Chapter 1: Nordic Ideals as Reflected in Nordic Childhoods and Early Education

Nordic culture, research, and practice make unique and broadly illuminating contributions to contemporary understandings of children and childhood, early childhood education, public policy, and child advocacy (Wagner, 2003, 2004). The chapters in this book, each in its own measure, exemplify the traditions and qualities of Nordic scholarship in early childhood education. This introduction provides background information on the Nordic countries and their perspectives on childhood and early education. It also summarizes topics and themes covered in the following chapters.

As we began our work as coeditors of this book nearly 2 years ago, we considered several interesting questions: Why publish an English-language book about childhood and early education in the Nordic countries? Who will be the audience for such a book? What qualifies the two of us as editors, given that one (Einarsdottir) is from Iceland, geographically distant from the other Nordic countries, and the other (Wagner) is an American?