Förskoleklassens institutionella kulturer

The study is part of a larger research project on Swedish pre-school. The researchers seek to identify how educators in Swedish pre-school understand the institutional cultures found in pre-school classes, i.e. how the educator understands the text and mission of policy documents. The study also investigates how these opinions are expressed by educators in their statements about which values and attitudes they see as being important in their work.

Through the analyses of the educators’ statements, the researchers identified three institutional cultures: (1) A qualifying institutional culture: The children must be prepared for the rest of their educational paths. (2) A flexible institutional culture: The curriculum objectives can be achieved using different didactic and pedagogical methods. (3) A special institutional culture: Pre-school boundaries are emphasised through comparisons with other forms of education. The use of the concept of ‘institutional culture’ points to a perception of a common social and professional world that is maintained by the actions of the actors.

The data collection took the form of a total of six group discussions with 16 educators in Swedish pre-school. The 16 informants were qualified pre-school teachers, primary and lower secondary school teachers or recreational educators. The educators worked at six different pre-schools from geographically and demographically different locations in Sweden. The group discussions followed a question guide and included between one and five participants as well as a researcher.

Lago, L., Persson, S. & Ackesjö, H. (2020). «Förskoleklassens institutionella kulturer». Utbildning och Demokrati, 29(1):85-108.