From play to school: are core values of ECEC in Iceland being undermined by ‘schoolification’?

Abstract

Iceland has a strong tradition of universal public early childhood education and care (ECEC) services for children. The traditional pedagogy is founded on play-based learning with the holistic view of the development of the child is central to practice. With increased interest in education following the 2008 financial crisis, there are signs that playschool teachers are under pressure to produce 'school-ready' children by moving towards primary school teaching methods. This article considers the issue of schoolification in Iceland and its relevance to the tradition of play-based learning. It concludes that, although the majority of playschools adhere to the traditional playbased pedagogy, practitioners must be alert to the influence of schoolification on children's preschool experiences.

Ready, steady, learn: school readiness and children’s voices in English early childhood settings

“…Schoolification now pervades other areas of young children's lives, including family life (Murray 2015, 4) and outdoor play (Fisher, Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff and Gryfe 2008, 307). School readiness characterised by schoolification, is even beginning to penetrate Nordic countries which have previously cleaved to the social pedagogic model of ECEC alongside success in global educational comparisons (Clausen, 2015;Otterstad and Braathe, 2016;Gunnarsdottir, 2014).…”

Lasteaiaõpetajate uskumused seoses laste üldoskuste arendamisega riikliku õppekava alusel: lisaseletus lasteaia koolistumise põhjustele

“…By definition, schoolification is the process of formal early childhood education becoming more school-like. The most characteristic aspects of schoolification, as noted by several authors internationally, are to establish national curricula for preschool education institutions (Bennett, 2005;Oberhuemer, 2005a;Urban & Dalli, 2008;Urban et al, 2012), to focus more intensively on learning activities and the preparation of children for schools of general education (Clausen, 2015;Gunnarsdottir, 2014), to more strictly regulate the professionalism of early childhood educators to professional standards and other regulations (Osgood, 2009;Urban, 2008), and to evaluate children's learning outcomes by standardised evaluation principles (Gunnarsdottir, 2014). …”

“…Haridusteaduste instituut, Tallinna Ülikool, Narva mnt 25, 10120 Tallinn; neudorf@tlu.ee riiklikke õppekavu (Bennett, 2005;Oberhuemer, 2005aOberhuemer, , 2005bUrban & Dalli, 2008;Urban, Vandenbroeck, van Laere, Lazzari, & Peeters, 2012), pöö-rata suuremat tähelepanu laste koolivalmiduse tagamisele ning õpitegevustele (Belfield & Garcia, 2014;Einarsdottir, 2006;Platz & Arellano, 2011;Puccioni, 2015), standardiseeritult hinnata laste õpi-ja arengutulemusi (Gunnarsdottir, 2014) ning rangemalt reguleerida lasteaiaõpetajate professionaalsuse nõudeid (Osgood, 2009;Urban, 2008). Need tendentsid ilmnevad hoolimata sellest, et Euroopa Komisjoni, UNESCO ja teiste rahvusvaheliste organisatsioonide konsensusliku arusaama järgi on alusharidus laiapõhjaline ja holistlik ning toetab laste õpetamist, kasvatamist ja arendamist tasakaalustatult .…”

Lasteaiaõpetajate hinnangud ja selgitused oma töö raskuse muutumisele: professionaliseerumine kui sümboolne kapital

“…Lasteaiaõpetajate professionaliseerumine Bourdieu ning Schinkeli-Noordegraafi käsituse alusel tähendab, et on saavutatud kooliõpetajate omadega sarnased haridusnõuded ehk üldjuhul kõrgharidus (Gunnarsdottir, 2014;Oberhuemer, Schreyer, & Neuman, 2010;Ryan & Gibson, 2016). Samuti on üha enam riiklikult korraldatud alusharidusasutuste tegevus, kehtestades riiklikke õppekavu ning hinnates laste õpi-ja arengutulemusi (Neudorf et al, 2017).…”