). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42557-3_1
Li, M., Zhang, Y., Yuan, L., y Birkeland, Å. (2019). A critical analysis of education for sustainability in early childhood curriculum documents in China and Norway. ECNU Review of Education, 2(4), 441-457. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2646954
Lindström, L. (2013). What do children learn at Swedish preschools? International Education Studies, 6(4), 236-250. https://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ies.v6n4p236
Mannion, G., Mattu, L., y Wilson, M. (2015). Teaching, learning, and play in the outdoors: a survey of school and pre-school provision in Scotland [Informe Nº 779]. Scottish Natural Heritage. https://www.nature.scot/snh-commissioned-report-779-teaching-learning-and-play-outdoors-survey-school-and-preschool.
Ministerio de Educación e Investigación (2017). Framework plan for Kindergartens. https://www.udir.no/globalassets/filer/barnehage/rammeplan/framework-plan-for-kindergartens2-2017.pdf
Ministry of Childhood and Education (2022). Introduction to the Early Childhood Education and Care system (Dagtilbud). https://eng.uvm.dk/early-childhood-education-and-care-system/introduction-to-the-early-childhood-education-and-care-system
Ministry of Education and Children (2008). The Preschool Act. No. 90, 12 June 2008. https://www.government.is/media/menntamalaraduneyti-media/media/MRN-pdf_Annad/Preschool_Act.pdf
Ministry of Education and Culture (2019). Strategy 2030, https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/161562/OKM14.pdf
Ministry of Education and Culture (s.f.a). Pre-Primary education. https://okm.fi/en/pre-primary-education1
Ministry of Education and Culture (s.f.b). Early childhood education and care. https://okm.fi/en/early-childhood-education-and-care
Mörk, S. B. (2022). University-preschool collaboration in pre-school teacher education in Iceland. Learning Environments Research, 25(4), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-021-09350-5
National Board of Education (2001). Currículo básico para la educación Pre-escolar (6 años) Finlandia 2000. https://elatelierdealadin.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/curriculo-bc3a1sico-para-la-educacic3b3n-preescolar-finlandia-2000.pdf
Nikkola, V. (2020). Educación y atención a la infancia en Finlandia. Educació Social, (74), 73-88. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjH8ZH82aaDAxUALUQIHZtBDpAQFnoECA4QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.raco.cat%2Findex.php%2FEducacioSocial%2Farticle%2Fdownload%2F364131%2F461579%2F&usg=AOvVaw07zwCYse9yJ351GiO4EXUi&opi=89978449
Nordic Council of Ministers (2022). Nordic approaches to evaluation and assessment in early childhood education and care. Final report. https://www.norden.org/en/publication/nordic-approaches-evaluation-and-assessment-early-childhood-education-and-care
Norstedts Juridik Kundservice (2018). Curriculum for the preschool 2018. The Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket). https://www.skolverket.se/publikationsserier/styrdokument/2019/curriculum-for-the-preschool-lpfo-18
Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research (2005). Act no. 64 of June 2005 relating to Kindergartens (the Kindergarten Act). https://www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/upload/kd/vedlegg/barnehager/engelsk/act_no_64_of_june_2005_web.pdf
Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research (2006). Framework plan for the content and tasks of kindergartens. https://www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/upload/kd/vedlegg/barnehager/engelsk/frameworkplanforthecontentandtasksofkindergartens.pdf
Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research (2018). Competencies for tomorrow’s kindergartens. Revised strategy for competence and recruitment 2018-2022. https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/17bfd7a2d3ec437c9dee4d32c5068cf9/kompetansestrategi-for-barnehage-2018-2022_eng-rev.-01.10.19-004.pdf
Oficinas del Gobierno de Suecia (2009). Strategy for entrepreneurship in the field of education. Västerås.
Ruiz, A. C. (2020). Mapping creativity in the European Union. The role of human development, digitisation and sustainability [Informe]. Creative Economic.
Salminen, J. (2017). Early childhood education and care system in Finland. Nauki o Wychowaniu Studia Interdyscyplinarne, 5(2), 135-154. https://doi.org/10.18778/2450-4491.05.09
The Hjalli Model (s.f). Introduction. https://www.hjallimodel.com/
UNESCO [Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura] (2011). Datos mundiales sobre la educación, 7ª ed., 2010-11. https://www.ibe.unesco.org/es/documento/datos-mundiales-de-educaci%C3%B3n-s%C3%A9ptima-edici%C3%B3n-2010-11
WCED [World Commission on Environment and Development] (1987). Our common future. Oxford University Press. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf
Williams-Siegfredsen, J. (2017). Understanding the Danish Forest Schools approach: Early years education in practice. Routledge.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Inmaculada Navarro-González
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
