This article examines the contemporary Swedish policy responses to increased cultural and linguistic diversity in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). More specifically, it explores how national authorities and organizations initiate collaborations, use and produce policy knowledge and identify priorities and challenges. The…

Many second language (L2) students in Sweden struggle with reading in Swedish. There needs to be more research on how L2 students with weak word decoding skills in Swedish could be individually supported. Therefore, the current study examined the impact of a systematic and intensive word decoding intervention in Swedish among individual L2…

This paper highlights a current phenomenon reported from preschools placed in multilingual areas in Sweden, namely that some preschoolers with mutually different language backgrounds sometimes use English as lingua franca instead of Swedish during play. The data stems from a study of language environments in Swedish preschools situated in both…

This study explores how early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) is directly framed in the Nordic curriculum. The study's theoretical background builds on theories and research viewing ECEfS as a comprehensive approach which integrates the three pillars of sustainability. To explore the status of ECEfS, Nordic curricula were analysed…

The aim of this article is to examine contemporary conceptualizations of cultural and linguistic diversity in the Swedish policy for early childhood education and care (ECEC). The analysis draws on in-depth interviews with high-level policy actors and the analysis of documentary material. Using the concepts of interculturality and hybridity as…

This study investigates the nature of teacher-child interaction and teacher scaffolding in Finnish second language (L2) classrooms. Although previous research on classroom interaction has highlighted the importance of scaffolding in language learning, much less is known about the importance of scaffolding for younger children's L2 learning.…

The purpose of this article was to re-examine the empirical research focused on the creation and recreation of pre-school teachers' identity and their practices with multilingual children and language development. The analysis was based on empirical sequences from previously published qualitative analyses with the assistance of an interactionist…

We report results from children learning to read in one of four different languages: Croatian, English, Estonian and Swedish. The languages all have an alphabetical script but vary greatly on the dimension deep-shallow (or complexity-simplicity, or opacity-transparency), i.e., how close orthography and phonology are related. These languages also…

Background: Phonological processing skills have been found to contribute to spelling development across different orthographies; however, less is known about the role of orthographic knowledge. This longitudinal study explores the contribution of phonological and orthographic knowledge to spelling development in a semi-transparent orthography…

We investigated the stability and developmental interplay of word reading and spelling in samples of Swedish (N = 191) and U.S. children (N = 489) followed across four time points: end of kindergarten, grades 1, 2, and 4. Cross-lagged path models revealed that reading and spelling showed moderate to strong autoregressive effects, with reading…

Studies focusing on young children's self-reported health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are scarce. More research is needed on the reliability and validity of the methods as well as how self-reported HRQoL in early childhood is linked to other well-being factors. Using the Kiddy-KINDL questionnaire in interviews with 245 3- to 6-year-old…

A national-level dataset (n = 7770) at grade 1 of primary school is re-analyzed to study preconditions in proficiency in mathematical concepts, operations and mathematical abstractions and thinking. The focus is on those pupils whose preconditions are so low that they are below the first measurable level of proficiency in the common framework with…

This cross-sectional study established the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS) and an index of empathy in a sample of Swedish four to six year olds (N = 115). Using Bayesian structural equation modeling, we found that a five-factor PKBS and one-factor empathy model provided good fit…

The aim of the study was to examine which predictor variables are related to literacy skills among monolingual Swedish (n = 269) and bilingual Finnish-Swedish (n = 229) children at the first grade in the Swedish-speaking schools in Finland. The participants were assessed in phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automatized naming (RAN),…

While the majority of children in Sweden attend preschool, children of immigrant background have lower enrollment rates. Limited research has explored why immigrant families do not attend preschool. This study helps to fill this void by exploring the perspectives of 10 skilled immigrant mothers who do not send their children to preschool. Data…