Early years education: Sweden versus the UK Part 1 (of 3)

[PoutchieWhoou]

Oooh I remember when I was in kindergarten, it was do damn fun!!! We were always playing and coloring and having fun and eating breakfast together. And I even have some faint memories of sleeping outside in the winter, just like those kids did, though it was only till we were about a year and a half. Man, I miss those times

[SWEmanque]

Just too bad the budget cuts makes the school worse and worse just so thet the liberals can lower the taxes...

The reading is a much lower not than a few years ago. No matter what system you have you need money to teach out in a good way.

[rachm1991]

This has helped me hugely with one of my assignments. It's based on early years, policies, practitioners and the government. Can someone please help me out, giving me advantages and disadvantages of practitioners?? I'm trying to find some online, but I'm struggling to get any answers. :/

[insomniacgrace]

Thanks for sharing this video clip. This is so useful and indeed, educational.

[guyonfire87]

learning while playing is a good method

[winstono75]

I'm from Norway, and I was an exchange student in the US 10 years ago. I found American high school to be not very encouraging of independent thinking. Most exchange students I talked to agreed that American school was much less demanding than school in their own countries.

[Daan892]

Can someone tell me why many Scandinavians are good in English? (unlike my people)

[fnumpy]

@Daan892 It's probably because Swedish and English are both Germanic languages, as is Norweigan, Danish, Icelandic, German and Dutch. A lot of words and grammar has been borrowed between the languages so it comes more naturally to us. So it's not strange that we're 'good' at it.

[Daan892]

@fnumpy Finnish is not a Germanic language and yet many Finns are good in English.

[fnumpy]

@Daan892 Yes, but Finns are just awesome in general. Also, they have to learn Swedish in school alongside their own language (since Finland has two offical languages), so that might be the reason why English is easier for them.

[Daan892]

@fnumpy I already knew Finland's official languages before you told me but that never occured to me. Thank you.

[dedde77]

@Daan892 we start learning english in grade one. (7yrs)

[Daan892]

@dedde77 Most of my people (Indonesians) learn English early too but we're still suck. You should hear speak English.

[alexiuzzz]

@Daan892 Subtitles on movies and TV is the secret :)

[Daan892]

@alexiuzzz There's no language dubbing in Scandinavia?

[alexiuzzz]

@Daan892 No, neither is it in denmark, norway and holland, which are the countries in europe who speak the best english.

I ve never understood why most countries dub movies. Totally destroys them aswell :)

[EmOhLee12345]

Wow this is so much more organized than the U.S. Many children here are simply left to strangers practically or there siblings who are to young to be caring for them.

[WWC4Kuhns]

I agree that the process that this Sweden school has is better, in a lot of ways, than what we have in the USA. However, I am not sure that these children need to be at school ALL day; so very long, it seems. The US tends to "dummy-down" our children; Sweden seems to work with each child as an individual. I have a child wth Autism, so I don't know how Sweden teaches these children; Eugenics? These people may be controversial in regards to politics, but not this way of teaching...

[TheReliquary]

IMHO many Swedish parents put their kids into nursery too soon (e.g. aged 1) and for too long (5 days/wk, 7-8 hrs/day). What began as an exception has become the norm.

Our child started at 2 yrs for 3 days/wk, 7 hrs/day. The Swedish govt. pays us to look after our child 2 days a week, plus there's parental leave money and the right to take time off from work. When our child reaches 4, we might increase nursery time, but I believe that home (whenever possible) is best for a small child!

[MyPineappleDream]

@TheReliquary What do you mean too soon? I was one and I turned out just fine... I was a sleepy kid and the other girls would pretend I was a doll, dress me up and push me around in a stroller ;)

[sheyon1000]

@TheReliquary it must remain remain with less non 3rd world people or else the quality of sweden will go down..end multikulti now,it has failed.

[erinra]

@WWC4Kuhns The eugenics program? That was a VERY long time ago. No one believes in it, talks about it or even seems to remember it today. Literally no one, not even the elders. Today, it's all about embracing children with special needs and making sure they participate in regular activities with other children as much as possible, so they won't feel left behind or excluded.

[herrbanana]

@WWC4Kuhns there are special schools for autistic children in sweden

[Balticsea89]

@WWC4Kuhns Its possible even you're child could get a personal care assistent. for free ofcorse.

[methuselus]

I believe in the Swedish system , I enrolled my daughter into pre-school and their main focus is drama, culture, singing, walking in the forest.... this is what a expect a child to do. When the time comes to read and so on then she'll do that, but right now she is just gonna learn to get on with other kids and sing and dance, communicate....

[jak0bz]

haha good days!

[ImpactTeachers]

I take UK primary teachers to Africa because they are so far behing the curve in this respect. It's sad, but we can make a huge Impact. It is such an important time in a child's development. They must be looked after properly.

[HuellsJewels]

Its all well & good to note that Americas system is too adversarial. But WHY is it that way?

Sweden's a relatively homogenous country. That eases the social tension. Also, for half the 20th Century Sweden implemented a program of eugenics.

Im certainly not advocating eugenics or genocide. But Swedens isolation from the 3rd world is a factor. For the same reason, Americas K-12 schools are actually pretty solid once you get away from the major urban areas.

[TheReliquary]

Eugenics usually focuses on eliminating people with "special needs" and I see just as many such people in Stockholm as in say, the UK. So if there was a eugenics program, it can't have been much good!

Whilst not as heterogeneous as the USA, Sweden has had the highest rate of immigration in the EU and accepts many more asylum seekers than other EU states. Yet it succeeds in implementing, even imposing this style of education on children from Afghanistan and Iraq, etc. with good results.

[HuellsJewels]

IIRC, USA & Sweden both forced about 60k sterilizations in the 20th Century. Sweden's population was less than 1/20th of the USA.

Geography & politics also limited 20th century Swedish immigration. Todays immigrants might eventually make Swedens consensual society more adversarial. Cant think of a single historical example suggesting otherwise.

[HuellsJewels]

BTW, thanks for the civil response on such a touchy subject. I have nothing against Sweden. Theres a lot to learn from them. This video is a good counterpoint to those who would have us emulate the cram school systems of East Asia.

But NY & London will never be Stockholm.

[bugsylyly]

very well said!!!!!

[bboner9]

-sigh-... I wonder IF my fellow Americans will learn to get it right like this. Stop crapping out kids would be my first advice.

[TheReliquary]

MondoBeno wrote:

"While teaching Special Ed in New York, I used to email teachers in Sweden to find out where we were going wrong. Here's what I found:

1. The population of Sweden is smaller. Couples have fewer kids. You don't have 5 boys with the same mother and different (absent) fathers.

2. Parents are more austere when it comes to spending.

3. You pay high taxes to pay for top day care.

4. The diet is stricter with less junk. I admire Sweden. Whatever they do, it keeps everyone safe."

[saracoollove123]

i am swedish!

Jag e svensk

[Iceye1990]

so?

[joshman94]

jag har fått nyheterna som du inte är ok svensk?

om du var dig skulle förstår men, kanske skitas du

[fuzzygreyzebra]

Thanks for the comment you left on my Baby Einstein video. You should check out the reply I made to myself if you haven't seen it yet. I actually came across this video of yours a couple weeks ago and thought it was amazing! It really makes me want to raise my children in another country when that time comes. I think the US is too concerned about passing tests at the age of 3 and less concerned about what and how the children are actually learning. It's really sad.

[mamangel39]

I was telling a friend about this video and she told me Sweden has armed guard out in public all the time. Is this true? Here in the USA we don't have the army out with guns all the time. How does this affect the children if you do have Army men out and about?

[TheReliquary]

It's true that police carry guns but I think your friend may be mixing Sweden up with some other country (perhaps Switzerland?).

I hardly ever see the police here and never see soldiers. In fact, it's a bit of a problem because a lot of people would like more police to be around.

I agree that arming the police is problematic because it escalates situations and distances the police from the ordinary people they're supposed to protect (cf. the US?). Unarmed police (as in the UK) is best imho.

[digimastr101]

Well our police are armed but our military isn't on our streets 24/7. I have often wondered how the UK is able to protect citizens without being armed? My friend had visited Europe and I agree, she is mixing Sweden up with Switzerland.

[TheReliquary]

The UK police are at least as effective as any other police force. But what do you mean by "protect citizens"?

The police can't protect kids from:

* asthma caused by vehicle exhausts

* advertising that permeates their mental environment & exploits them

* bullying and violence in school

* exams & teaching systems that limit their potential and destroy the joy of learning

* toxic food

* badly planned urban environments

This is the protection I want to see!

[TheReliquary]

I confess I'm no expert on the "should we arm the police" question - I just go with my gut feeling (like most Brits) that arming the police is a regrettable step that increases the danger & threat to both police & innocent citizens.

Boosting the number of police is more effective - and that's something Sweden needs to look at. Having said that, the biggest sources of "danger" to our kids are not necessarily police matters.

[digimastr101]

I mean, police protecting citizens from robbers and murders. From drug dealers and rapist. From kidnappers and porn. The stuff you mention are more for governments and society to do something about. Do you know what I mean? Maybe the government, citizens, and law enforcement should work together to change things that need changing. How do you know adding more police is more effective? Are there stats?

[TheReliquary]

I know of no stats, it's just what police officers themselves say. A criminal with or without a gun has little chance of evading the law if there's a lot of police manpower & good surveillance.

The UK govt. has (or had) a slogan, "tough on crime; tough on the causes of crime" & I reckon that's a sound approach - to tackle both simultaneously.

Hence the value of excellent schools in forming upstanding citizens who don't do drugs etc.!

[mamangel39]

I agree!! You said yourself that Sweden has low prison rates. Must be the education that the children get. (smile)

[bouncyboy2]

the uk police does not need guns our citizens don't carry guns all they need is a taser gun to take a criminal down ALIVE,but if some criminals had guns then we do have armed police to deal with them.if the police haven't got a gun then they wont be able to shot anyone for a small offence like the Americans do

[TheReliquary]

I agree with bouncyboy2 - armed police are best as a last resort.

Swedish police routinely carry guns and it makes them seem arrogant, unapproachable, threatening. Despite their guns, they're less effective than the British police.

The average British PC is easy to talk to and shows some respect for the people he/she serves. Hek, when they pulled me over for speeding, they still called me "sir" whilst giving me a good old bollocking!

Policing by consent!

[Slimsoj]

While I agree that there are situations where a tazer gun would be preferable to a normal handgun, Police tend not to regard tazers as a weapon and handle these weapons more frivolously. Swedish Police were granted pepperspray a few years ago, I believe, and have used these nearly on whim where the situation was not threatening but where the person would not comply or obey. I know that this is also the case with tazers in the U.S of A and, I'm sure, in other places such as Britain.

[Slimsoj]

Police should therefor refrain from violence and rather use alternative methods and would more readily do so were they only issued a handgun. The right training is paramount, of course.

[ReadThisIfYourStupid]

It's great how they let the kids be outside so much. If I have kids, I want them to go to a school like this.

[isabella2215]

A really good approach to educating young children.

[unstuckjdt]

Wow, I wish I had that kind of opportunity...

[randolphtd1]

I want to move to Sweden.

[yasashii89]

@randolphtd1 LOOOL, and when u get there u will be wanting to move away from sweden.