How Prominent Discourses in the United States and Finland Guide Early Childhood Education Curriculum

• In Event: 79.038 - Early Childhood Education and the Transition to Kindergarten

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the prominent discourses of early childhood education in the U.S. and Finland to examine how they impact the curriculum used in early childhood education. The paper seeks to find if differing discourses lead to noticeable differences in what young children are taught in each country and if a different discourse could change the course of educational reform of education for young children in the U.S. A commonly used curriculum in the U.S. and the national curriculum in Finland were analyzed using quantitative methods. Findings indicated that the both countries focused on preparing students for the future, but Finland also wanted to develop children as human beings. The differences lead to different goals in each country.

Authors

• Avanti Chajed, Columbia University

• Koen Veermans