Reform in higher education is on the agenda worldwide, and there is increasing political interest in the content of study programmes. This article looks at the policy process leading to the new national curriculum regulation (NCR) for kindergarten teacher education (KTE) in Norway in 2012. The following questions derived from Kingdon's Multiple…

This paper presents and discusses the findings of a collaborative investigation into Nordic approaches to evaluation and assessment in early childhood education and care. The project explored values and principles that underpin and guide evaluation in ECEC systems and practices in five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and…

The theme for this article is parents' and centre leaders' opinions regarding what makes a good kindergarten. Both stakeholder groups agree on statements expressing child-centred values as indicators of a good kindergarten. However, their opinions differ regarding children's learning and work with letters and numbers; more parents than centre…

This partly descriptive, partly critically reflective, argumentative article analyses the Norwegian kindergarten teacher education program through the three concepts that are mentioned in its national guidelines: research-based, profession-oriented, and practice-related education. An inseparable correlation between these at the level of higher…

This article presents results from a large-scale Norwegian study that examines the quality of early childhood education and care, using the research tool ITERS-R. Although ITERS-R consists of 39 items, this article focuses solely on results within music education in Item 18. Music and movement. According to ITERS-R, results from 206 toddler day…

This study aims to enhance our knowledge of the associations between the quality of the language-learning environment in toddler childcare groups and children's vocabulary development from age 3 to age 5. Participants were 1,131 children (48% girls; age at T1 assessment: M = 35.5 months, SD = 2.7; age at T2 assessment: M = 60.3 months, SD = 1.4)…

The core aspect within process quality is quality of interactions between caregivers and children. This article investigates six interaction skills of caregivers in ECEC groups for toddlers in Norway using the Caregiver Interaction Profile (CIP) scales. The participants are 110 teachers and 58 assistants in 111 toddler groups. Results show that…

This study aims to investigate the language-learning environment and educational language practices in four toddler groups measured as high quality on the 'Listening and Talking' subscale in the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale -- Revised. The empirical data are taken from a larger fieldwork conducted in four child groups, and comprise 98…

The purpose of this study was to explore the quality of toddler childcare in Norway using the Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised Edition (ITERS-R; [Harms, Thelma, Debby Cryer, and Richard M. Clifford. 2006. "Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scales Revised Edition." New York: Teachers College Press.]), drawing on a sample of…

This article considers what the repercussions are when the concept of "quality" is examined within the epistemological and ontological theoretical shifts that are afforded by post-humanism. In particular, Braidotti's configuring of thinking as "nomadic activity" and the need for "process ontology", together with…

This article is crafted through three scenes, through which the author tries to imagine quality as something that is third space, semiotic, plasticity, eternal, and simultaneously something solid and obviously good here and now, through a Spinozian/Deluzian/Braitottian joy/you/me. The author rhizomatically tries to lay everything out on a plane of…

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) can bring a wide range of benefits--for children, parents and society at large. However, these benefits are conditional on "quality". Expanding access to services without attention to quality will not deliver good outcomes for children or long-term productivity benefits for society. This series…

This article addresses constructions and redefinitions of teacher professionalism by focusing on the discursive negotiations between the government and the teachers' union in Norway. Based on an examination of three white papers on teacher education from the past 15 years and policy documents put forth by the Union of Education Norway during the…

The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of parents and early childhood teachers in Norway regarding the benefits of child care to young children. Both positive and negative benefits were explored. In the autumn of 2009, 41 parents and 35 early childhood teachers of children aged 1.5 years or less, living in the city of Trondheim and…