ABSTRACT
The Ministry of Education and Sciences is responsible for the educational system in Sweden. A strong pedagogical emphasis on democratic values and sociocultural, progressive education is characteristic of early childhood education in Sweden. In Sweden, preschools and schools are included in a goal-steered system with a high degree of local responsibility. The Swedish Parliament and the government draw up specific curricula and the overall national goals pertinent to the Education Act. This chapter describes that Sweden has national curricula for preschool, preschool class and compulsory school. The differences consist of content specific for preschool and school; the Educare of the youngest children at preschool and content specified for assessment in school. The educational system in Sweden, as the subject of frequent national reforms, seems to be a political “hot potato”. The reforms were preceded by criticism of teacher training as either too academic, abstract or isolated from the teacher practice, or as too loosely connected to the academic tradition.
