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This book studies the major characteristics of the social pedagogical approach to early childhood education and care. It does so by investigating the distinctive elements of the Nordic approach and tradition. The cultural, educational, and ideological structures and values within the Nordic tradition indicate a strong "social pedagogical" rather than "early education" emphasis. The Nordic tradition applies a social learning approach that emphasizes play, relationships and outdoor life, and presumes that learning takes place through children´s participation in social interaction and processes. Set against this background, the book examines the characteristics of the pedagogue and the important features that develop through the Nordic approach. It compares children educated in the Nordic tradition with those educated in the French-English and Anglo-American tradition. It explores quality in relation to how children can enjoy childhood, and at the same time become able to actively participate in society and develop the social and cognitive skills and competences that individuals require to do well in society.

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I: Introduction to the Nordic Social Pedagogical Approach to Early Years.- II: Danish/Nordic child care tradition.- 1. The key characteristics of Danish/Nordic child care culture; Grethe Kragh-Müller.- 2. Values in Danish early childhood Education and Care; Stig Brostr›m, Anders Skriver Jensen & Ole Henrik Hansen.- 3. Children´s engagements in the lives in child care; Jakob Waag Villadsen & Pernille Hviid.- 4. Opportunities and challenges in Icelandic early childhood education; Johanna Einarsdottir.- 5. Comparative Perspectives on Early Childhood; Choices and Values; Charlotte Ringsmose & Sigrid Brogaard Clausen.- III: Key characteristics in Nordic childcare unfolded.- 6. The role of play in Danish child care; Ditte Winther-Lindqvist.- 7. Outdoor education in the Nordic region; Ellen Beate Sandseter & Olav Bjarne Lysklett.- 8. Children´s perspectives in their everyday lives in child care in two cultures: Denmark and the United States; Grethe Kragh-Müller & Rebecca Isbell.- 9. Increasing pedagogical attentiveness towards children´s perspectives and participation in child care; Lone Svinth.- 10. Children and pedagogues as partners in communication: Focus on specious and narrow interactional patterns; Berit Bae.- 11. How positive childhood experiences promote children´s development of democratic skills; Charlotte Ringsmose & Grethe Kragh-Müller.- 12. Re-metaphorizing teaching and learning in early childhood education beyond the instruction - social fostering devide; Niklas Pramling, Elisabet Doverborg & Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson.- 13. Collaboration between child care and parents- dilemmas and contradictory institutional conditions; Maja R›nn.- 14. The professional identity of the Danish pedagogue - creativity and dannelse.- IV: Quality in child care.- 15. Educational quality in child care; Grethe Kragh-Müller.- 16. Leading Pedagogical Quality in the Context of Finnish Child Care; Elina Fonsén and Janniina Vlasov.

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