The infant school was a nineteenth-century innovation with British roots that quickly achieved an international reputation. This article contributes to the study of the transnational dissemination of the infant schools by examining the case of Swedish infant schools. Using theoretical concepts from the transnational history of education, this…

Between 1996-1998, England, Scotland and Sweden moved responsibility for all early childhood education and care (ECEC) and school-age childcare (SACC) services from welfare into education. Following an earlier study researching these reforms up to 2003, this article examines and compares subsequent developments and consequences of the initial…

In Europe, there are many different ways in which early childhood education and care professionals are trained. This article investigates how these different forms came into being. Comparing two small, prosperous European countries, Sweden and Switzerland, we analyse the developments in training regimes for early childhood professionals since the…

The physical environment in early childhood education and care is crucial. This paper examines the Swedish government's vision of preschool design in the welfare state of the 1970s and the conceptions of children and society upon which it was based. Presenting an investigation of reports, booklets, and study materials published by various branches…

This article analyzes how childcare vouchers were introduced in the context of the Swedish welfare state by examining vital political decisions from the prohibition of publicly funded private preschools in 1984 and onwards. Basing our argument on theories of political institutions and historical institutionalism, we argue that this remarkable…

In 2011, new teacher education programmes were introduced in Sweden. This policy case study examines the outcome of the reform, focusing on the pedagogic discourses in the examination practise of the primary teacher education programme, but also on the possible effects of dividing teacher education for primary teachers into two specialisations:…

This paper analyses recent educational reforms on teachers' work in Sweden following the 2010 Education Act, and up to the School Commission Report released in April 2017. We draw upon key policy texts and associated documents from the Ministry of Education, and the Swedish National Agency for Education ("Skolverket"). We consider the…

We discuss oral history interviews with academics who laid the foundation of research and pedagogies in daycare for under three-year-olds in Europe and North and South America since the 1970s. Their work is clearly embedded in the social-political context of their country: the left-wing programmes for disadvantaged families in the U.S.A.;…

In this chapter Dr. Cochran uses an empirically based overarching conceptual framework linking historical patterns, current policy goals and intervening influences as a tool for understanding the policy and program outcomes manifested in the early education programs of representative Western countries (Australia, France, Italy, Sweden). Policy…

What significance did donations, bequests, tuition fees and fund-raising events have for early care and education programmes during the nineteenth and early twentieth century? Through an examination of 24 Swedish infant schools, day nurseries and free kindergartens, this article verifies that donations and bequests were essential for the economy…

Papers from the proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society was submitted in two volumes. Volume 1 contains papers submitted at the conference held in Sofia, Bulgaria, June 14-17, 2016. Volume 2 contains papers submitted at the 4th International Partner Conference of the International Research Centre…

This article introduces the curriculum history of early childhood education in Sweden. The study is based on curriculum theory and gender theory. A broad curricular concept is used. The period analysed ranges from approximately the 1850s to the present day. Examples of key-texts analysed are National curricula, Handbooks, one journal (The…

In Sweden, working with young children in institutions outside the home dates back to the late nineteenth century when public child care provision developed in a context of industrialization, urbanization and democratization. Out of the charitable work of unmarried women in these early institutions, pre-schools and teacher education programmes…

Volume 2 begins with discussion of Hopkins Grammar School history, Greek language issues, and Justin S. Morrill's legislative career. Miscellaneous topics cover Indian Territory, backward children in public schools, U.S. engineering education, Christian Brothers schools founder St. Jean Baptiste de La Salle, public library development, Delft's…