Others' success can be a powerful motivation to innovate, which sometimes means finding new ways to return to beneficial activities. Finland's academic success has prompted many to explore that country's policies and practices, particularly regarding providing opportunities for children to enjoy more unstructured play.

The purpose of this study is to describe the conceptions of the Finnish and Estonian pre-school teachers' goals, and the achievement of these goals in their pedagogical work. The study consisted of 60 (30 from each country) interviews with pre-school teachers. The interview data was analyzed phenomenographically. The findings showed that children…