Values education in Nordic preschools: Basis of education for tomorrow Kick Off Conference, Oslo, June 2013 Anna-Maija Puroila Adjunct professor, Senior research fellow University of Oulu

Background On a global scale, the common ideological basis of the Nordic countries has been emphasized There is a worldwide recognition that investments in early years have strong connections to the future of societies Values education is a significant but under-represented area in the field of ECEC Origin of the project: studies of values in Sweden and Norway (Johansson 2002; 2009; 2011; Emilson 2006; 2007; 2008; Johansson & Emilson 2009)

Terminology Values (Halstead & Taylor 2000): principles that guide human action and by which actions are judged to be good or desirable Values education (Thornberg 2010): educational practice through which children are assumed to learn values Preschool children’s age varies between 1 and 6 years

Theoretical framework Habermas’ (1995) theoretical ideas about: Communicative action Life world System Conceptual tools for approaching values education in preschools from multiple viewpoints Communication through which values are conveyed; Participants’ inside perspectives of values (life world); Broader societal contexts framing values and values education (system).

Methodology National sub-projects: Participative action research methodology Supporting developmental processes in participating preschools Nordic co-operation: Sharing and co-constructing knowledge Reflecting national level findings within a Nordic frame Research design enables to work at different levels Nordic National Preschool communities Individual practitioners

Multiple qualitative methods Policy documents, individual interviews, group interviews, (video) observations, written diaries Variety of qualitative analysis methods will be used to explore values education at the system level, communication level, and life-world level Analytical perspectives: 1) Educational policies; 2) Practitioners' perceptions of values and values education; 3) Communication of values in educational practices; 4) Gender; 5) Processes and critical incidents for change in preschools; and 6) Nordic commonalities and variations.

Aims To deepen theoretical understanding of values and values education by further developing Habermas' ideas about life- world, system, and communicative action; To develop innovative research methodologies in which a participative action research method is connected with cross- cultural orientation; To advance empirical knowledge of values and values education in Nordic preschools.

Research questions How do the national educational policies frame values education in preschools? What is values education like in preschools? What kinds of values are communicated? What kinds of gender patterns emerge in values education? Which commonalities and variations in values and values education can be found among the Nordic countries?

Research group Professor Eva Johansson, University of Stavanger, Norway (leader of the project) Professor Stig Broström, University of Aarhus, Denmark Adjunct professor Anna-Maija Puroila, University of Oulu, Finland Professor Johanna Einarsdóttir, University of Iceland Doctor Anette Emilson, Linnaeus University, Sweden National research teams

Implementation National sub-projects Aim to create knowledge and contribute to a change Close co-operation between researchers and practitioners Researchers' role: challenge and support the practitioners to reflect upon values and values education Practitioners’ role: identify issues that need to be developed; work towards the developmental process in preschools. Forums: reflection seminars, inspiration days Variety of creative and innovative methods will be used (learning stories, personal narratives, metaphors, improvisations etc.) Nordic co-operation Nordic workshops Stavanger (spring 2013), Copenhagen (autumn 2013) Oulu (spring 2014), Kalmar (autumn 2014) Reykjavik (spring 2015), Stavanger (autumn 2015) Research visits Joint writing (articles, conference papers) Nordic PhD -course (2015)

Status of the project June 2013 National sub-projects Established in all countries Preschools chosen: Denmark 3 preschools Finland 4 preschools Iceland 2 preschools Norway 7 preschools Sweden 7 preschools Co-operation with the practitioners Reflection seminars Data collection Group interviews Policy documents

Status of the project June 2013 Nordic co-operation Contacts via skype and Workshop in Stavanger January 2013 First step of the joint research: Analysis of policy documents Preliminary findings will be presented in the EECERA –conference, Tallinn, September 2013 Einarsdóttir et al. (2013) Values perspective in Nordic ECEC policy documents Forthcoming events: Self-organized symposium in the EECERA-conference, Tallinn, September 2013 Workshop in Copenhagen, October 2013

Thank you!