Table of Contents

Preface, Bernard Spodek. Nordic Ideals as Reflected in Nordic Childhoods and Early Education, Johanna Einarsdottir and Judith T. Wagner. The Making of Nordic Childhoods, Baldur Kristjansson. Will There Be Any Preschool Teachers in the Future? A Comment on Recent Teacher Education Reforms in Sweden, Jan Erik Johansson. The Social Game of Early Childhood Education: The Case of Norway, Torill Strand. Teaching and Learning in Preschool and the First Years of Elementary School in Sweden, Ingrid Pramling Samuelson. Finnish Daycare: Caring, Education and Instruction, Anneli Niikko. Between Two Traditions - Between Two Continents: Early Chilhood Education in Iceland, Johanna Einarsdottir. Learning and Development through Play, Pentti Hakkarainen. Children's Perspectives on their Childhood Experiences, Stig Brostrom. Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education: Challanging Taken-for-Granted Ideas, Hillevi Lenz Taguchi. An Outsider's Perspective: Childhoods and Early Education in the Nordic Countries, Judith T. Wagner.