Interpreting Values in the Daily Practices of Nordic Preschools: A Cross-Cultural Analysis

This study explored how practitioners interpreted educational practices from the perspective of values in Nordic preschools. Drawing data from group interviews in five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), practitioners reflected on an observational episode about children dressing for outdoor play in a Swedish preschool. The research material consisted of extracts from group interviews in ten preschools (two from each Nordic country). The research questions included: How do values emerge in practitioners’ interpretations? What is the interpretive process like, especially in the context of cross-cultural research? The research material was analysed nationally and cross-nationally. Using Gadamer’s concept of horizons, the study examined how practitioners made sense of the dressing episode, including the horizons of the text that attracted the practitioners’ attention and the co-construction of interpretations in the group dialogues. The practitioners employed indirect means more often than direct means to express their values. The group interviews contained themes that were connected to caring, disciplinary, competence and democratic values. The study provided evidence that practitioners shared some core pedagogical ideas and values across Nordic preschools. Differences were apparent between individual practitioners and preschools rather than between the Nordic countries.